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INUVIK
Among the pressures and distractions of the modern world, it can often be hard for families to set aside time to learn and have fun together.

Kate Smith reads with her one-year-old child Hayden Smith at the new Ready for Reading program, aimed at giving parents and tots time to enjoy reading together, last Sunday. - Laura Busch/NNSL photo

With this in mind, the Inuvik Centennial Library created a new parents-and-tots reading program last month.

The program, called Ready for Reading, takes place every Sunday from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and aims to be a fun break for parents and their young ones – aged six and under – to delve into books together.

"It's a program for kids and their parents," said Sandhya Koirala, library assistant who leads the Sunday reading program. "We have focused it for the working parents who do not have time to come with their kids to the library during the weekdays, so we have it for the weekends focusing on them."

Koirala points out that it's not just parents who have busy schedules during the week. As kids get older, it becomes harder to find time for week-day activities.

One of the children who attends the program regularly had previously attended a similar program held on Mondays at the library, said Koirala.

"He used to come every Monday for the reading program and he misses coming in because he goes to pre-school now. (Ready for Reading) is focused for those kids who enjoy coming in."

Koirala normally starts off the hour-long program by reading a story or two for the parents and tots. Afterward, there is normally a craft relating to one of the stories. For example, last weekend Koirala read The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle.

Keeping with this theme, families then constructed their own ladybugs out of paper plates and other craft supplies.

"When we are doing crafts and things like that, the parents sit there and do it with their kids – it's more of a together thing for the kids to be able to be with their parents," said Koirala. "And we are here to facilitate them."

The program started on March 4, and has been going well so far, said Koirala. Some weeks, there have been only two children in attendance, but other times – such as last Sunday – as many as seven children come with their families.

"I love it, it's a great program," said Kate Smith, who attended Ready for Reading last weekend with her children Hayden, 1, and Brooke, 3. "My older daughter looks forward to it every Sunday."

After craft time, the library provides a healthy snack and the rest of the hour is set aside for parents to read with their little ones.

Aside from the obvious positives of instilling literacy in children at a young age, Koirala points to a lighter benefit of attending the Sunday program: "The kids have fun."

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