All libraries will be closed Friday, March 29th and Sunday, March 31st for our Spring Holiday.

Kids

FUN AND LEARNING

An adventurous, knowledge seeking, wonderland designed to allow kids and teens to explore the outer reaches of their imaginations.

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Storytimes


Ripple the otter makes an appearance at a children's story timeRichmond Public Library strives to provide quality storytimes that stimulate children’s minds, promote brain development, and give children the tools they need to succeed in school.

We use an overall brain development curriculum called The Basics that uses 5 simple principles:

  • Maximize Love, Manage Stress
  • Talk, Sing, and Point
  • Count, Group, and Compare
  • Explore Through Movement and Play
  • Read and Discuss Stories

These principles can be used at any age but studies show that the younger children are when they start learning the principles, the more prepared they are to start school. These basics will instill in your child a love of learning to last a lifetime.

You can learn more about The Basics at https://thebasics.org

School Readiness


Mother and Child at Richmond Public Library
Children are remarkable. Even before birth, the foundations for language, literacy, health, well-being and the ability to form positive relationships are being built.

Babies are born full of potential and the best opportunity to help them achieve life-long success is in the first years of life when more than 1 million new connections are formed each second. Because this trajectory to success begins well before school does, parents are children’s first and most important teachers.

The Richmond Public Library is free, trusted, and a welcoming hub of resources for families and children. We want to help nurture children’s early literacy skills and support families in preparing them for promising futures.

The time to start preparing your child for school is now and we can help!

Discover


Online Learning and Fun

Read eBooks, research a topic, learn new skills, play games, or watch educational videos.

RPL Presents

View our Storytime and Craft Videos on the RPL YouTube channel.

VACU Financial Success for Kids

VACU helps RPL with Kiosks of children’s books about money.

Young Writers Workshop

Do you have a great idea for a story, but not sure what to do next? We can help!

Parents & Caregivers


RVA Reads

We recruit volunteer readers to read to each preschool class at Richmond’s Five Regional Preschool Centers.

SOL Resources

Find links to videos, hands on activities and more to help your child understand concepts or enhance their knowledge with extension activities.

Latest from the Blog


March Book Chat with the Youth Services Team

childrens
families
reading-recommendations

Welcome to the another installment in our series of blog posts featuring children's books we're currently loving! "Book Chat with the Youth Services Team" features one book recommendation from each of our Youth Services team members. We cover a variety of books from fiction to non-fiction, picture books to chapter books, graphic novels and more! We hope that this month's reading recommendations get you excited about some awesome new books we've added to our collection as well as some oldies but goodies....

Picture Books to Get Ready for March Madness!

childrens
inform-enrich-empower
picturebooks
reading-suggestions
sports

  With Super Bowl LVIII now in the books and the opening day of baseball over a month away, it is time to get ready for March Madness! March Madness is the annual NCAA Division 1 basketball tournament that first began in 1939.  The initial tournament consisted of 8 teams playing for the title.  Since 1985, the number of teams playing increased to its current 64. The term “March Madness” was first coined in 1939 by Illinois high school official Henry V. Porter.  The NCAA tournament wasn’t referred to as March Madness until the...

Storytime at Home: Trains

book-reviews
childrens

Welcome to the Storytime at Home series! Every other week, we share a list of book options tied to a kid-approved theme, a craft you can set up to go along with the theme, songs/rhymes you can do during storytime, and additional enrichment activities. All books are available at Richmond Public Library, and crafts will involve items you likely have at home already! Our hope is that we can make it easy for you to share stories with your little ones and create a little bit of library magic at home.  P.S. Love library storytimes? Take a look...

Booklists for Kids