Regularly scheduled programming includes "Toddler Time" (stories, songs and fingerlings for children three years old and under), "Preschool Story Time" (slightly longer and more advanced for older preschoolers), and reading programs meant to encourage reading for pleasure.

The Young Adult collection has materials geared toward ages 13 to 17 and is located in the Youth Services area on the first floor. There is a comfortable place for teens to hang out to study or read.

Also, the library has collected together some Internet tips for kids, as well as Internet resources for parents and teachers. In addition, we have put together a list of World Wide Web book selection tools to help parents, teachers and kids find good books for kids to read. You may also want to check out the American Library Association's "Great Web Sites for Kids," which contains lots of links to educational and fun Internet sites for kids. Feel free to take a look if you are interested.

Need a good book to pass the time away? We can help you find one! Check out one of the newest databases on our Online Databases page -- Novelist K-8 to find fiction for kids in kindergarten through 8th grade. You may also want to check out the library's Internet links for bibliophiles or use the resources in the Reader's Corner for still more good reads.

Check out Reading Rants -- Out of the Ordinary Teen Booklists for some good suggestions. You can also look at the Harper Children's Books Reading Guides, which has reading guides for authors such as Sharon Creech, Jerry Spinelli, Francesca Lia Block and more -- or take a look at the Children's Literature Web Guide, where you'll find lots of information and resources about reading.

Registration begins June 1st at all four Fort Smith Public Library locations. Catch the Reading Bug at your Library this summer!

For more information, please call (479)783-0229.

Storytime at Windsor Drive Branch Library is held on Mondays at 10:30a.m.

Toddler Time is held Tuesdays from 10:00 - 10:45a.m. in the Children's Department at the Main Library

Storytime at Miller Branch Library is held on Tuesdays from 2:00 - 2:45p.m.

Storytime at Dallas Branch Library is held on Wednesdays at 10:30am

Evening Storytime is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30 - 7:15p.m. in the Children's Department at the Main Library

Storytime at the Main Library is held on Thursdays from 10:00 - 11:00am

Family Storytime at the Main Library is held on Saturdays from 2:00 - 3:00pm

The movies have "Oscar," Broadway its "Tony," and the recording industry has the "Grammy," but in the field of children's literature no awards are more prestigious than the Newbery and Caldecott awards. The 2007 awards were given to the children's books published in 2006 that were judged the most distinguished. Often, additional books are designated as Newbery and Caldecott "Honor" Awards.

In addition to these awards for wonderful books for children, the American Library Association also sponsors the Coretta Scott King Awards and and the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Awards for New Talent, for books which promote an understanding and appreciation of the "American Dream". Since 2000, ALA's Young Adult Division has awarded its Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature for young adults.

For more information about the history and mission of these other ALA children's book awards, as well as previous winners, visit the Awards Page for the Association for Library Service to Children.

2007 Newbery Honor Award books include Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm (Random House); Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson (Delacorte Press), and Rules by Cynthia Lord (Scholastic).

2007 Caldecott Honor Award books include Gone Wild: an Endangered Animal Alphabet written and illustrated by David McLimans (Walker); and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, illustrated by Kadir Nelson and written by Carole Boston Weatherford. (Hyperion/Jump at the Sun).

Coretta Scott King Author Honor Awards were given this year to three authors: to Tony Bolden (Harry N. Abrams, Inc.) for Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl; to Nikki Grimes (Jump at the Sun, an imprint of Hyperion Books for Children) for Dark Sons and to Marilyn Nelson (Houghton Mifflin Company) for A Wreath for Emmett Till, illustrated by Philippe Lardy.

King Illustrator Honor Award was given this year to R. Gregory Christie for Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan written by Mary Williams (Lee and Low Books).

The 2006 John Steptoe Award for New Talent award was presented to Jaime Adoff (Jump at the Sun, an imprint of Hyperion Books for Children) for Jimi & Me.

Three Printz Honor Awards were given this year to: Airborn by Kenneth Oppel (EOS, an imprint of HarperCollins); Chanda's Secrets by Allan Stratton (Annick Press); and Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidtt (Clarion Books, a Houghton Mifflin Company Imprint).

Homework Helpers are coming again! The Youth Services Division is once again sponsoring Homework Helpers, an all volunteer program provided by the Library and various club members from our High Schools.

During the school year, teen volunteers are available in the Children's Department of the Main Library, Monday afternoon through Thursday afternoon, from 4 pm to 6 pm. These Teens give of their time to help grade school age children with reading, writing, and arithmetic homework. There is no charge, and the students can come as often as they wish.