A favorite program — storytime — will return to the library at the end of this month for babies through pre-schoolers.

Lee County Library System Youth Service Coordinator Amy McWilliam said storytime is usually the first introduction to the library. She said is also serves another purpose, a destination where parents can connect with other parents.

For the past year and a half that connection was put on pause, leaving parents asking where they can go to meet other parents with small children. McWilliam said in essence, babies are entering the library for the first time at a year and a half old.

“We miss our babies and miss our kids so much. That, to me, is super exciting, to be that connection with new families,” she said.

At East Lee County Library Baby Rhyme Time, newborn to 18 months old, will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays, starting Aug. 25 and Toddler Tales, 18 to 36 months, will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays, starting Aug. 24. Caretakers attend these storytimes with their children.

Preschool Storytime, for ages 3-5, will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursdays, beginning Aug. 26. Parents are encouraged to let their child attend this storytime independently.

Family Storytime will be held every other Saturday, beginning Sept. 4, at 11 a.m. for all children up to 5 years old with their caregiver.

East Lee County Library Senior Librarian and Head of Youth Services Kamara Shonhai said for each storytime participants can definitely expect a book, or stories, dancing, singing, playing and rhyming. She said for Baby Rhyme Time there will be dancing and developing social skills, as well as maybe one book.

As the age increases, there will be more movement, as well as more stories. Family Storytime, due to the range of ages, will feature at least one book, as well as a lot of movement and activities.

“We have been missing our kids,” Shonhai said. “We are really excited about our storytimes. I am personally going to do Baby Rhyme Times working with new babies, moms and dads.”

Another program that started in July is Kids Read Down Fines, which is offered every Thursday from 4 to 5 p.m. at East Lee County Library and the third Saturday of the month from 1 to 2 p.m. This program is for kids who have their own library cards.

“That is an opportunity for children who have fines on their library card come into the library and read for up to an hour and get those fines waived from their card,” Shonhai said. “It’s just for late fees, not for damage, or lost material.”

When the Summer Reading Program started earlier this summer they definitely saw a lot more people walk through the library, Shonhai said, adding patrons shared their excitement that the Summer Reading Program was brought back to the branches.

“They were ready. There is definitely a good amount of participation. We are seeing people daily. New people daily looking to sign up for the Summer Reading Program,” she said.

McWilliam said before school was let out for the summer, the library distributed 40,000 12-page activity booklets throughout the Lee County School District. The booklets had such items as Mad Libs, crossword puzzles and a reading log. She said the booklets, which also had information about receiving a free book, at a library branch, were perfect for those who could not participate in the Summer Reading Program online version.

Additional programs will be offered systemwide for patrons who visit the library.

As of Aug. 10, branches are offering self-directed programs. These offer craft activities on the table for folks to do on their own when they visit a library branch.

The crafts will vary by branch.

Additional programs will begin in October for kids, teens and adults. As far as what programs, McWilliam said it will be left up to the branches to roll out what they see fit.

“It might be a slower start. Our staple programs, bread-and-butter programs, will be offered,” she said, such as monthly STEM programs for kids. “We are really looking forward to in-person activities for kids, teens and babies and hoping to get back to teen volunteer opportunities inside of the library soon.”

McWilliam said since they have not offered in-person programming throughout the year, that budget was able to purchase great kits. A lot of cool new programs for families will be coming up.

“Stay tuned for that,” McWilliam said.