NEWS

Marie Harris, Caroline Doble, and Brandi Kutz prepare for the ribbon cutting. (photo by Lyn Batty)

Monday, September 22, staff from the Davidson Public Library and special guests assembled at 9:00 a.m. in the Children’s Area of the library to cut the ribbon on a new space that has been designed for exploration, play, and learning. The new Children’s Sensory Area in the Davidson Library has been created specifically for children from birth to elementary age and their caregivers.

Marie Harris, Branch Manager of the Davidson Library, and Brandi Kutz, Children’s Librarian Associate, were both involved in designing the space. Davidson librarians are excited to see the Sensory Area come to life, especially located within the library’s Children’s space that already serves so many young families in the community. Providing a dedicated children’s sensory area has been a longtime dream of the librarians.

Caroline Doble and Marie Harris at Davidson Branch Library (photo by Lyn Batty)

Harris shared the inspiration behind the design of the sensory space: “Learning starts with the senses: the sounds, textures, movements, and interactions that help young children begin to understand their world. Sensory play isn’t just fun–it’s foundational. It supports the development of fine motor skills, language, emotional, regulations, and social interaction.”

The new sensory area features soft carpeting and floor pillows, a small table with child-sized chairs, stuffed animals, and a mirrored bubble wall. There are individualized bags of items available for children to choose. The bags may contain noise-cancelling headphones, engaging manipulatives with different textures, quiet individual games, and many other options.

Stuffed animals, soft furniture, and activity bags in the new sensory area (photo by Lyn Batty)

Major funding for the new children’s space came from a local Davidson source: Caroline Doble and the Students Offering Smiles (SOS) organization. Caroline and Mariano Doble are the local owners and operators of the Davidson Village Inn. The donated funds were raised through the Inn’s popular Thanksgiving Day 5K race, the Davidson Turkey Trot.

The Turkey Trot was the brainchild of the Doble Family. Their extended family always found themselves searching for something active for everyone to do together in the morning before the big family meal. They decided to launch a “fun” 5K that would appeal to everyone from serious runners to amblers wearing Thanksgiving-themed costumes. The whole family can participate, even the family dog. The Turkey Trot caught on quickly, and now typically sees upwards of 1700 participants. With such success, the Dobles have used proceeds from the run to benefit non-profits in the Davidson community and the surrounding area.

Caroline Doble shared her excitement about the opportunity to work with the Davidson librarians and the CML Foundation to help make the Children’s Sensory Space come to life. “Today we wanted to thank Marie and the Davidson librarians for the chance to make this space come together, along with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library system. Davidson is very, very special community. We enjoy creating community events like the Turkey Trot so that together, we can make an impact.”

Sensory toys, such as smooth rainbow stones, are available for children to choose (photo by Lyn Batty)

Several representatives from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation were also present to offer congratulations. The CML Foundation also provided funding for the project.

Jenni Gaisbauer, Director of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Foundation, congratulated the Davidson Public Library on the new space. She shared that her own daughter, who had been quietly playing in the Sensory Area while the participants were setting up, “definitely approves” of the addition.

In addition to celebrating the new Children’s Sensory Area, Gaisbauer spoke about the return on November 6 of the library’s popular annual literary event, Verse & Vino, featuring bestselling authors. She also encouraged everyone to visit the construction site of the new Main Library in uptown Charlotte at the corner of 6^th & N. Tryon Street. While the new Main Library is still under construction, the exterior is nearly complete, so that visitors can now get a sense of what the eagerly awaited renovation will look like when it is completed.