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01/24/2023 09:02 AMShe reads, she sings, she dances, she colors, she does crafts and science experiments. What is her job? Nicole Gaudreau is the children and teen librarian at the Essex Library, and all those activities are part of her day at work.
On Saturday, Feb. 4, along with other local libraries, the Essex Library will host Take Your Child to the Library Day, a program, now observed not only in the United States but internationally, that was started some 12 years ago by two Connecticut librarians. Ivoryton, Chester, and Deep River libraries are also hosting events to mark the occasion.
Nicole is planning special programs every day of the week leading up to Take Your Child to the Library Day. Her theme is building reading habits, and she is using one of the favorite building toys of childhood to illustrate the point: Legos. Among the daily events will be a Lego base to which children can add a building block every time they take out a book.
On Saturday, for youngsters from prekindergarten through second grade, Nicole will read an updated version of the classic tale Three Billy Goats Gruff, about a trio of goats trying to cross a bridge to get to a meadow with tempting grass. Then, the youngsters will build their own bridges with Duplos, larger Legos for small hands.
For children in second to sixth grade, there will be a Lego building competition with no limits to the imagination of builders. (Second graders, Nicole says, depending on their interest and comfort level, can choose whether the program for younger or older children is a better fit). Attendees are welcome to bring their own Legos, but the library also has a supply.
On a recent Friday morning story during playtime for children up to 5 years old, Nicole, sitting on a blanket, sang a song and then read a picture book. One little boy played with a toy train set and then wandered over to the library window to wave to people outside. Another toddler colored, and a third was so absorbed creating with Play-Doh, that she did not want to leave to hear the story.
“We are as much focused on socialization as the story,” Nicole says.
Nicole just had a program for youngsters up to sixth grade devoted to slime-making. One of her goals is to incorporate STEM, an acronym for science, technology, engineering, and math, into library activities.
“We brought in science concepts, and it was hands-on,” she explains.
Slime-making is messy, Nicole admits, but the program was so successful that she plans another.
Young people’s activities, Nicole emphasizes, are not just for children; they are for parents too.
“It’s a good time to meet other parents and caregivers [and] swap ideas,” she says.
Nicole, who grew up in South Windsor, graduated from Central Connecticut State University with a major in English as well as certification as an elementary school teacher. She did substitute teaching but then went back to Southern Connecticut State University for a master’s degree in library science, with an emphasis on becoming a children’s librarian. She worked as an associate in the children and teen department in East Hampton before coming to the Essex Library a year ago.
She and her fiancé bought a house in Cromwell in December. Now, she says, they are busy unpacking. He is the manager of a restaurant, Cotton Hollow Kitchen, in South Glastonbury. The pair met when Nicole was in college.
“I did a lot of waitressing,” she says. “He was so supportive when I was getting my graduate degree.”
The couple is tentatively planning a wedding this September.
Nicole loves to cook, especially Asian food. She also loves to go out to eat, but she combines the two by trying to reproduce at home what she has eaten in restaurants.
“If it tastes good, I try to recreate it,” she says.
In Essex, Nicole is enthusiastic about the feedback and personal connections with library patrons she is building.
“I love working with kids and families, seeing the impact of programs; it is super rewarding,” she says.
She wants the children’s book collection to reflect 21st century society, which means blending well-loved classics with newer books.
“When you build a collection, one of the biggest things is to represent the community of children, all kinds of children,” she says. “If there is a book on the shelf about Kwanzaa, somebody will see that and say they always wanted to learn about it. It fosters empathy for all holidays, not just the ones we are celebrating.”
Nicole adds that she does get questions about the function of a library in an electronic world with e-books and the internet. She has a ready answer.
“Libraries are an amazing resource, with programs, with getting people involved, with offering new experiences,” she says. “Libraries are places where the community comes together.”
Take Your Child to the Library Day is on Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Essex, Ivoryton, Deep River, and Chester libraries. Check the libraries’ websites for more information.