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It's never too early to think about literacy. Research on infant brain development shows that a child’s experience in the early years directly impacts later development and learning. With strong literacy skills, children are more likely to go further and succeed in school, find future employment, have a higher income and be healthier and happier throughout life. Bayside Library Service can support your young children in developing their early literacy skills that will create a foundation for success in later life

One of the easiest places to visit when you have a brand-new baby is the Library. It’s a great place to spend time, connect with the community, and get reading advice. The Sandringham Library is co-located with the Maternal Child Health Centre. We love seeing babies at the Library, so stop by and say hello!

Here are some tips for your visit:

• Park your stroller inside the library while you visit
• Find comfortable seating in the children’s section
• Browse our collection of books, movies, music and digital content
• Breastfeed (ask staff about a private space to nurse or pump) and change your baby
• Bring a coffee and connect with other parents
• Get book recommendations from library staff and advice about reading with your baby
• Relax knowing you’re in a safe and welcoming space

My first library card
Begin a love of reading that lasts a lifetime with your child's very own Bayside Library card. A new library card has been designed just for young ones. 

Reading to your baby is very important and Bayside Library wants to help you get started. Each baby born in Bayside receives a bag containing a board book and early literacy resources. This is handed out at your first Maternal and Child Health visit.

Reading together is the single most effective way to help children become proficient readers.

• Read daily, at least once a day.
  
• Read for any duration. 
• Short, positive interactions are more important than long ones.
• Read favourite books over and over again. 
• Repetition deepens understanding.
• Read together and talk about what you read.

One of the greatest gifts a child can be given is the gift of reading.  

At Bayside Libraries, we support early literacy through weekly sessions that utilise the three R’s: Rhythm, Rhyme, and Repetition. Through action songs and finger counting rhymes, Baby Rhyme Time is wonderful way to develop cognitive skills and language development, as well as socialise and build community. 

It’s never too early to bring bubs along to this fun and engaging stage of the literacy journey. By being an active participant in the session, you enhance the learning and engagement. By borrowing books to take home, you help to nurture a lifelong love of reading.

Once bub has started walking, you might find our Toddler Time sessions more suitable.

View our Baby Rhyme Time Dates

Continue the early literacy journey at Bayside Libraries' Toddler Times, which include developmentally-appropriate stories, songs, and rhymes. By engaging with these storytimes and being an active participant, you encourage language development and learning. Reading also stimulates imagination, increases attention spans and helps develops life skills, such as managing emotions. 

When those attention spans are ready for longer stories, we encourage you to progress to our Preschool Storytime sessions. 

View our Toddler Time Dates

Bayside Libraries' Preschool Storytimes are designed to support early educational milestones. These sessions offer longer stories and encourage more sophisticated interaction with the books. They still offer lots of fun songs and rhymes, because children learn through play. By engaging with these storytimes and being an active participant, you maximise the benefits and enhance the experience for everyone!

Stay and colour-in after the session and don't forget to borrow some books to take home too! 

View our Storytime Dates

Our Picture Book Subject lists are curated reading lists compiled by our Librarians to help you explain difficult topics to young children.

Browse our Picture Book Subject Lists

Each year, the Australian Library & Information Association selects one picture book for a simultaneous read-aloud event held in libraries, schools, pre-schools, family homes, childcare centres, bookshops, children’s hospitals and communities across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

At 11am on May 24th 2023, libraries all around Australia read the same book, The Speedy Sloth by Rebecca Young. This was the biggest NSS event to date, with over 2.3 million participants at over 59,000 locations.

In 2024, the National Simultaneous Storytime will be held on Wednesday May 22nd. Libraries around the country will be reading Bowerbird Blues by Aura Parker.