My family loves the Cincinnati Public Library! When I moved to Cincinnati 18 years ago I regularly heard that Cincinnati is such a great place to live and raise a family. I never really understood why until I had a child 3½ years ago and found out that the main reason this area is so awesome is because of the library!
One of the best things about our library is that there is so many things going on in all parts of the city. The first public activity I did with my baby was storytime at the Elmwood Place Branch. My parents were in town and I wanted them to be with us when we finally took this baby out and about. We drove from Hyde Park (where we live) because the schedule that is printed every month told us that this is where we needed to go the one day they were in town to participate in a storytime. Our library going skyrocketed from there!
We follow the monthly schedule very closely and can get to so many great programs with a very short drive. My toddler has been to these kind of fun events (many on the same day): a Sponge Bob party (Westwood Branch), a Marionette show (Anderson Branch), Sunrock Farms petting animals (Oakley Branch), Pirate Show (Symmes Township Branch), Magic Show (Harrison Branch), Park Naturalist that brought reptiles for the kids (Sharonville Branch), Western Party (Green Township Branch), Joel Sings (Norwood Branch), Zak Morgan Sings (Elmwood Place Branch), Family Fun Night (Wyoming Branch), Cincinnati Police Horse rides (Madeira Branch), Puppet Making (Hyde Park Branch), Magic Show (Madisonvilie Branch), Puppet Show (Mt. Washington Branch), Dancing from Bali (Oakley Branch), Visits to read, do puzzles and work on the computer at the Main Branch, Corryville, Clifton, and Mariemont Branches to name a few.
We also check out lots of books, videos, and CDs. We especially like all the materials the library has for each specific holiday. It is amazing to see the library with the same titles as the bookstore and they are free!
It is apparent that we are involved with the many offerings for children all over the library system! The librarians truly care about the kids and usually do a craft as well as read them stories at their weekly storytimes. It is obvious to me that the library and its staff work very hard to bring a variety of quality, educational, and fun activities to all our communities!
I very much appreciate all my little girl has gained (in her few short years) with the help of our library. She started Preschool in September with no fear of being in a room learning with other little kids because she has had so much exposure to that type of environment at the library.
Needless to say I am now completely convinced that Cincinnati is the best place to live and raise a family! Thank you to the Cincinnati Public Library and all you bring to our family!
