In 2025, 571 Welcome Baby bags were given to new parents in Strathcona County.
The library graciously provides Friends with an annual update and this year they shared that 571 Welcome Baby bags were given out to new parents in the county. This is all made possible through the contributions of you, our friends. So thank you!
We are proud to share the following update from the library.
“With generous support from the Friends of Strathcona County Library, the library continues to welcome the newest members of our community with a complimentary Welcome Baby kit. Each kit provides new parents and caregivers with carefully chosen resources that outline the benefits of early literacy and encourages parents to embrace the simple act of reading with their babies, as research shows that reading aloud with your child is the single biggest predictor of their future school success.
In 2025, we distributed 571 Welcome Baby bags to families throughout Strathcona County.
While this number is down slightly from the 650 that were distributed in 2024, it’s still in the range we expect. Quantities of bags given out ebb and flow with the County’s the birth rate, which has been trending slightly downward in the county for the last few years.
Our [the library’s] partnership with the Strathcona County Health Centre ensures that every new parent is offered a bag during their baby’s two-month immunization appointment. Health Centre staff frequently share how excited parents are to receive their Welcome Baby bag, noting that it sparks curiosity about the library’s early literacy offerings. Library staff have also observed a steady stream of new families joining Baby Laptime and other early learning programs after receiving their kit.
To reach those that Health Centre staff may have missed, Welcome Baby bags are available at the checkout desk in the Main Library and via Bookmobile for rural families. Youth Services staff also takes a few bags with them whenever they do any outreach at family-oriented events in the community.
The library continues to look for new ways to get Welcome Baby out into the community.”
Why is this important?
Since many new parents are under the impression that children only become readers when they are old enough to read on their own, Welcome Baby bags were designed to be an inviting way for parents to discover the importance of reading to their babies from birth.
Welcome Baby helps educate new parents about the benefits of daily early literacy activities (talking, singing, reading, playing, writing) and the many ways these activities can positively impact their child.
- Welcome Baby encourages and empowers parents to read to their children on a regular, if not daily, basis. Reading with their children is a simple and positive way for parents to engage and bond with their children – from sharing silly, interactive stories to relaxing with calm, soothing stories and rhymes, there is a book for every mood and time of day.
- Early literacy activities also help to prepare children for school – children who are regularly read to are exposed to a wide variety of words that are not often used in daily speech. Children with strong and broad vocabularies generally are better prepared to navigate the new world of school and have more positive learning outcomes.
- For many young families Welcome Baby is their first introduction to the library. The Welcome Baby bags are a small gift and a positive way to welcome new families to the library and to encourage them to visit to see what else the library offers.