The Early Childhood Collaboratory (ECC) voluntary pre-kindergarten (VPK) classes visited the Health Science Center Library (HSCL) for an engaging field trip. The Library, located in the Communicore building and part of the UF Health Shands campus, hosts predominantly pre-health students studying nursing, medicine, dentistry, physical therapy and other healthcare professions, although anyone can visit the HSCL. Librarians at the HSCL volunteered to attend a Storytime 101 training at the Education Library to learn best practices for reading to groups of children. While many of the librarians have their own children, a group of children can be very different from their personal experience.
The librarians planned a robust visit including story time, singalongs, a yoga session and a tour. Because of their library specialties, they brought out a skeleton model, blood pressure cuff and knee joint for their children to experience; all of these materials are available to borrow for HSCL patrons.
The Littles & Librarians collaboration is between the ECC and UF Libraries and started in the spring of 2026. Each month, the ECC students visit one of six campus Libraries to enjoy story time and activities.
