Brook Park Branch - Cuyahoga County Public Library

The Brook Park Branch (Cuyahoga County Public Library) children’s play area features a built-in, life-sized wooden car, donated by Ford Motor Company.  Children love to "drive" around town and "assemble" the parts of the engine!  The play space is good-sized and bordered with board books, nursery rhymes, parenting books, concept books, first readers, and picture books in easy-access bins, as well as children’s DVDs shelved in a charming "little town" unit -- complete with a little school house to play in!  Loveseats beckon families to snuggle up and read.

     The play space includes lots of pretend-play: a play farm, puppet show theater, bright wooden kitchen set, play food, dishes, and a grocery store check-out station.  Near the large wooden car is a cityscape rug with vehicles, wooden town buildings, and lots of wooden blocks. Learning play includes floor puzzles, literacy matching and alphabet puzzles, lacing bears, matching tiles, plastic animals, a globe, and waffle blocks. The baby and toddler play space includes soft blocks, shape sorters, stacking toys, bead and magnet mazes, manipulatives, musical toys, chunky puzzles, and a rocking boat plus a free-standing infant play-yard.

     We offer in-person storytimes and many special programs year-round for babies to preschoolers -- such as our Baby & Toddler Sensory Play programs and Baby Club series (our parent-child workshop), among other preschool-family specials.  High attendance attests that parents and little ones alike love coming to the library to play, learn and make friends!  Many families return for more Baby Club sessions, some bringing their newest additions too, and also transition into Baby & Toddler Storytime, held the same weekday mornings.  Others opt for our popular Music & Movement Storytime, while working parents appreciate our evening Pajama Time Family Storytime.

     We're proud of the impact our Family Place Library is having on the Brook Park community and beyond.  Over the course of 2023, word of mouth and friendships really drove our baby, toddler and preschool programs to higher and higher attendance as we offered engaging programs that also provided opportunities for skill development and early literacy growth.  So many families have formed deep bonds with each other, setting up play dates outside of the library programs and supporting one another as their children grow.