In celebration of its reopening Saturday afternoon, the Palo Alto Children’s Library is taking steps to inspire a new generation of readers and innovators.
In the back courtyard of the library at 1276 Harriet St., parents and children gathered for the afternoon program — a puppet show — after which Mayor Ed Lauing and Palo Alto Library Services Director Gayathri Kanth spoke about the library’s continuing legacy and impact.
According to Lauing, the Palo Alto Children’s Library was built in 1940, making it the first free-standing children’s library in the United States. Lauing said this summer’s renovations included the creation of a new system to increase the reach of children’s books in the district.
“In this renovation, the children’s library was upgraded with an automated system to circulate children’s collections from all the libraries, which is 45,000 different children’s books from all the libraries,” Lauing said. “It [the library] was also re-carpeted and repainted new color schemes. It ties the colors all together with the fireplace and amazing artwork.”
Lauing said the building now houses 40,000 books, aiming to serve children through 5th grade, and boasts an expansive record of programs.
“In the last three years, the children’s library … hosted 260 programs, which took in 29,000 visitors,” Lauing said.
San José State University’s Library Technology Integration Lab partnered with the Palo Alto City Libraries in 2023 to build children’s exposure to emerging technologies in accessible areas.
According to Lab Manager Alfredo Alcantar, joint programs at libraries like showcases, livestreams and this event can increase children’s opportunities to interact with new tools.
“We [LTI] are here, bringing our tech to help promote digital literacy and getting this tech into the hands of folks [to whom] it’s not accessible,” Alcantar said.
According to Alcantar, LTI also brought one of SoftBank Robotics’ humanoid Pepper robots, named Rosie, to the celebration.
“It [Rosie] is a robot that is interactive and could do story times,” Alcantar said. “It could be programmed to do a bunch of other things. Right now, it’s just [doing] simple games to be interactive with the students.”
According to Anthony Chow, founder of the LTI Lab, other featured technologies, like drones, can be a great way to bridge the digital divide with children.
“The idea is kind of to demystify, just by just by him [the child] holding the console and realizing it’s not that difficult,” Chow said.
According to Kanth, she sees the Children’s Library as a great connector for the Palo Alto community, as well as a place where children can learn to love reading, a pastime they can revisit anytime in their adult life.
“When you’re introduced to words and stories and music when you’re a baby, you become a reader,” Kanth said. “Even the ones who think they’re not going to read anymore — they’ll listen to a podcast or other things like that — they’ll go back to reading.”