Emma Clark Officially a Family Place Library

Setauket, NY – April 30, 2025 –

Emma Clark has been formally approved as part of The Family Place Libraries™ national network, which emphasizes play-based learning as an essential tool to early childhood development, particularly for those families with young children ages one to three years old.

The Children’s Department at Emma Clark began the process to become certified as a Family Place Library in late 2024, which included extended training for librarians beyond their library schooling. These workshops were taught by child development experts and Family Place Trainers and served as a good refresher regarding building pre-reading skills and helped to spark new ideas for learning through play. The training also focused on supporting parents and caregivers by connecting them with resources and professionals, as well as providing engaging programming opportunities.

“I am excited to be a part of the Family Place initiative which provides a framework for expanding my role as a librarian in connecting with young children, parents and caregivers and facilitating the support they need,” says Marcela Lenihan, one of the children’s librarians who attended the training.

Literacy begins at birth. At birth, only 25% of a newborn’s brain is developed, but by five years old, the brain is 90% wired. Young children learn about themselves and the world around them though play, and this “important work” is what prepares them for their future of intellectual development (reading, math, and science), as well as their social and emotional development.

Although Emma Clark already had many of the initiatives in place such as board and picture books, puzzles, a train table, and a coloring spot, in the past year they added more imaginative toys to the Children’s Library, such as dramatic play items (kitchen, market, dress-up clothes, etc.). Looking ahead, Brian Debus, the Head Children’s Librarian, is hoping to add more toys geared towards infants, as well as more comfortable seating for parents, grandparents, and caregivers.

“By joining this initiative, we’re investing in early learning, parent engagement, and community connection, ensuring every child and family gets the best possible start in life,” remarked Mr. Debus.

Furthermore, the children’s librarians are working to fine-tune the already well-established Parent/Toddler Workshop by including community resource professionals at the program on a regular basis. This weekly workshop for children ages 18 months – 3.5 years old and their caregivers has always focused on open play, sharing, and connections with other parents and caregivers. It will now include specialists – such as pediatric nutritionists, speech pathologists, social workers, and child development experts – so that parents and caregivers may speak one-on-one with professionals and ask questions in a comfortable, informal setting. This program not only aids in the child’s development, but it helps parents and caregivers to feel less isolated and gives them an increased sense of community belonging. The librarians also plan on offering more handouts from reputable organizations on parenting and childhood development, making the information easily accessible to patrons.

The Family Place Libraries™ model is now in over 500 libraries in 32 states serving thousands of young children and their parents/caregivers. Emma S. Clark Memorial Library is proud to officially be among this nationwide network.

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The mission of Family Place Libraries™ is to increase the capacity of libraries throughout the nation to recognize and realize their full potential as community hubs for healthy child and family development, parent and community involvement and lifelong learning beginning at birth.

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The Emma S. Clark Memorial Library, located at 120 Main Street in Setauket and on the web at www.emmaclark.org, provides public library service to all residents of the Three Village Central School District.

“The Heart of the Three Village Community”

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