Christine Peters loves libraries and she loves her job.

Christine is a Project Officer at Public Libraries Victoria. She helps libraries across Victoria find new ways to serve their unique communities, and she has a great time doing it.

Christine knows all there is to know about the children’s services in libraries. She wants you to know all about them too.

 

Welcome Christine, thanks for taking the time to speak with us.

First, tell us about a bit about yourself: what do you love reading?

I love reading. I love promoting reading, and I often feel like I can’t get enough reading in myself.

Now that it’s cold season in Melbourne, we have our adult reading challenge on. It’s called the Warm Winter Read, so I am making myself read adult books. It just encourages people to read a little bit, or a lot, every day.

I have just finished a book by Dervla McTienen called What Happened To Nina. It’s her latest one. It was a heartstopper – I could not put it down. And I do love a good murder mystery. Jane Harper is pretty awesome as well.

I also like a bit of non-fiction. At the moment, I am reading a Brene Brown book called Dare to Lead. She’s awesome.

Being a youth librarian for so many years, I also read a lot of Young Adult, or ‘YA’ books. I think everybody should read YA. We’ve got an amazing array of very talented YA authors in Melbourne. Fleur Ferris is one of them, and Lily Wilkinson too.

Looking back, what do you recall about your parents and carers reading to you as a child? How do you think that has shaped your life?

I do remember being on my mother’s and my grandmother’s lap and being read to. The old Milly Molly Mandy, Pollyanna and the Narnia series, things like that.

But more importantly than the books, it was the experience and the feeling of cosiness. Just having their undivided attention for a little while. That’s what I remember the most: just the feeling of security, and blankets and cosiness, and just being with them. That certainly made me feel more secure.

That sense of security and connections is big part of reading together, especially with little ones.

Tell us about your job at Public Libraries Victoria.

We’re the peak body for all libraries in Victoria. We call ourselves ‘PLV’ for short.

Basically, every local library is a member of PLV. We work together, we pool our resources and we share our knowledge. We collaborate together to enhance the quality of libraries across the state.

Every library has its own community, and that’s the unique thing about libraries: they are hyper-local, and can really connect and meet the needs of each individual community. Victoria is very culturally diverse, so that can mean lots of different things for libraries in different parts of the state.

Libraries are not just there to raise literacy. The library can be a great place to come if you’re lonely. It’s a place to come and connect and participate in programs, or just use the space.

And we do a lot of outreach to vulnerable communities too.

In your experience, what are the barriers that might stop parents and carers from reading to children?

I think time is a barrier. And maybe not having a genuine understanding of what the benefits are of reading to our kids.

There’s also a feeling that maybe it can be a bit of a chore. Parents are so busy – we are all so busy – especially if you work as well. In our modern lives, it can be so hard to find the time.

There’s also access to books. Let’s face it: they’re expensive! If you take a kid to a bookstore, they’re probably going to want to buy something. But libraries let you have books for free.

I think because we’re so busy, it can feel easier to put on a TV show or device so you can get things done. And also, I suspect there can be a belief – and I felt this way too – that reading picture books is someone else’s job. People might think, ‘oh, they’ll learn to read at pre-school or school’, and so reading at home might just seem like an add-on.

But it’s not. We are our child’s first teacher, whether we like it or not.

It’s helpful to understand that reading together has so many benefits, not just for their literacy development but for family cohesion as well. It tends to slow you down a bit. You have to take some time out when you read together. And that can make you both feel great.

What do libraries offer to help parents with these barriers?

Well firstly, we offer free books! That’s a bit of a no-brainer. The books are free and there’s thousands of them.

Every library in Victoria runs things like Storytime and Baby Rhyme Time. In those sessions, we have songs and stories. We might use puppets or tell a story in a different way, rather than just with a book.

Parents and children can come to these sessions together. We interact with families, not just the children. And it’s free.

When you come to those programs, there will be lot of helpful messaging from the librarians, and a lot of modelling too. You won’t be sitting down and listening to a lecture. You will just see how the librarian does things, like using different voices to read the book. You can join in too!

The library team are your cheer squad! We just want to help. And we want to show you how easy it can be.

So singing together can be helpful too?

Singing and reading and talking to your child is so enriching, and really creates a comforting and supporting environment where your children can just be themselves. Reading and talking and singing and playing together is so important for literacy development. And when you do it from the time they are babies, you make it so easy for them to read later on.

We know from research that kids who know eight nursery rhymes by-heart by the time they are 4 years old are often the best readers by the time they are 8 years old. And that’s not even using books! It’s just the parents’ voices singing the nursery rhymes.

Little kids just love the sound of your voice – that’s what they want to hear. It can be a settling thing. It doesn’t matter if you can’t sing. Your child just wants to hear your voice.

We’re going to be spending time with our kids anyway, so we may as well enjoy it. It’s pretty hard to be in a bad mood when you’re singing and clapping.

What are your top 3 tips for parents and caregivers to make libraries part of their lives, and enjoy reading to young children more?

First of all, join the library! It’s completely free. And you can join as many libraries as you like in Victoria. I just highly recommend finding your local library branch and joining up.

Secondly, borrow books. Take your children to the library. Take them when there are programs on, or when there’s nothing on and they can just explore.

Let them choose their books – depending on their age, of course – and borrow as many books as you like. There is not even one library in Victoria that charges overdue fines anymore. So if your library books are late, they’re late. You won’t get punished. Just return them when you can.

I often say to parents, put a basket somewhere at home that’s just for library books. So they just go back in there. That kind of helps you to manage it.

Most libraries will have an app, so you can have an online account and manage your loans that way.

Thirdly, come and join in the library programs. We have programs in lots of community languages, like Vietnamese, Chinese, Greek and Arabic.

For people who are new to Australia, the libraries in their home countries might be a bit elite. But it’s very different here. The library is a community hub now and everyone – absolutely everyone – is welcomed.

Don’t feel intimidated if you don’t know anyone. It won’t take you very long to feel like you’re part of the group and part of the community. Your children will love it and you will feel supported in your parenting journey.

Also, you can talk libraries with your friends, or your playgroup. Talk about what you are reading to your kids. If you’re going to meet for coffee or go to the park, maybe meet at the library first. It’s just making it part of everyday life.

It can be hard to get out the house with small children, so how can people connect with the library from home?

Every library will also have a digital ‘branch’, so for kids there are things like educational games online and access to StoryBox library.

It’s amazing; they do high-quality videos with a lot of famous people reading stories to kids. So if your child needs to be in front of a screen for a while, it would be great to listen to a picture book being read out loud.

We have e-books and audiobooks, which are great for little kids. There are lots and lots of stories they can listen to in the car and give you a break. And all of this is free when you sign up to be a member.

Thank you Christine!

According to PLV, “there are 291 public library branches, 233 mobile library stops, and 72 other library outlets in Victoria”. Look for your nearest library here.