TALYN JEFFERSON, LEFT, makes a dance move for her friend Dakota Tamblyn while the two joined their preschool classmates in looking through the book collection in the new library at East Heights Early Childhood Family Center. The Lawrence Schools Foundation obtained funding for the preschool, age-appropriate library with a 9,000 grant from the Rice Foundation.

Nearly two years after East Heights School closed, its building is bustling with as much activity as it ever has seen.

The former school, at 1430 Haskell Ave., is now the East Heights Early Childhood Family Center and sees 160 students each day participating in a variety of programs.

“It’s very busy,” said Cris Anderson, early childhood specialist. “It’s always busy. It’s a great hub of kids learning and staff being excited about what’s going on with their kids.”

Programs housed at the school include:

• Even Start family literacy, in which preschool children and their parents attend classes.
• Parents as Teachers, in which parent educators make personal visits with parents of children under age 3 to check on the children’s development.
• Play groups, in which children can have interaction with others and parents can ask questions about development issues.
• Community screening, for parents to seek information about development.

“We’re at physical capacity,” Anderson said. “Physically, we’re using every nook and cranny the building has to offer us.”

One recent highlight at the center was the dedication of a library funded by the Rice Foundation, which paid $59,000 for new materials. A ceremony take place in February.

“When I came here, this was a big-kid library,” librarian Stacey Van Houten said, alluding to the former elementary school. “We needed to take it down a step for 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds.”

The library now has books in six languages besides English: Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, French and Arabic.

The library has become a common denominator for children attending a variety of programs at the center.

“The library is being accessed by all the children in the building,” Anderson said. “That’s just been such a hub.”