Four years ago, Emily Jenkins had just moved to North Haven with her family, including her seven-month-old son. As she was new to town and new to being a mom, she began exploring her options for things she needed like a pediatrician, a pediatric dentist, childcare, and more.

“I began to think that if I need theses resources, there must be other people who need them, too, so I started putting resources together,” said Jenkins, who is the head of children’s services at the North Haven Memorial Library. “A lot of libraries host preschool fairs, but I needed more than preschool—I needed the specialty stuff—so put together the first Parent Resource Fair. It was such a successful event that we’ve found the need to continue it the past four years.”

Now the event is in its fourth year and will have more than 20 organizations offering parents resources and information on everything from healthcare to daycare, summer camps to scouting, and everything in between. The fourth annual Parent Resource Fair will be held on Saturday, March 21 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the North Haven Memorial Library, 17 Elm Street.

“As the event has grown, not only has the community of parents become more aware that it’s happening, but the organizations have, too, and are coming to me to share their resources with families,” said Jenkins. “We have several new organizations this year so even if you’ve come in the past, you won’t be disappointed because there’s new information.”

There are currently 22 organizations that have registered to host a table at the 2020 Parent Resource Fair, including: Pediatrics Plus, Little Zion Preschool, Girl Scouts of Connecticut Inc., 2-1-1 Connecticut, North Haven Lions Club, Sacred Heart of Jesus Daycare-Preschool-Kindergarten, Musical Folk/Music Together of New Haven, Children’s Dental Associates of Hamden, Friends of the North Haven Library, Northford Preschool Academy LLP, St. Therese Nursery School, Werth Your While Nutrition, Metro-North Railroad TRACKS Program, Children’s Medical Group, La Leche League of Hamden/North Haven, CT, Cub Scout Pack 810, Sunny Side Up, Feldman Orthodontics, High Lane Club, Paradise Country Club, Hamden/North Haven YMCA, Yale Child Study Center—YAY Lab, North Haven Board of Education, and New Haven Public Schools Choice & Enrollment.

As visitors come into the library, they receive a paper listing each of the organizations. When they visit tables, the organization stamps the paper and anyone who collects stamps from every table can turn in their paper to a raffle for a $25 gift card to Target donated by the Friends of the North Haven Library.

“We started the raffle last year and it went really well,” said Jenkins. “It encourages more facetime between the patrons and the organizations, and who doesn’t love Target?”

The event is free and open to the public. The table spaces for community organizations are also free. While there is no charge for the event, there will be representatives from the North Haven Lions Club collecting used eyeglasses and the Food Bank will collect non-perishable food donations.

The library is also hosting a special event at 11 a.m. in the Children’s Room.

“Animal Embassy is coming to do a live animal show, so it’s a little something extra to encourage people to come in the door and enjoy themselves,” said Jenkins. “The kids get to learn about the animals and even pet some of them. It’s a great show.”

Jenkins notes that many children also enjoy attending the fair because many tables have free giveaways. She also said that while the focus early on was on younger children, there is now information for parents with children of all ages.

“A lot of tables hand out little freebies, so the kids have fun going from table to table getting the candy or toys and they are encouraged to stay and enjoy the animal show,” said Jenkins. “It started as something for new parents and people who are new to town, but it really has grown to include information for parents in general.”

For more information, call 203-239-5803 or visit www.northhavenlibrary.net.