Welcome Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Ph.D., Unidel H. Rodney Sharp Professor, University of Delaware!

We are at a tipping point in our educational system and in our libraries. No Child Left Behind and Every Student Succeeds has barely made a dent in our continuing poor educational performance. But we can change our mindset; we can emphasize playful learning given the research that shows that children profit from active, engaged, meaningful, and socially interactive learning that they actually enjoy. And, given the increasing prevalence of robots we need to heighten children’s learning of the skills that they will for need for the 21st Century, skills that highlight communication, collaboration, content, critical thinking, creative innovation, and confidence. Thus, using science as a base, I will argue that playful learning offers an important context for growing child’s academic, social, and physical well-being and that libraries can play a significant role in helping children learn. It is time to embrace the way that playful learning can enhance critical skills both in and out of school and in the library.

This program is made possible through the generous support of the Friends of the Worcester Public Library, and is part of Play-scape at the Library.

Play-scape at the Library is an new WPL service made possible through a federally-funded grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.