Purpose: This study aims to offer insights into the presence and nature of an information environment provided for young children to support their learning and explore how an information environment for young children can be characterized. Design/methodology/approach: Observations of video-recorded public library storytimes were used to investigate the presence and nature of an information environment for young children's learning. Findings: The observations revealed that storytimes provide a rich, multimodal information environment where information is shared with young children and they are encouraged to interact with it in a variety of ways. The storytime participants take on several different roles that help to foster and sustain the information environment. Originality/value: This study tests the applicability of Eisenberg and Small's (1993) information-based education framework for exploring an information environment and recommends revisions to improve the framework's effectiveness for characterizing information environments for young children.