Children's learning opportunities boosted

Published on 13 July 2020

Mayor Frank Carbone, State Librarian John Vallance, Councillor Dai Le and City Manager Alan Young smiling and posing with young children in the Whitlam Library's children's area

 A visit to Whitlam Library at Cabramatta is now even more fun and educational thanks to exciting improvements to the children’s library space.

The project was funded by the NSW Government’s Metropolitan Public Library Grants program through the State Library of NSW.

Fairfield City Mayor Frank Carbone said Council invested the $85,000 grant to make the space more interactive and engaging for children to learn, have fun and spend quality time with their families.

 “Council is committed to supporting the education of our City’s children. This new space will encourage children to follow their natural desire to explore, discover, learn and interact,” Mayor Carbone said.

 “The space will now be a flexible area for children aged 0-12 with mobile collections, seating for parents to read to their children and access to mobile information technology with educational apps and games.

 “Council is continually evolving our libraries from being just a place to borrow books to becoming vibrant, exciting and fun places to learn and create.”

 According to State Librarian John Vallance: "Dedicated children's library areas, well stocked with books, are perfect for attracting young people and ensuring that their first impressions of libraries are positive.

 “The range of material available in this refurbished space at Cabramatta will help the next generation acquire a permanent love for libraries and learning. That’s certainly what we’ve been finding with our Children’s Library at the State Library, and we are delighted that we’ve been able to support Cabramatta with this new development."

 The new children’s space includes state-of-the-art features, such as:

  •  an interactive projection floor
  • tactile and magnetic walls
  • sensory tables
  • Lego wall
  • i-spy table
  • a giant chess board of carpet tiles
  • portable bookshelves
  • computers, and
  • electronic tablets

 “I’m excited to see that the space has become a great sensory and learning area for our youngest residents,” Mayor Carbone said.