AUBURN – The Auburn Public Library has joined a national initiative to better serve the area’s youngest children.

Although the library already offers a special space for children, it will add toys geared toward specific developmental stages and will help guide parents toward community resources. It will also offer a series of parent/child workshops that involve community groups, area agencies and experts on children.

Those workshops are expected to begin around fall.

“It’s really all about helping children and setting the stage for them to acquire reading skills,” said library director Rosemary Waltos.

The national initiative, Family Place, seeks to expand libraries’ role in early childhood education. With a grant from the Sandy River Foundation, Auburn recently sent its children’s associate to New York for Family Place training.

Six other Maine libraries have joined Family Place, including Norway, Wilton and Topsham.