My Little Library Bedtime Books
To support parental engagement in reading to their children, promote library membership and foster a love of books and stories, libraries are offering a free bedtime story book for children aged 0-4 years!
Parents and children can call into their local library to collect their book. During their visit, the child will be invited to join the library and will receive a bedtime story book to take home and keep, together with a wallet and library membership card. Take a look at some bedtime reading tips here: Little Library Bedtime Reading leaflet
The gifting of books ensures that babies and young children will grow up with books in their home, but signing them up for library membership is key to ensuring they have a lifetime of access to books. We hope it will help parents and children to read together at bedtime, which is great for wellbeing and development. 
My Little Library Book Bags at Laois Libraries for all children starting school this year
To help children to navigate starting school, libraries have put together a bag of books just for them that can be collected at any library.
The ‘My Little Library Book Bag’ initiative is a collaboration between libraries and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth as part of the First 5 Strategy.
As part of the initiative, a ‘My Little Library Book Bag’ is available free for every child starting school in 2023 to help them to prepare for this big step.
Children and their parents or guardians can collect the bags at any library throughout County Laois.
Each My Little Library Book Bag contains:
- Three books on starting school, making friends and being comfortable to be yourself
- A story card on going to the library
- A postcard the child can write or draw on and send to their new teacher, or bring to give to the teacher on their first day at school
- Their very own library card and special ‘My Little Library’ cardholder
Book bags are available in both Irish and English.
Laois Libraries can’t wait to welcome all the 4 and 5 year old children from all over the county to collect their book bags and begin their library membership journey.
We hope that once they visit the library to pick up their book bag, our new library members and their families will come back regularly to keep their bag filled up with borrowed books and to take part in storytimes, classes and all the other events we have to offer at the library.
More supports to help the transition to primary school are available on the Let’s Get Ready page on Gov.ie.