Storytime at Spades Park

Storytime is back at the Spades Park Branch of the Indianapolis Public Library on Thursday, November 19. It's a recurring morning session for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers aged 0 to 5, and their adults, and it runs every Thursday morning from 10:30 to 11:00 AM in the Community Room. The first half hour is the storytime itself—stories and songs read aloud for the little ones—and that's followed by another half hour of crafts and social time from 11:00 to 11:30 AM, so the kids can keep playing and the adults can catch up while they're already there.

If you're not familiar with the branch, it's at 1801 Nowland Avenue. The building has a bit of history behind it: it was built with funds from a $120,000 grant from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation and opened in 1912, just six months after the city's other remaining Carnegie library, the East Washington Branch. It's a 7,500-square-foot space that went through a $610,000 renovation in 1987 and celebrated its centenary in 2012. The Community Room is where the session happens, and the whole thing is aimed at the 0-to-5 crowd, so it's a good fit if you've got a baby, a toddler, or a preschooler. The stories and songs come first, and then the crafts and playtime take over for the second half hour.

Since it's a weekly thing, you don't have to commit to just one date. It runs every Thursday morning from 10:30 to 11:00 AM, with the crafts and social time continuing until 11:30 AM, all at the Spades Park Branch on Nowland Avenue.