Library offers learning, community place for families

When Heidi Gunn and her family moved back to the Dunlap area after nearly 20 years, the first place she took her daughters was to the library.

“It’s good for our girls to know that where ever you go there is a library that you can plug in to,” said Gunn, referencing her daughters Lucy, 5 and Stella, 2.

Gunn and her husband Kevin, bought a home in Dunlap and were excited that the Dunlap Branch was less than a mile from their home, becoming a great place to go to meet other families and prepare their daughters for school.

When they lived in Colorado, Gunn said that they were frequent users of their library and that when they moved, finding their new local library was an important transitional component for their daughters.

“It’s a place for the girls to feel familiar,” she said.

Gunn said Lucy will be starting kindergarten at Ox Bow Elementary School this week, while she continues to give Stella preschool lessons at home.

“I taught preschool and when we were living in Denver, we felt comfortable homeschooling our girls for preschool,” she said. “What’s nice for Stella is to come here and we can incorporate all of the awesome library programs into our lessons.”

She also uses the library’s materials in order to teach her daughters as well.

“When you home school, it’s nice to not have to own every single awesome book.” she said.

Even with one child now in school, Gunn still plans to attend many library programs in the afternoons this fall.

“I love that a lot of the programs start at 4:30 p.m., it’s great for parents with kids in school, you can pick them up and come into the library,” she said.

Gunn said she especially enjoys bringing her girls to the library’s storytimes for the socialization and crafts. She’s also had them involved in 1,000 books before kindergarten and the summer reading program.

Whether it’s picking out new books to read or attending a craft making program, Gunn said their family will continue to love and use their library.