By ARIADNE WILL
Sentinel Staff Writer
After serving the community for 30 years, the nonprofit program Babies and Books is stronger than ever.
The program was launched in 1991, as an effort to improve student achievement.
“The people who started it in the beginning were Orriene Denslow, myself, and Tracy Allen,” said Lois Rhodes, the Babies and Books treasurer, and a former Mt. Edgecumbe librarian. Denslow also was in education, and Allen was the children’s librarian at the public library.
Rhodes added in an email that former Baranof Elementary Librarian Dona Foster and teachers Kara Knox and Harvey Brandt also were involved in the program’s creation.
“Encouraging parents to read to their children was an important goal because we knew that students were much more successful if they’d been read to,” she said.
In this February 26, 1993, photo from the Sentinel archives, Laurel Enloe wears a paper crown as she and other babies celebrate the anniversary of the Babies and Books program at Kettleson Memorial Library. Other children pictured are, from left, Lindsey Anderson, Nickelle Raschick and Amanda Burd. (Sentinel file photo)
Initially, Babies and Books gave new parents a book and information about the organization right after a child’s birth. The packet parents received included an invitation to events hosted by the program at the library, then named Kettleson Memorial Library.
“The library was very important because by our having the programs in there, the parents understood a little more about the library and what was available for their children and themselves,” Rhodes said.
She said that the program followed the children for their first three years. That included a book given on a child’s first birthday, and additional information on child reading materials and specific developmental issues.
“We were doing everything,” Rhodes said, “but mostly it was books.”
The program still distributes books to newborns and infants, and continues to hold events with activities.
Rhodes said that up until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Babies and Books was attracting 30 to 50 participants to each event.
The program has since been hosting grab-and-go events with a virtual, read-aloud component.
Cheryl Vastola, a Babies and Books board member, explained that those participating receive a bag with a book and an activity, both of which follow a theme.
The next event will be held Feb. 13, and is titled “You Are My Sunshine.”
“We have a lot of rainbow activities and there’s some books for kids to take,” Vastola told the Sentinel. “It’s not the same as our big event — we miss that face-to-face contact and seeing families and kids, but this is the next best thing.”
For her, Vastola said, the program is not just about supporting Sitka’s children.
“It definitely promotes reading and interaction between parents and children, but it’s (also) great for parents to network,” she said. “You’re with all these people who are in the same situation as you are (and) you have kids who are similar ages.”
The program receives support from community organizations such as Sitka CHARR, Rotary Club, and the White Elephant, as well as Sitka Legacy Fund, Friends of the Library, and Sitka Women’s Group.
Those wishing to preregister for the Feb. 13 Babies and Books event should call Sitka Public Library at (907) 747-4020.
