Services to Preschoolers and Adults

6 'Children in the library/ stand no longer by your knee./ Children turning page on page/ are not children, have no age./ Have no heed, no hand to take;/ go at will, with whom they like." These lines from Norma Farber's poem describe the self-confident and independent modern child, who approaches the library as one more experience in a busy life. For the preschooler, who by virtue of age shares the library experience with an adult, some wide-eyed wonder may still remain. For librarians the word "preschooler" has taken on a new definition. It no longer refers to the three- to six-year-old child. From birth on the child has a place in the library's scheme of things. For instance, Toronto, Ontario hospitals send the new mother home with a pamphlet from the Mississauga Library System describing sources in the library that will help her cope with and enjoy her baby. In short, the public library is involved in "early childhood education," aptly defined as being "concerned with the total development of each young child from birth with all his components for growth, including physical, intellectual, emotional, social and adaptive." Materials are chosen with child's developmental and recreational needs in mind, creating an increased interest in realia, especially toys that can provide the concrete experiences to which the very young child responds best. Toy-lending arrangements of all kinds have been tried.published or submitted for publicatio