× Expand Photography courtesy of St. Louis County Library The children's space at the Thornhill Branch. The space is set to open February 13.

St. Louis County Library is set to open three new buildings in 2019 that showcase children’s areas packed with interactive features to entice families to stay and play whenever they drop by their local library branch.

The buildings are part of SLCL’s Your Library Renewed campaign, $120 million–plus project to replace or renovate 19 branches in the system. After these three branches open, the campaign will move to its final phase—replacing the library’s headquarters on South Lindbergh Boulevard.

× 1 of 2 Expand Photography courtesy of St. Louis County Library Windows that look out to branch from children's area at the Thornhill Branch. × 2 of 2 Expand Photography courtesy of St. Louis County Library These windows overlook the children's activity area garden at Thornhill Branch. Prev Next

Inside the new Thornhill Branch, opening February 13, visitors of the children’s area pass through a tunnel adorned with a funhouse mirror and emerge to find reading nooks, hands-on play stations populated with brightly colored furniture, and convex porthole windows overlooking the rest of the library space. Come spring, they’ll have access to an outdoor activity area that includes garden beds, a play structure, large percussion instruments, easels perfect for messy projects, and seating for story times.

The Mid-County Branch, which will likely open in June, also offers an enhanced children’s area. Its features include color-block framed window which look out over Clayton’s Central Avenue, comfortable reading nooks, some of which can also accommodate adult caregivers for read alongs, and a lighted table that can be transformed into a train-scape, an illuminated LEGO construction canvas, and more.

Photography courtesy of St. Louis County Library A tunnel from inside the children's area at the soon-to-be-open Thornhill Branch.

The Meramec Valley Branch, opening in late spring or early summer, will include a Discovery Zone similar to those in the Daniel Boone and Florissant Valley branches, said Jennifer McBride, SLCL’s communications manager. Like those Discovery Zones, the Meramec Valley branch will feature large touchscreens and a pneumatic tube wall among other interactive elements. For instance, this Discovery Zone offers a racetrack with a digital display that tracks times and a story wall complete with interchangeable blocks printed with words and pictures that will allow kids to create their own stories.

The Discovery Zones have become particularly popular with kids and parents who plan playdates there, McBride said.

“We’ve had people tell us it feels more like they’re at The Magic House [than a library], having that kind of interactive experience,” she said. “And that’s something we’ve kind of implemented at all the children’s spaces, even if they don’t have a Discovery Zone.”

Library programing has also evolved to fit the new and renovated spaces, with branches introducing activities such as Family Bedtime Yoga, an evening event that blends stories, songs, and gentle yoga poses to help kids and caregivers wind down, and babywearing line dancing, where an instructor leads caregivers and their attached little ones through low-impact line dance routines.

“I think, in general, the spaces are more inviting and people are looking for more from their libraries,” McBride said, “especially hands-on activities for parents and kids to engage in together.”