A new Baby Time group at Jaffrey Public Library is looking to cater to new parents and babies in the community.

The group is a joint effort between The River Center in Peterboroiugh, the library and the Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District, with fudning provided by a New Hampshire’s Preschool Development Grant. It meets Wednesdays at 1 p.m.

“Our goal is to help new parents in not only understanding how to care for a child, but also giving them an outlet to be social in a time where it's very easy to become isolated,” said Susan Shaw-Sarles, the school district’s community schools planning coordinator. “If you have the opportunity to be in a social setting with people in a similar situation, it can be very helpful in understanding a huge life change such as becoming a parent.”

Shaw-Sarles said the coordinators expect to have “no prior planning, but instead just acting as a holding place for new parents to talk about what they need from the experience.”

“Every time we hold a meeting, we ask ourselves and the group, ‘What do you need from us?’” she said.

Shaw-Sarles said she and other group leaders like Kelli Tourgee, early home support/parent educator at The River Center, have “many years of experience in early child development and parenting as well, which can be good for parents who have questions about the journey of parenthood.”

“All the collaborators of the group shared the same strive to help people on the transition to becoming a parent,” she said. “[They all] hope that this is just the start of a great new form of collaboration in our community.”

For new parents, one of the major pieces of advice Shaw-Sarles offers is “ the importance in building a support system and helping to build that support system from the beginning of the child-having process.”