Library’s Family Center a Hit with Kids, Parents

There is a little more hustle and bustle than usual in some parts of Darien’s , but the staff doesn’t mind one bit.

Instead, they are enjoying watching parents and their children take advantage of the library’s new Family Center, which was built as part of last year’s renovation project.

“It’s wonderful,” Mary-Jo Wolsky, youth services programming coordinator, said of the Family Center. “I just think it’s a dream come true.”

While preschoolers and kindergartners can take advantage of age-appropriate computer games, puzzles and books in the Family Center, parents can relax in comfortable chairs. There is also furniture designed for parent and child interaction and educational toys, all to enhance children’s developmental skills.

“We’ve just gotten wonderful reviews from our public for it,” said Jamie Bukovac, library director. “We have so many parents and children in there. For the children it’s the first place they go when they come to the library. They know it’s their spot.”

Before the creation of the Family Center, the library had an area designated for that age group, Bukovac said.

“But there wasn’t a lot of seating or space. So that was one of our goals,” she said. “We feel early literacy is so important. There are all kinds of studies on this and how it improves children’s chances as they enter school.”

The previous space also did not have computers dedicated to that age group.

“We realized that was also a problem we wanted to resolve,” Bukovac said.

The Family Center was paid for in part with donations from the families of former longtime trustee Terry Noose who passed away, and longtime patron Joyce Griffith, as well as the Darien Women’s Club.

Plaques in honor of Griffith and Noose hang in the Family Center.

The area also contains an artificial tree sculpture created by artist Rick Cortez of Cortez Design Inc.

“We wanted to create a special identity for the Family Center and had been using nature as a design theme so we went with trees,” Bukovac said.

Indian Prairie Public Library is located at 401 Plainfield Road. For more information, visit www.​indianprairielibrary.​org.