Reading with babies

Reading to your baby is a wonderful shared activity you can continue for years to come — and it's important for your baby's brain. By the time babies reach their first birthday, they will have learned all the sounds needed to speak their native language. The more stories you read aloud, the more words your baby will hear and the better they'll be able to talk.

Did you know, reading aloud with your baby is brilliant because it...

• Teaches baby about communication
• Introduces concepts such as numbers, letters, colours, and shapes in a fun way
• Builds listening, memory, and vocabulary skills
• Gives babies information about the world around them

Hearing words helps to build a rich network of words in a baby's brain. When you read to your baby:

• Your baby hears you using many different emotions and expressive sounds. This supports social and emotional development
• It encourages your baby to look, point, touch, and answer questions. This helps with social development and thinking skills
• Your baby improves language skills by copying sounds, recognising pictures, and learning words

But perhaps the most important reason to read aloud is that it makes a connection between the things your baby loves the most — your voice and closeness to you — and books. Spending time reading to your infant shows that reading is important. And if infants and children are read to often with joy, excitement, and closeness, they begin to associate books with happiness — and new readers are created.

Baby's first library card!

Your baby can have their own library card as soon as they're born - just drop in to sign up. We've got lots of great baby books to borrow - take a look at the page below for some inspiration. The Library is a breast feeding friendly space, with baby change and an area to leave prams in the Entrance Hall. Plus, no one will shush you or baby in our welcoming Children's Library on the first floor.