Morning Story Times

Did you know that the Greenville County Library System offers over 80 morning story times each week? These programs are specifically designed for early literacy preparation for children 0-5 years old and are available at least once a week at each library location. Learn more about our individual programs and the effects that early literacy can have on your child!

Morning Story Time Programs

What is early literacy?

Early literacy is simply what a child knows about reading and writing before they can read or write. Early literacy skills can begin developing at birth and it’s as easy as having infant books available, telling stories and reading to your child. By letting children explore books by touching them, opening them and turning their pages, you’ve already given them an advantage and a head-start towards a love of books and reading!

Why early literacy is important:

Repeated and varied pre-reading exercises lay the foundation for learning to read by the time children reach school age. Believe it or not, something as simple as knowing your ABCs upon entering kindergarten can be a strong indicator of how well you will read in your adult life.

The library can help!

Attending a joyful reading program conducted in a welcoming environment during a child’s earliest years builds a positive attitude toward language, libraries, reading and books. Frequent attendance results in your child’s familiarity with libraries, books, words, music, routine and structure, librarians, other children and adults.

1. Rhymes, activities, singing and reading increase vocabulary.
2. Call and response activities and songs with movement facilitate the development of listening skills and help children begin to respond to verbal cues.
3. Listening to a book being read aloud connects the written word to the spoken word and builds awareness of syllables.
4. All of these activities enrich and expand young children’s growing receptive language long before they can articulate the sounds and express language themselves.

The Greenville County Library System is dedicated to providing quality programs and services that incorporate pre-reading skills and that will encourage parents and caregivers to promote early literacy in their children.

Programs

 Story Time – 30-minutes; preschool children. Stories, music and games for preschool children offered one day a week at each library branch location. All branches.

Mother Goose on the Loose (MGOL) – 30 minutes; ages 1 month-2 years. Introduces rhythm, rhyme, phonological awareness and other emergent literacy skills to our youngest library patrons and their adult caregivers. Simpsonville Branch.

Bouncing Babies – 20 minutes; babies up to 18 months. Hear two short stories and experience songs, nursery rhymes, finger plays and bouncing games. The combination of reading, music, rhymes and play helps babies to reach their developmental milestones.

Musical Jamboree – 30 minutes; 18 months-4 years. Exploring children’s literature using music, instruments, song and dance. Music and rhythm have been shown to enhance brain development in children.

Grandbaby Books – 30 minutes; all ages welcome. Saturday morning story time that introduces children to stories and songs and gives them the opportunity to bond with grandparents through a common activity.

Let’s Pretend – 45 minutes; ages 2-5. Offers guided play that focuses on the imagination and fosters the development of thinking, language, social and physical skills. It begins with a story that leads to pretend play.

In addition to morning story times, the Greenville County Library System also offers some evening programs:

Twilight Tales – 30 minutes; all ages welcome. Evening story time program models reading to children and acquaints them with a high quality and varied assortment of fiction.

Bilingual Story Time – 45 minutes; all ages welcome. Friday evening English/Spanish program, designed to introduce Spanish language speakers to books, music and games in English, as well as to acquaint them with the library and its materials.

Ever After Stories – 30 minutes; ages 7 and up. Evening story time that introduces children to folk and fairy tales from around the world. 

Check our online calendar for more information about times and locations of our programs!