Children

Children’s librarian with children

The Watertown Free Public Library Children’s Room serves infants through grade 5 and their caregivers. We also provide services for educators.

The Children’s room is a vibrant and active space. We invite children and their caregivers to enjoy the space, collection, and activities that we provide.

Story Times

Exposing children to literacy based activities sets the foundation for a future of strong reading and writing. To ensure that your child is appropriately exposed to such activities, we have created story time groups to cater to your child’s developmental needs. Each group is designed for children within a certain age range and we ask that you only attend programs that apply to your child. We hope that these programs will provide a positive and enriching experience for all who participate. Please see the calendar for dates and times.

1000 Books Before KindergartenA green and blue illustrated caterpillar with glasses. Each of his sets of legs are holding a book

The Watertown Free Public Library encourages families to read, write, talk, sing, and play every day! Any family with a child younger than 5 years old is welcome to join our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program. It’s just as it sounds: read 1000 books, ANY books, before your child begins Kindergarten. Reading together at home promotes vocabulary development and school skills so children will begin school ready to learn. 1000 books may sound like a lot, so think of it this way: 3 books per day for 365 days is 1095 books!

We want you to be successful, so we’ve kept things easy for you. Image of a book bag with a graphic of a caterpillar reading.When you visit the library, tell a Children’s Librarian that you’re interested in the program. We’ll set you up with a book bag (pictured) and the basic instructions you need to reach this goal. As you read, you’ll reach milestones!  When you reach 100, 250, 500, 750, and 1000 books, visit the library and receive free books to take home!  

Questions about our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program? Please ask! 

Calendar

WFPL offers programs throughout the year for children in Kindergarten through Grade 5. Our children's calendar is available on the library's events calendar and in print by the second week of the current month. 

Three pictures of children gardening, making crafts, and looking at a snake

Outreach

School Visits

Librarians can make visits to inform students of the resources the library offers, to book talk new exciting titles, to bring the experience of a library story time to you, or to discuss any other library related services. If you’d like to arrange a Children’s Librarian to visit your school or classroom please call 617-972-6435 or email Emily.

Library Visits

Teachers are encouraged to bring their students to the library. To arrange a visit please call 617-972-6435 or email Emily.