Brighton Memorial Library
585-784-5300 Rochester, NY
Welcome to the Children's Center
& the Brighton Kiwanis Discovery Room
In the Children's Center, our goal is to provide your family with enriching opportunities through our materials and programs.
The Children's Center is staffed by professional children’s librarians who offer reader’s advisory and reference services to support the growth and development of your children. Here you can find materials appropriate for children, from infant through fifth grade reading levels, including the following:
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Books in a variety of formats
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DVDs and Blu-rays
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Audiobooks on Playaway mp3 players or on CD
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Read-along Wonderbooks with attached mp3 player or books with accompanying CD
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LeapPad and LaunchPad tablets preloaded with learning apps for children
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Video games
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…and more!
We also have Internet computers for parents and children, and iPads preloaded with learning apps for children. In addition, we offer our Library Learning Lab -- a monthly program developed to provide educational opportunities for learners of all abilities and ages and their caregivers to explore, play, and learn in an open environment of self-directed educational activities.
In our Brighton Kiwanis Discovery Room you and your children are invited to discover, play, learn, and grow in an enhanced interactive environment with multimedia technology and opportunities for creativity. You will also find opportunities to practice the skills detailed in the Every Child Ready to Read program while in the Discovery Room.
Brighton Memorial Library offers themed Talking is Teaching Bundles! Parents and caregivers with children ages birth – 4 can sign up to receive a new bundle every month (from September- May) that will include the following:
• Books based on the monthly theme (checked out to your account)
• Calendar of activity ideas and learning tips
• Songsheet of songs and rhymes
• Extension activities
• A music CD (if desired)
• ...and more!
To participate, fill out the one-time registration form by using the purple button above. If you don't have a library card, stop in with photo ID, and we'll get you set up with one!
The Carol Heininger Wahl Memorial Children’s Literary Garden is located on the south side of our library and can be seen from inside the Children's Center. The memorial garden was made possible with major gifts from Brighton Memorial Library donors Thomas R. Wahl, Jr. and Katie Wahl Sullivan and from Shubhangi Gandhi of Razak Associates, LLC, with contributing support from other donors.
The design of the garden evolved around the central theme of children, literature, and nature. Located just outside the Children’s Center, the garden features meandering paths, perennial beds, shrubs to attract butterflies and birds, ornamental trees, quotations from children’s literature related to the plantings, benches for relaxing, and a child’s sized amphitheater for warm-weather storytimes.
The free-form stamped concrete walkway forms the core of the design. The main entrance is emphasized by freestanding timber structures, and a walk through them lends perspective and draws the eye into the space beyond. Undulating berms provide enclosure and lead to the grassy steps of an amphitheater nestled between the trunks of two trees for naturally canopied outdoor storytimes.
The trees, shrubs, and flowers are native species that are easy to identify in a dynamic seasonal landscape. Color, texture, smell, and form play an important part in the array of flora.
We welcome you to our garden and hope you will stroll, relax, read, and enjoy our four-season display.
Carol Heininger Wahl Memorial Garden
Rachel's Fairy Garden Library
Young and old will enjoy Brighton Memorial Library's newest addition -- a sweet fairy garden filled with little animals with a penchant for reading, windchimes, fairy lights, and a stone home for the tiny critters.
Named Rachel's Fairy Library, the garden was created in memory of Rachel Axelrod. Rachel was a Friends of BML Board member, Books Sandwiched In committee member, and book sale volunteer who helped sort donations and do Internet sales. She spent her working years as a middle school librarian and during retirement could be found attending storytime with her grandchildren. She loved the outdoors, her family, her faith, good chocolate, and great books.
The fairy garden was designed by BML Circulation Manager Jennifer Mancuso. Russell Cragg, Friends of BML member and garden volunteer, created the stone house. The little animals, windchimes, and tiny lights were donated by several of Rachel’s friends.
Library visitors can view the fairy garden from inside and outside the library. From the inside, enter the Children's Center and walk straight toward the wall of windows. The fairy garden is just outside the window on the far right.
From outside, meander through the Carol Heininger Wahl Memorial Children's Literary Garden. The fairy garden is by the Children's Center's first window.
