Arlington Public Library is currently working on a project called "Stories to Our Children" at three Arlington high schools: Arlington, Bowie and Sam Houston. The young parents who participate in this program are empowered to write a story for their children that will not only remain a family keepsake, but will encourage both the parent and child to spend time reading and writing.

Stories to Our Children gives voice to these young parents, allowing them to express their passion and love for their children through personalized stories.

One of the participants told organizers the library's outreach programs have already positively affected her life. She is using education techniques with her son that she learned last semester in another one of the library's programs, "Life Through Literacy." The young mother excitedly related that she had never known before that allowing her baby to play with books alongside other toys built a positive relationship with books and reading. Now, when she leaves her son's books close to his toys, he heads for the books first and enjoys flipping the thick cardboard pages with little fingers and chewing on the covers. Seeing her baby's enjoyment for books at such a young age has made the new parent eager to write her own story for him. It wasn't even 30 minutes into the brainstorming segment of our program that she had already penned two and a half pages about the night her son was born.

Another young expecting mother beamed with pride as she related how she has already written three pages full of ideas for her story. She has provided four beautiful sonograms to include in her story that show her son's growth over the past months. Her story focuses on how excited everyone is to meet their new baby boy and welcome a fourth living generation to the family.

The Stories to Our Children program has been offered to parents of young children in AISD high schools and around the community since 2013. Each year the stories written by these parents in the community are compiled, published and placed on the library shelves as a way of preserving Arlington's community history and encouraging a sense of library ownership for Arlington residents. Most importantly, young parents are given the opportunity to personally create something unique for their child and to share their own story.