Tots' Yoga Returns to Pikesville Branch Library in Fall

There's more good news from The Pikesville Branch Library.

Its popular Itsy Bitsy Yoga class for tots is set to return to the Pikesville Branch Library this fall, thanks to a grant from the Friends of the Pikesville Library.

The three-part series of 45-minute classes will be offered in September, October, and November to infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers.

It's among the programs being funded by the Friends group now that funds are shrinking for the library system. Other Friends programs at other branches, such as Randallstown, are also picking up the slack in funding for their programs.

“We’re so grateful to the Friends groups, especially during this terrible economic recession,” said Bob Hughes, BCPL spokesman.

Thanks to the Pikesville Friends group, even as funding from the Baltimore County Public Library system shrinks, the branch has been able to preserve its essential services, including children's programs, Hughes said.

“The library sees children’s programs, especially as it relates to early literacy, as one of its primary goals,” he said.

There has been enough funding to keep branches open throughout the system, "But we have had to make some adjustments," Hughes said, including shifting some budget decisions away from the central library to the local branches.

At the Randallstown Branch Library, its own Friends group is funding an eight-week summer chess series called Let Us Teach You Chess.

At the Pikesville Branch, in addition to funding the yoga series, the Friends group is  underwriting this summer’s series of yoga classes; and it funds the successful Guest Lecture Series for adults.

The series is set to kick off its second decade at 1 p.m. Oct. 5, with The Baltimore Sun columnist Susan Reimer as its first speaker.

For a list of events set for this summer, visit the Pikesville Branch calendar of events, or the Randallstown Library calendar of events.