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September 10, 2026
Last updated: September 2026
The Hills Shire Council runs three free, regular library programmes for babies and young children: Baby Bounce for 0 to 24 months, Toddler Time for 18 months to 3 years, and Preschool Storytime for 2 to 5 year olds. All three run during school terms at Hills Shire libraries (Castle Hill, Baulkham Hills, Dural and Vinegar Hill at Rouse Hill), cost nothing, need no booking, and simply ask that a parent or carer stays for the session. Between them they cover a child's whole journey from lap-held nursery rhymes through to sitting still for a proper story, which makes them one of the easiest ways to build an early reading habit without spending anything on it.
Joining the library itself is also free for any NSW resident, and a Hills Shire library card lets a family borrow up to ten items at a time, including picture books, audiobooks and dual-language titles. Below is what each programme actually involves, what the research says these sessions do for a young child, and how to get a library card in the first place.
The Hills Shire Council's library service runs three age-banded sessions built around music, rhyme and story, each pitched at a different stage of a young child's attention span and language development. They're deliberately free of enrolment forms or waitlists: a family can simply turn up during school term and join in. The three are Baby Bounce, Toddler Time and Preschool Storytime, and a fourth programme, Move & Groove, runs for slightly older children. This guide focuses on the three aimed squarely at babies, toddlers and preschoolers. They're a natural addition to the wider list in our guide to things to do with young children in Castle Hill, if you're after more ways to fill a week outside preschool hours.
Baby Bounce is a 20 to 30 minute session of nursery rhymes, action songs and fingerplays for babies up to two years old, with a parent or carer joining in. The council's own programme page describes singing and rhyme as part of the foundation of early literacy, and notes that the fingerplays also help develop a baby's motor skills and simple counting and spatial concepts. It's less about sitting still and more about bouncing along, which suits a baby who isn't going to hold a book yet but is absolutely taking in language and rhythm.
Toddler Time is a 30 minute session of short stories, songs and rhymes built for the tricky in-between stage: too old for a lap-bounce, not quite ready to sit through a full storybook. It currently runs at Dural and Rouse Hill libraries rather than every branch, so it's worth checking which of the four Hills Shire libraries offers it closest to home before planning a visit.
Preschool Storytime is a 30 minute session of stories, songs and activities for children aged 2 to 5, run in the children's area of the library as an informal group with parents joining in. The council frames it specifically as preparation for school: it gives a child practice sitting and participating as part of a group, and introduces the basic rhythm of listening to a story from start to finish. That's a smaller, gentler version of exactly what a classroom or preschool group time asks of a child later on.
They work because rhyme, repetition and shared attention are the actual building blocks of early literacy, not just a pleasant way to fill half an hour. Raising Children Network points out that visiting a library regularly builds a love of books well before a child can read one themselves, and that story time sessions specifically help develop language and hold a child's attention within a group setting, both useful well beyond the library. The Hills Shire Council's own Storytime page adds that early exposure to books develops vocabulary, sparks imagination, and makes learning to read easier later on, plus it's simply meant to be fun. None of that needs expensive resources. It needs a parent turning up on the right morning and a librarian who knows how to hold a room of two year olds' attention for half an hour, which is its own small skill.
Joining is free for any NSW resident, and you'll need two forms of ID, one showing a current NSW address such as a driver's licence, rates notice or utility bill. Hills Shire residents can also join online for eBooks and eAudiobooks only, but a full physical membership, the one you'll want for borrowing picture books to read at bedtime, still needs an in-person visit to a branch. Once you're registered, a card lets you borrow up to ten items at a time, return them to any branch in the network, and use the after-hours return chutes if you're dropping books back outside opening hours.
None of the three programmes above need a booking or membership just to attend, so a family can try a session first and join the library afterwards if it suits them.
A few small habits make library visits smoother and more enjoyable for everyone in the room, not just your own toddler.
No. All three run during school terms with no bookings required, though a parent or carer does need to stay for the whole session.
Castle Hill, Baulkham Hills, Dural and Vinegar Hill at Rouse Hill all run at least one of the three sessions, though not every branch runs every programme. Toddler Time, for example, currently runs at Dural and Rouse Hill only.
No. Baby Bounce is designed for babies from birth to 24 months, well before a child can sit up unsupported, let alone follow a story.
No. Turning up to a session doesn't require membership, though most families find it natural to join once they're in the building anyway.
Nothing. Membership is free for any NSW resident, and Hills Shire residents can also register online for eBook and eAudiobook access.
Nothing special is needed. A change of nappy or a snack for after the session is a sensible extra for the younger age groups, since sessions run 20 to 30 minutes.
Programmes like Baby Bounce, Toddler Time and Preschool Storytime give families a genuinely free way to build the same habits Kings Road Long Day Preschool leans on every day: shared attention, group participation, and a real love of books. We've been part of the Castle Hill community since 1989, and we're always glad to point families toward good local programmes that complement what happens here, alongside our own Learning for Life approach, the Three Rs of Respect, Responsibility and Resilience, and daily story and rhyme time in both our Wallaby and Kangaroo classes.
If you'd like to see how storytime, group learning and school-readiness routines come together in our own programme, book a tour or get in touch. We'd love to show you around.
