The Bornt Branch Library is located in one of the neighborhoods in Schenectady with the most transient residents. Addiction clinics, government subsidized housing, and homeless shelters comprise some of the library's neighbors. Accordingly it is one of the neediest areas with high poverty and high crime. Despite those barriers to service, the location opened February 2016 in a new building with services 51 hours per week and as a Family Place Library in the developmental stage. It received its Family Place Library designation May 2017 and it remains the first, and only, Family Place Library across our 9 location county system.
Defying the obstacles, families recount numerous positive aspects to the parent/child workshop and increasingly in 2018 used the Family Place Library as a destination. Parent and caregiver comments underscore that outside of the library, they rarely hear about the importance of play and its role in early literacy. After attending the parent/child workshop at the Bornt Branch, parents reveal they read to their children more, speak in detail to them and narrate daily activities, see greater confidence and independence in their children, and engage their children in sensory play activities. Parents universally appreciate the socialization that comes with the parent/child workshop participation. Librarians and resource professionals universally appreciate the observed skill development and the support service agency referrals made through the program. Families often return for subsequent offerings of the parent/child workshop as their children advance with new developmental challenges or with new members of their brood.
Families with children of all ages appreciate the toys and the play area is a big draw for families from across the region. In a neighborhood ripe with uncertainty and flux, the library and its programs are an important constant in the lives of local families.