It was a joyous occasion, complete with cake and balloons as the James V. Brown library celebrated the 15th anniversary of the opening of the Welch Children’s Wing.

“One of the things that makes the Welch children’s space so impactful is that it’s one of the largest spaces in the commonwealth that’s dedicated just to children’s learning,” said library CEO and Director Amy Resh.

“Our teen and tween space on the second floor is also really fantastic because we have one of the largest teen and tween collections in the commonwealth, and that creates opportunities for creativity and to have a space they can call their own.”

“We have really robust programming for our children and youth. Some of our programs have as many as three to 500 families and kids attending,” Resh said.

“We have a partnership with Lycoming College called ‘Fizz, Boom, Read’ that’s STEM and STEAM programming. And that’s really important and impactful,” Resh explained. “Some of our other programming that people love is the drop-in story times Toddler Tales, and people absolutely love our Baby Cafe.”

Resh says much of what makes the Welch Children’s Wing special comes from the library responding to community input and needs.

“One of the things we were hearing a lot was the need for spaces that kids could play collaboratively and have that creativity,” she said.

Another example is called The Orange Room, a quiet zone where children who have learning disabilities or are feeling overstimulated can go and have quiet time or relaxation.

“We also have the museum room, which is 100% staffed by volunteers, and we’re really proud of that because they give caregivers and children the opportunity to experience things together,” Resh said.

“There’s a lot of creative play and opportunity for people to interact together.”

“We really like to think of libraries as a third space, somewhere in the community for everyone,” she said.

With that in mind, the library will soon partner with another outreach organization with the goal of providing opportunities to even more of the population.

“STEP is doing a community needs assessment, and they were kind enough to let us collaborate with them on that, so we’re going to be using the information that we learn in the assessment to figure out what the community’s needs are and then we’re going to use that to evolve our space,” Resh said.

With so much to offer, it’s no surprise that community members turn out in droves.

“Last year we saw almost 100,000 people through the doors of the library, and based on our population, I would say that probably about 20,000 of those are children, families, teens,” Resh said.

One of the most popular programs among children and parents is Toddler Tales, which gives children the opportunity to learn while making friends, and affords parents and caregivers the chance to socialize with each other.

“The kids get to hear a lot of language, a lot of rhyming, so it’s really good for speech development,” explained Robin Splain, programming professional for the library. “And they do activities that help them with their hand dexterity, so it’s good for early writing skills.”

“Parents get to meet other parents who really need the support of each other right now. I’ve seen many friendships form at this program among young moms specifically,” she added.

In addition to Toddler Tales, Splain handles programming for the library across all age groups.

“It’s a wonderful program, I can’t say enough good things about it,” said Blair Williams, of Jersey Shore. “The programs, the amount of activities they have throughout the month, the toddler social hour, the museum play room, the move and groove activities … There’s just always something to do for the kids. And I think that’s just an asset to the community.”

“I love their Toddler Tales program and all the interactive toys and that he gets to socialize with other kids,” said Mary Jo Westbrook, of Cogan Station, who has been attending with her grandson for about six months. “It’s a great library with tons of resources.”

The library has no plans to slow down, either, as they will be partnering with Lycoming College for an event around the upcoming April solar eclipse.

“We’re going to have a picnic-style program at Memorial Park with some STEM-related activities for the kiddos,” said Nicole Rader, programming and youth services director. “We have 500 eclipse glasses to hand out, and everyone is welcome to come out for that.”

“Our summer learning program kicks off Saturday, June 15, and our theme this year is ‘Adventure Begins with the Library,'” she said.

“Everything that we offer at the library is completely free of charge,” Rader said. “We’re really lucky to have so many people that love the library and want to sponsor all of these events so that children and families can experience everything our county has to offer at no cost to them.”