Collection
This library has a very strong and fresh looking collection. With access to the entirety of Siouxland Libraries materials, you can get almost everything you need. Materials range from books, music, and movies, to take home bins of toys, storytimes to go, and games.
Board Books
Caille Library has a nice collection of board books. They were clean and free of many of the bite marks or tears that collections like this sometimes have. They are placed in three different areas which allows kids to discover new items.
The large bin of three shelves of board books is pretty cluttered and very hard to sort through. It looks like they may have too many for their current shelving space.
The caterpillar is a fun way to exhibit these items. I noticed that there were many board books from an assortment of authors. These items can often be low quality and the items at Caille were high quality, fun and inviting.
Media
Caille Library's media collection includes CDs, DVDs, and Picturebooks with CDs. Customers also have access to e-audio books and e-books for kids but I did not see mention of this in the library. BookFLIX is an additional service available as well, where picturebooks are put to animations in videos.
The DVDs probably looked like the most worn area of the collection. This can happen quickly with children's movies. I think they could feature a larger non-fiction movie section for kids. It would be nice to see additional non-fiction titles featuring diversity, other cultures, and tough topics. Most of the non-fiction movies were part of the language collection, about animals, or about machines.
The Picturebooks with CDs are a smaller collection but I think it is appropriate for their size. Few people have access to CD players anymore and these items do not circulate that often. The same is true for their music collection. There is however children's music available for download on Hoopla through this library's e-services.
Picturebooks and Easy Readers
The picturebook collection at this location is excellent. I appreciate how accessible the items are and the ability to flip through titles in the top bins. This collection has been well maintained and features many books that have been published in the last 5 years. The only weakness I would see is that there was a smaller collection of classic items. This reflects their approach to continually updating their materials.
The Easy Readers included more classic titles, less new items, and was a much smaller collection. The size did seem appropriate for the library. I did not like that non-fiction easy readers were filed in within all of the other non-fiction titles. I think this makes it hard for
Games
Toy Lending Library
This is a great addition to Caille's collection. These are bins filled with toys that have interactive activities specifically for children 0 -5. This is great for families who possibly cannot afford to purchase toys for their home. They are available for a three week check out. Each location features different kits, but all are available upon request. They are provided by the Sioux Falls Soroptomists and there are over 300 kits that circulate.
They feature items like building blocks, puzzles, books, games, and more.
Storytime Bags To Go
These bags are a great resource for parents who want a ready made bag full of books and activities on the same theme. Caille has many bags to choose from. Each include a DVD, puppets, 5 books, and activity sheets.
This is an excellent way to include play when reading stories with your child.
These games are focused on the Wee Read and Play principles. They are for in-house use only, but it's great to have items like this put together for parents and children's to use. This an educational tool for both child and caregiver.