Grab and Go at the Library

Ready to refresh that home library collection? Let us help with the launch of our new exciting service: Grab & Go Bundles! We miss seeing our families walking away, arms overflowing with books, so we have developed an innovative solution to help boost your family's reading time at home.

Grab and Go Bundles will be offered during Curbside Service starting Tuesday, October 20th and will feature a stack of picture or board books bundled together with a rubber band. These book bundles will include a mix of books from our picture book neighborhoods, world languages, and board book collections. You can pick up a Grab and Go Bundle from our Curbside tables at any of our twelve San Mateo County Libraries from Tuesday-Saturday, 11 AM-4 PM; no Curbside appointment is necessary. And don't worry about checking them out. Just pick up a bundle, enjoy, and return when done. If you’d like to request your personalized book bundle, call us at 1-833-YES-SMCL (1-833-937-7625) or text us at (650) 851-0147.

Here are some of our favorite literacy tips to use while reading to your little ones from your Grab and Go Bundle.   

• Repetition is great for building your child's brain! Every time you read a book, even if it's the same one, they're getting something new from the experience.  
• Reading should always be an enjoyable experience. If your child starts to lose interest, return to the book later. If you don’t, your child could start associating negative feelings with reading.  
• When you read to your baby, you don’t have to read just the words. Talk about the pictures. Describe what is going on. You can even make up your own story based on the pictures. 
• Before you begin a book, look at the cover and predict what the book is about. Ask questions as you read.  
• As you read a book with your baby, point to a word or phrase every once in a while. Over time, your young child will begin associating the print on a page with a spoken word. 

Have you checked out a Grab and Go Bundle yet? Let us know which titles your child enjoyed in the comments below!