Best Place for Kids IN OAK CLIFF

And the winner is …

The North Oak Cliff Library is open seven days a week, and there is some kind of activity scheduled just about every day. “We all try to do as many programs as possible,” branch manager Ray Sablack says. “It’s a collective staff effort, and we try to be responsive to the community.” This past summer, 1,000 readers signed up for the Mayor’s Summer Reading Program at the North Oak Cliff Library. They’ve had “creepy critters” from the Dallas Zoo, a jazz quartet, Aztec dancers, the Dallas Fire Department along with a fire truck, plus science and technology lessons, art programs and story time. Library staffers realized earlier this summer that they had a bunch of board games and puzzles to put out and, not surprisingly, kids started playing with them every day. Then someone suggested they needed toys and games for younger children, so the Friends of North Oak Cliff Library put out a call, and the next day, toys started pouring in, Sablack says. A very enthusiastic staff of 10 and the North

Oak Cliff Library friends are what make the library pop, Sablack says. “We love our community, and we want them to love us back,” he says.

Runner-up: Hampton-Illinois Library

Third place: Dallas Zoo

NEXT UP: Look for a roundup of all the ‘Best Of’ winners at oakcliff.advocatemag.com/best-of-results

NOW OPEN through Sept. 7

Included with admission DallasZoo.com #DallasZooDinos