Reading hour available to families in library’s new children’s area

The children’s area of the Roberts Library at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary now has a more accessible location and a family reading hour every other Saturday, providing campus families a new space for their children to visit on Seminary Hill.

“We invite all our seminary community families to visit Roberts Library new children’s reading area,” said Craig Kubic, interim library director. “We hope they will find good material for their children and a fun space to share stories. Both Roberts Library and Bowld Library are happy to serve our students and their families. You are invited to visit and check out books to read with your children.”

Natasha Pittman, a Master of Arts in Missiology student from Russia, said she enjoys taking her three daughters to the different areas of campus such as the RAC and the Student Center that have places for families to be active. But she also wanted a quiet space and looked for that in the children’s section of the library.

“We were discovering more and more books,” Pittman said of the children’s collection. “The collection was so good, and they are such great books that you do want to read, and you do want to introduce your kids to” the books.

Previously, the children’s books were located on the second floor, but because it was in an area intended for quiet study, it was not a place for children to spend time and read books out loud without disturbing others. Pittman said she began to consider what it would be like if the children’s books could be moved to a different section and if families could be involved in library reading events.

Jason Runnels, senior librarian, said he also wanted to relocate the books so they would be more visible and accessible to families.

“It’s an awkward place for kids to be,” Runnels said of the previous juvenile area. “It was hidden. And so, we were talking about trying to move it somewhere, we just didn’t have any place to move it.”

He also said he had aspirations of hosting events that could be for seminary families but also for families from the neighborhoods surrounding the library as a Gospel outreach. But at the time they never had the right location or manpower to carry out those plans.

At the end of May, a leak resulted in water damage in the upstairs archives. Pittman’s husband, a facilities supervisor, was helping with the clean-up process at the library and mentioned his wife’s idea for the children’s library to Runnels, who was quick to agree with that plan.

With the addition of some shorter wooden shelves, perfect for children to reach, and rugs, posters, and other children’s furniture, the space on the south side of the first floor of the library seemed the ideal location.

A Texas Baptist College freshman orientation class led by Stephanie Litton, assistant vice president for Student Services and assistant professor of educational leadership, helped move the books and furniture. Without their help Runnels said it likely would have taken a couple more months for it to be completed.

Litton said assisting at the library was the semester service project for the 30-40 freshmen students in the orientation class. Such projects help students feel more ownership of the campus while assisting the seminary in different areas, Litton said.

“I’m really excited to see this service to our students and to their families, and have a place for our kiddos to feel like they’re part of campus,” Litton said of the children’s library area, adding that it fits with the different family ministry concentrations and degrees the seminary provides.

The new area features large windows, adult and children’s furniture, some toys, coloring sheets, and the shorter bookshelves, providing what Pittman called a very thoughtful space.

“Now there’s just so much room to really peruse,” Pittman said.

As the space began to come together, Pittman initiated discussions with other parents around campus and started a reading hour that will be held every other Saturday throughout the fall semester. Mothers volunteered to help lead.

“The idea that I had was that we don’t need a librarian to do that, because, of course, everybody is working,” Pittman said. “But it was more of a community reaching out to community.”

Runnels said he is grateful for the leadership of Southwestern families in putting together the reading hour, which held its first gathering on Sept. 27 and will meet again at 10:15 a.m. on Oct. 10.

“It wasn’t something that we could really do or had had the foresight to figure out how to get it done,” Runnels said. “I think this is that answer to prayer because it’s really not our forte to manage a missions event or evangelistic event in that way. But to have parents from campus who want to do the same sort of thing, and now they have the place, it just kind of falls together.”

Pittman said having this opportunity on campus is especially helpful for international families who may not have consistent transportation to take them off campus to visit other libraries. She said she hopes it can grow into a way to reach families outside the seminary as “a good outreach and exposure that there is a safe place with safe literature for the kids, but also presentation of the Gospel if those people are willing to come and listen.”

Runnels said what started as an effort to relocate the children’s books, “moved into much greater things,” as it became a whole-campus effort.

“I do think it’s a great opportunity, especially for the families on campus to spend time together and also reach out,” Runnels said.

Families interested in participating in or volunteering to read during the reading hour can come to the event at 10:15 a.m. on Oct. 10, and every other Saturday following through Dec. 6. Students, staff, and faculty are also invited to be involved in the new campus ministry.

Runnels said they will accept books donated to the children’s section of the library. Such books would go through an approval process at a pace manageable for the current library staff.