Tucked away in the corner of our Children’s Room is a resource all parents and teachers should be aware of, The Parent/Teacher Collection, or as the call number goes: J[P/T].

The collection consists of two parts, the first is a collection of books written for children that are meant to be read together with caregivers. They are picture books that deal with tough topics that may need to be navigated with children, like death, family changes, social skills, school, and health topics. 

If you are looking for a way to introduce a topic to your child, ask a librarian, there are many excellent titles to help you start the discussion. We always recommend reading the entire picture book before reading it with your child. “Ida, Always” by Caron Levis and Charles Santoso, a book about loss, will make you cry! You’ll want to be sure the book aligns with your intent and comfort level.

The second part of the collection are books for adults titles from pregnancy to parenting, and all topics related to raising children. In this section, we also have books dedicated to homeschooling, and are currently finishing up a homeschool resource guide. “We recently received a generous donation to purchase more homeschool books.” Children’s Librarian Jen Betts adds, “We have a practice of patron driven collection development, so the titles we added were recommended by the families that meet at our monthly Homeschool Connection Program.  It was lovely!”

“Not surprisingly, we do get a lot of parents in the children’s room, especially  during storytime and crafts and they are always pleasantly surprised at the extent of support books we have available,” Jen adds. 

The Homeschool Connection meetings the second Tuesday of each month, at 2 p.m. in the children’s room; all homeschooling students and teachers are welcome!

Upcoming events

• Grandparents Group - Wednesday, Jan. 3, 4 p.m.  
• Homeschool Connection - Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2-3 p.m. 
• Author Talk: Jerry Farnham - Saturday, Jan. 27, 10:30 a.m.
• Bloomin’ for Good @ Hannaford - BHML receives $1 from every Bloomin' 4 Good bouquet sold at the Boothbay Harbor Hannaford throughout January 2024!