Children under five
Sharing books from an early age helps children learn to read later on, as well as being fun for you and your child.
We understand that babies and young children can be noisy. We have toys and games for them to play with in the library and lots of books and cassettes to borrow including:
- picture books
- counting and alphabet books
- cassettes and CDs with nursery rhymes, songs and stories
- books, cassettes and CDs in languages other than English
- books for parents and carers on topics such as childcare
- books to help children cope with new experiences like starting school.
Joining the library
Your child is never too young to join the library - even babies can become members. Childminders and home educators can apply for a special library ticket that allows them to borrow more items.
Bookstart
Bookstart is a national programme which is managed in Croydon by the library service. The programme encourages all parents and carers to enjoy books with their children from as early an age as possible. There are 3 packs with free books and ideas for reading with your child : Baby Bookstart for babies aged 0-12 months – collect from your Health Visitor; Bookstart Plus for toddlers aged 18-30 months - collect from your Health Visitor; Treasure Chests for children aged 36-48 months collect from your child's nursery or playgroup. You may also collect your child's Bookstart pack from your local library or children’s centre.
Children's events
We run free events for children at all our libraries. These include
- Bookstart Rhymetimes for babies
- Wiggle and Jiggle sessions for toddlers
- Storytime for children aged from about two and a half years
- Family, children's and teenage reading groups
Times vary from one library to the next. See the Croydon's libraries pages for information about your local library.
Book Trail and Book Crawl
Children aged 0-4 years can join the Book Crawl at any time of the year as long as they have a library ticket. Children are given a collector's card and each time they visit the library they are given a sticker. After collecting 4 stickers children will receive a beautifully illustrated certificate. There are 12 certificates to collect.
Contact Details
- Contact name
- Children's Library Services
- Telephone
- 020 8726 6900
- children@croydon.gov.uk
