T-L Photo/JOSIE BURKHART Belmont County District Library Children’s Librarian Anessa Keifer is ready to welcome children into the six branches’ programs Storytime and Toddler Tales for the fall.

MARTINS FERRY — Programs to read books, socialize with others and play with Legos are ready for children at the six Belmont County District Library branches.

Storytime and Toddler Tales are two programs that started last week. Children can practice reading and socializing with others at a young age.

“I really just want the kids to enjoy themselves,” said Anessa Keifer, children’s librarian. “And I want their grownups to know that they have a safe place to just come and be. The library’s a social place, and Storytime and Toddler Tales are great places to meet like-minded people.”

Storytime is for children ages 2 and up, while Toddler Tales is for children ages 6 month to 24 months. These programs will run until Dec. 6.

Keifer said children gain a lot of knowledge from these programs.

“It’s executive function, regulatory skills. They’re learning how to be a person,” she said. “It’s not just about reading, it’s about learning how to be in your body with all of our movement songs and action rhymes. It’s learning how to hold a pencil from coloring something from one of our crafts to learning new animal sounds.”

Toddler Tales is held at the Martins Ferry Public Library at 10 a.m. and noon on Thursdays; at 11 a.m. Mondays at the Bethesda Public Library; the at 3 p.m. Mondays at Powhatan Point Public Library; at 10 a.m. Mondays at the Shadyside Public Library; and at 4 p.m. Wednesdays at the Victoria Read Public Library in Flushing. Bridgeport is the only library in the district to not hold a Toddler Tales program.

Storytime is held at the Martins Ferry Public Library at 11 a.m. Wednesdays; at 11 a.m. Fridays at Bethesda Public Library; at 11 a.m. Thursdays at Bridgeport Public Library; at 11 a.m. Mondays at Powhatan Point Public Library; and at 11 a.m. Fridays at the Victoria Read Public Library.

“There’s just so much,” Keifer said. “When people think Storytime, they really think it’s somebody just sitting here reading a story to their kid. But what we’re really doing is making connections in a kid’s brain. We’re making those brain cells talk to each other and making the connections that are going to stick with them throughout their life.”

Keifer said the employees at the libraries are trying to build social and socio-emotional skills in children, trying to get them used to each other and how to play.

Toddler Tales is a lot simpler, she said. The focus of the program is bonding between the parent and the child. It also features reading and songs. During the program at Martins Ferry Public Library, participants will file in and receive a book they can flip through with their adult. Toddler Tales coordinator Leslie Schuller will begin with an opening song and begin with a short book and a rhyme.

Keifer said depending on how the time is going, the children will move to a craft and afterward, playtime. Schuller leads Toddler Tales at the library in Martins Ferry, Powhatan Point and Shadyside. Bethesda Branch Manager Angela Lewis leads the program at the library and also in Flushing.

Storytime starts with a welcome song, and then Keifer will alternate between books, songs and action rhymes. These rhymes and songs are more involved than with Toddler Tales because the children are older, Keifer said. The program also has open play.

Library assistant Baylee Snyder leads Storytime in Bethesda, while Flushing Branch Manager Shari Ferda leads Storytime. Powhatan Point Branch Manager Jane Stratton leads Storytime there. Library assistant Ellie Bevan leads Storytime in Shadyside.

Keifer wants to get children excited about books through the programs and let them know that reading is fun and can take you to different places. She emphasized how reading is a foundation for the rest of your life.

“People are always really happy,” Keifer said. “We have grandparents that are bringing their grandkids, and they’re saying, ‘We brought our kids when they were little, and now we’re bringing their kids.’ So, it’s like a big generational thing.”

Another program offered at the Martins Ferry, Powhatan Point and Shadyside public libraries is Lego Mania, which used to be called Lego Club, but Keifer did not want children to feel excluded by that name. This program is open to children ages 2 to 15. They can play with Legos, while cards they use have sayings, such as, “Build a tractor.” The program goes on all year long but ends in October this year at the Martins Ferry Public Library because of holidays. It is at 6 p.m. every fourth Wednesday in Martins Ferry, at 4 p.m. every second Tuesday at Powhatan Point and at 5 p.m. every third Wednesday in Shadyside.

All of the programs are free and open to the public. Keifer is the children’s librarian who oversees everything for the programs.

“I love that these programs give me the opportunity to make a memory for these kids,” she said. “This stuff is going to stick with them, and I am having fourth-graders now that remember me when they were 3, when they were 2, so it’s just very fulfilling.”