Firstborns are the best, in my humble opinion. We’re responsible and careful. Or at least, that’s the stereotype. My son would agree. My daughter might not. I looked for picture books about firstborns, but didn’t find anything in our catalog. I found many books written about single children, who are often the first or only child of their parents. Some are cabooses; they have older siblings who are out of the house and on their own. These young people may have firstborn traits.

I found plenty about middle children. “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” is still seen as their clarion call of middles, even though “The Brady Bunch” has been off the air since 1974. (That’s 49 years! Yikes!) Middle children also are less likely to have baby books with complete information. They are seen as needy and emotional, but they can also be more carefree, because caregivers are too tired to discipline children perfectly as multiple kiddos join the group.

The last born, also known as the “baby,” is stereotypically coddled and lazy. I will not speak ill of my youngest brother, but this may be true in some cases. My daughter is the second of two, and the idea of a youngest child wanting attention rings true in her case. She would like to be a star. And she knows how to push her order-loving brother’s buttons.

We have many books about accepting new brothers and sisters, and we see many young patrons become older siblings. With adoption, we even see kids become younger siblings for the first time. We welcome all children, no matter where they rank in their family, to come and choose books and other resources to use here or to take home.

With fall approaching, be on the lookout for story times and other programs at your library. We will have story times for toddlers on Wednesdays at 10:15 a.m., and Mr. Duane will continue his story times for preschoolers on Mondays and Fridays at 10:15 a.m. His story times should be just about identical, so you can choose which one to attend.

Check out our website at warsawlibrary.org. We are located at 310 E. Main St. in Warsaw.