CONWAY — Jenna Quick, who works as a nanny for a Conway family, uses the Faulkner County Library to entertain and reward the two boys in her care.
“We come every Monday, Wednesday, Friday,” she said, putting shoes back on Alec de Freitas, 1 1/2, as he played in the children’s area.
He was running around with “bread” from the toy kitchen in the room.
His brother, Aden, 4 1/2, was nearby playing a computer game.
“He loves books,” she said of the older boy.
She said she often brings them for children’s story time and crafts, too.
Story time this month is held Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday each week, and crafts are done on Wednesdays.
A Spanish story time also is held on Saturdays.
Puppet shows and performers are on the premises on Tuesdays.
Quick, who said she likes to read, said they check out four books each week from the library in Conway.
“Getting a library card is one of the first things I did when I moved here,” said Quick, 28, who is from South Carolina.
She also took yoga on Tuesday nights for a while, she said.
“If Aden’s been good all week, on Fridays he gets a movie,” she said.
The library has movies in a variety of genres available to check out.
Amy McCoy of Conway said she brings her 2-year-old daughter, Kaitlynn, to the library about once a week.
“We come here when it’s hot outside,” said McCoy, 34.
“We just really play; I don’t have a [library] card, yet,” McCoy said.
Kaitlynn was busy running from the play area to the small table to serve cake.
“She loves the kitchen; she says that’s her favorite thing,” McCoy said.
“It’s cake!” Kaitlynn said, balancing a piece of plastic cake on a plate as she came down the steps.
“She loves to get on the computers, too. She’s an only child, so I also bring her here so she can see some other little kids.”
Kaitlynn and Alec were playing in the jungle hut. Kaitlynn hid behind a gauzy curtain hanging from the roof of the hut to the floor.
“Open and close,” Kaitlynn said as she came out from behind the curtain.
“She says that’s her home there,” McCoy said.
Later, McCoy was sitting in the hut as the toddlers played outside it.
McCoy said her husband, Kevin, was one of the 500 people laid off last week from Hewlett-Packard in Conway, although she said he will be there until October.
Finding free entertainment for her daughter is “definitely” more important now, McCoy said.
The library offers programs for children and adults.
Parents and kids can pile in the car and attend Family Game Night today from 5-7 p.m.
Nancy Allen, the library’s adult services director, said all programs at the library are free.
Classes include sign language at 6 p.m. Mondays, followed by tai chi at 7 p.m.; and yoga at 7 p.m. Tuesdays.
A Pickin’ Porch is held at 9:30 a.m. each Saturday.
Afternoons in the Park, the summer concert series, is held at 2 p.m. each Sunday, actually inside the library.
“We’re serving ice cream and tea, so it feels like you’re at the park,” Allen said.
The last concert of the series will be Aug. 18, she said.
Other classes include bridge, yarn-a-holics and the library hosts a book club once a month.
Allen said the library is a great destination for the summer.
“We’re putting in our weekly newsletter, ‘If it’s too darn hot, we’re the cooling station for your brain,’” she said, laughing.
For more information, call the library at (501) 327-7482.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.