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IRON MOUNTAIN -- Giving children a great start to education was cause for celebration Saturday morning.

The Dickinson-Iron County Great Start and Regional Child Care Resource Center implemented a Family Resource Library at the Dickinson County Library in Iron Mountain.

"Any childcare worker, any parent, is going to be able to use these, and so it's just going to really help get those first foundational years,” said Ginnie Adams, librarian at the Dickinson County Library.  “So they're ready for school and for learning and reading."

Funding for the library was $10,000 provided by the Early Childhood Investment Corporation in Lansing.

"Often it's very expensive to buy those types of materials,” said Dickinson County Library Director Beth Baker.  “This is an excellent way for us to have them and have them available for everybody."

The goal of the new library is to help kids, from infants to five year olds, become better prepared for school.

"Play is the most important way of learning, and I really believe this,” said Child Care Specialist Liz Gudwer.  “All of these resources will enhance all the daycare providers in the area, their teaching of the children."

And the learning materials are now on the shelves.  Over 300 new books, games, activities, puppets, and musical resources are on display and ready for checkout.  Community members believe these tools will be beneficial for the children because they allow interactive learning.

"The key to all of these resources is that children today learn interactively and by play,” said Project Coordinator Barb Reisner.  “It used to be visual learning, it used to be kinesthetics, now learning takes place more with play and interactivity."

This is the first of six Family Resource Libraries planned for the U.P.