Youngsters will be able to see what it might look like to do real world tasks in an upcoming event at the Franklin library.
Part of the Franklin library branch at 401 State St. is transforming into Library Town at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Children can pretend to mail a letter with the mock post office, make or buy a scoop of toy ice cream or learn how to do laundry in a cardboard washer and dryer.
Librarians started Library Town last summer as a way to give children in the community another outlet for dramatic play, said Kalen Jones, teen and children’s librarian at the Franklin branch.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
“I have always thought this was a fun way to let the kids experience different things in the community," she said. "Kids always want to do what the grown-ups are doing."
Museums and other libraries across the state have permanent areas that allow children to have the same type of play. Children mimicking what adults do is an important area of development, Jones said.
“It is another way the kids can come in and get to play with more things at once on a daily basis," she said.
Part of the library will be transferred into a mock town where children can complete jobs and transactions. A sweet shop, post office, construction site and little library are planned, Jones said.
The American Library Association cites unstructured play as a good starting tenet to literacy, as children can make up stories about what they are doing as they go, Jones said.
“They just really enjoy having that space to themselves to allow them to do those type of things," she said.
