Read, Baby, Read Storytime in the Park

Read, Baby, Read is back in Rittenhouse Square on Wednesday, October 21, at 10:30 AM. It's a baby storytime session run by the Free Library of Philadelphia, and this one is held outdoors by the Goat Statue, weather permitting. The session is built around bounces, songs, and stories for babies and toddlers, with an interactive baby playtime that follows the reading. It's part of the library's wider baby storytime series, which is run by library staff and focused on early language and literacy development.

The session is hosted by the Philadelphia City Institute, a Free Library branch on the west side of Rittenhouse Square that serves the square, Fitler Square, and Center City west of Broad Street. The Institute has a long history in the neighborhood: its non-profit Board of Managers has supported a free library in Center City since 1855, and the building has moved three times before landing at 1905 Locust Street in 1956. It joined the city-wide Free Library system in 1944.

In its early years, the Institute played a different role than it does now. It used to stage weekly lectures by prominent Philadelphians and run free night schools, which started out for young men only before opening to women. Today, it's one of the many branches that make up a system putting on more than 28,000 programs for all ages every year. This particular session is one of those, taking the library's storytime out of the building and into the park.

If you're planning to go, just keep in mind it's outdoors, so it'll happen weather permitting. It's on Wednesday, October 21, at 10:30 AM by the Goat Statue in Rittenhouse Square.