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 scheme co-ordinated by Booktrust, which is managed in Croydon by the library service. The scheme encourages an early introduction to books and reading. Health visitors give parents a Bookstart pack at their child's eight month health check and again when they are two years old. The Bookstart packs include two free books. Three-year olds receive a Treasure Box with a further two free books through their nursery or other pre-school organisation.
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
You can join the Book Trail by visiting any Croydon library during the school summer holidays. Babies and young toddlers can join the Book Crawl. To take part, you need to have your own library ticket.
Youngest Baby Competition
We hold a competition every year in October to find our youngest new member. Parents who join their baby to a Croydon library during this month may enter the competition. We give the prize winners certificates and bumper bags of baby books at a special presentation in the Central Children's Library.
Contact Details
- Contact name
- Children's Library Services
- Telephone
- 020 8726 6900
- children@croydon.gov.uk
