Library Policies for the Children’s Space

Unattended Children Policy (Approved 2021)
Use of the Children’s Room by Adults (Approved 2021)
Visitor Guidelines for Personal Belongings – English & Spanish (Approved 2022)
Lost and Found Policy (Approved 2022)

For a full list of NHFPL policies, visit our policies page

Programs

We offer a wide variety of programs for all ages that are free-of-charge. On the Young Minds & Family Learning home page, there is a filtered calendar on the right-hand side that only shows children’s and family programs. Our general events page shows all events and programs happening throughout the NHFPL system.

The Collection

We have a wide variety of books, magazines, movies, and audiobooks for kids of all ages and interests, as well as a parenting collection.  We broadly break our collection up into the following categories:

Board Books: Picture books with heavy pages. Appropriate for babies and toddlers.

Picture Books: Books with, or without, words where the images are as important as the text.  Appropriate for young to middle-grade children

Beginning Readers: Short books appropriate for children who are learning sight words and other simple words.

Beginning Chapter Books: Shorter, often illustrated, chapter books appropriate for young, independent readers transitioning to fiction. 

Chapter Books: Books that are of moderate length and complexity, and are told primarily in words rather than pictures.  They are appropriate for independent readers.

Graphic Novels: Stories told with words and sequential art.  Appropriate for a variety of reading levels, depending on the title.

Fairy Tales: Magical stories, usually originating in folklore. Appropriate for a variety of reading levels, depending on the title.

Non-Fiction: Books written to help readers learn about real events, people, or topics.  Appropriate for a variety of reading levels, depending on the title.

Biographies: Non-fiction books specifically about an individual.  Appropriate for a variety of reading levels, depending on the title.

Holiday Books: Books about or based around a specific holiday.  Appropriate for a variety of reading levels, depending on the title.

World Language Books: Books in languages other than English. Appropriate for a variety of reading levels, depending on the title.

Audio/Visual Materials and more: Wonderbooks, CDs, DVDs, Audiobooks, and LaunchPads! Appropriate for a variety of ages.

Parenting: Adult materials specifically to help parents.

Interactive Books: Pop-up and other books with special visual or dynamic pages. Topics may be fiction or non-fiction. These books can be enjoyed in the Children’s Room, but unfortunately may not be checked out.

Early Literacy Backpacks: Each backpack contains a curated set of books, activities, and toys on a given educational theme. Check them out to use at home with your toddler or young child.

There might be more specific types of books that you are interested in that we can also help with-such as books that teach concepts (colors, shapes, ABC’s, etc.); books to interact with; books to teach a skill; wordless picture books; books to sing along with; or award-winning books, among many others.  Check out our curated book lists to help find materials that suit your needs. 

A Parent/Caregivers Guide to Internet Safety

Here are some tips to help keep your children safe on the internet:

  • Place the computer in a public space in your home: you can more easily check to see what sites your child is visiting.
  • Review websites with your child: have conversations about why they want to go on particular sites, and what the positive and negative aspects of that site might be.
  • Share accounts: have your child log in with an e-mail and a password you know so that you can easily have access should it be needed.
  • Hide personal information: By not saving any credit cards, or login information to the computer, it limits the chance of kids accidentally going somewhere or doing something they shouldn’t. 
  • Educate yourself and your children: Have discussions about the potential dangers of the internet, and let your child know that you are monitoring them for their own safety.
  • Be aware of cyberbullying and online predators: Problems can happen when you least expect it, so it is important to have regular conversations about who your child is interacting with online.

For more information about protecting your child on the internet, review A Parents Guide to Internet Safety for some great websites that give more in-depth information.

Museum & Theater Passes

Passes are not available currently. We hope to offer them in the near future, as we rebuild the program during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Please visit our Museum and Theater Passes page for more information and ideas for other activities.