When was the last time you heard someone say, “Just make sure you play hard and everything will work out”? The Sacramento Public Library knows that recess is every bit as important as reading, writing and arithmetic. To show why, the Library launched its first-ever Play Summit, an all-day event held Sept. 7, 2013, to demonstrate how play is vital to children’s cognitive, emotional and physical development. We partnered with ScholarShare and Fairytale Town, a non-profit children’s play park and outdoor children’s museum, to produce the event. Libraries have long offered educational and entertaining programming for young people, but as we increasingly incorporate toys into our library children’s spaces, it is important to inform the public (especially parents and educators) how play works to stimulate learning. Events like the Play Summit provide an opportunity not only to showcase the role of the library in early childhood education, but to prompt others to think more deeply about how even simple activities have a powerful impact on a child’s welfare.

• Dr. Melissa Arca shared research about play and the brain.
• Author Barney Saltzberg (Beautiful Oops) spoke about how he incorporates play into his writing and illustrations for children.
• Play expert Myla Marks demonstrated active play techniques with the entire group, and the day ended with a rousing game of “rock-paper-scissors-Rock Star”.
• Library staff discussed the role the library can have in encouraging play, as well as in more conventional literacy activities.
• Fairytale Town discussed the park’s celebration of play and support of literacy in our community.
• Partnerships were vital in creating this event—from planning to promotion to implementation.

• The summit drew 122 parents, caregivers, educators and service providers for an energizing day of information and activity focused on outdoor play, artistic play, musical play, literary play and the connections between play and learning.
• An astounding 100% of those surveyed said they would attend the Summit again. o Attendee comment: “You all did an amazing job! I pass on a lot of events on weekends so that I can spend quality time with my daughter. This event was so worth it! It jump-started my passion for being a mom. Can’t wait to attend the next one.”
• The event deepened partnerships with local organizations such as Fairytale Town and Art Beast, as well as with our financial sponsor, ScholarShare.