Welcome to the Children’s Room
The Children’s Room is a special space for children and families to play, read, and do schoolwork all in one place.
Need Help?
Ask our friendly Youth Services staff for help at the Children’s Reference Desk. Our Librarians and Library Assistants can help you find your favorite book series, provide suggestions for what to read next, and find information for your school project. If Finkelstein doesn’t have the materials you’re looking for, we can use your library card to request the items from other libraries in the system or place a hold on popular items that are frequently checked out.
Stay A While!
The Children’s Room has multiple seating areas for children of all ages and their caregivers. Children with their own library card can log onto the internet for free to do homework or play games. Students can print up to 10 free pages per day. Our AWE computers offer educational, internet-free games. Our Early Literacy table offers games geared for ages 2-7, while the After School Edge table is perfect for ages 8-13. Spanish speakers and English language learners shouldn’t miss our bilingual AWE computers. If you enjoy our educational games, check out one of our launchpads to keep the good times going after you leave! We also offer a plentiful toy area for our littlest patrons. When it’s time to “go,” the Family restroom features a changing station and is large enough for your stroller, and young children love the potty that’s just their size.
Encourage your Young Readers
If you remember the book and CD kits of the past but no longer have a CD player, then Wonderbooks are for you! Wonderbooks, or Readalongs, feature rechargeable devices attached right to the book. Follow along with the story, turning the page when you hear the chime. Wonderbooks are available for a variety of ages and reading levels, and are ideal for English language learners. Along that same wall you’ll find our Phonics kits in their red bags.Phonics kits focus on different letter sounds and groups while featuring popular children’s characters, perfect when considering materials for beginning readers.
Browse Our Collections
We have so many special collections of books just for you at the Library! Browsing is made easy with our themed monthly displays that feature books hand-picked by the Youth Services Librarians. In the Children’s Room you will find: Board books, Picturebooks, Advanced Picturebooks, Easy Readers, Young Readers, Middle Grade Fiction, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Biography, Who Was, Nonfiction, DVDs, Audiobooks, Music CDs, Magazines and more!
The Youth Services Department is proud of East Ramapo’s diverse population, which we strive to replicate in our collection. Keep an eye out for the blue J stickers to grab a book from our Traditional Jewish Collection. Readers can find books about kids like them by looking for the Diversity sticker. Visit the World Language collection to pick up books in French, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Spanish, and Yiddish! Not finding what you’re looking for? Stop by the Children’s Desk to place a hold with your library card.
You can also celebrate with a book from our Holiday collection. We currently feature books for: Christmas, Diwali, Easter, Halloween, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Passover, Purim, New Year, Ramadan, Sukkot, Thanksgiving, Three Kings Day, Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur, and Valentine’s Day! We also have books for parents on topics such potty training as well as books for parents to read with their children dealing with difficult subjects such as grief, homelessness, moving households, and more in our Parenting Collection.
But wait there's more!
Looking for something fun to do with the kids this weekend? Check out one of our museum passes for free admission to over 20 attractions. Head up to the second floor Reference Desk to take out a Museum Pass. Keep going up to the third floor where Adults can check out Hotspots & Chromebooks to access the internet from anywhere! Of course you can always use your library card at home to access eBooks & Streaming Services so you can find your next read on Comics Plus, Libby, or Freading. Stream a movie from Hoopla or Kanopy for a family movie night!
