Read for 15
Read for 15
Kate and Heidi Schutz
On Family Literacy Day, January 27, readers from all over Canada participated in the annual Read for 15 Challenge. Last year, 4,901 Calgarians participated in Read for 15. This year’s Read for 15 had almost double that amount of readers, with 9,657 Calgarians participating!
Kate Reeves and grandson Mark read with Angela Knight
At 7:00 a.m., close to 200 people showed up to Central Library to Read for 15 over a coffee with CBC’s Angela Knight. Staff throughout the system encouraged members to count their reading time. We also logged storytimes delivered by staff throughout the system.
Mayor Nenshi hosted a special storytime: the inaugural Mayor Nenshi Reads at Calgary Public Library. This storytime not only promoted early literacy, but also provided an example to families of how important it is to read to kids (and featured Fire Chief Steve Dongworth).
Calgarians throughout the city eagerly participated in Read for 15, including the University of Calgary’s Men’s Soccer Team, the Students' Association of Mount Royal University, seniors at the Canyon Meadows Retirement Residence, and companies such as Wolsey Structural Engineering. Best of all, hundreds of families read together and proudly logged their time with the Library.
Mayor Nenshi Reads at Calgary Public Library
The Library and the Calgary Board of Education have been developing a mutually beneficial partnership and this year’s Read for 15 underscored these efforts with students from more than 125 classrooms participating.
Youngsters learn best when they see the adults in their lives modelling the reading habit. The ultimate goal of Read for 15 is to get children interested in reading as early as possible; it’s vital to their future success in school, work, and life. Let’s aim to double this year’s fantastic turnout for Read for 15 2018!
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Library Story: Patrick Mealey
Sharing Our Very Own Library Stories
Before embarking on his career at the Library, Patrick worked at a remote weather station in the Arctic. He then indulged his enthusiasm for reading by working in bookstores. “One of my customers was Michelle Toombs (CEO of the Marigold Library System), who worked for Calgary Public Library back then,” he recalls. “She impressed me and talked up the Library as a great career option.” Shortly thereafter, Patrick started working part-time at Village Square Library in 2002. He also got involved with every program he could. “Except storytimes for babies,” he laughs. “Way too much singing!”
When he became a full-time staff member at Central Library in 2005, Patrick saw potential to expand the range of the Library’s programming. Developing programs has been his passion ever since. He’s particularly proud of helping to develop Baconfest and Think Big.
When not bringing amazing programs to life, supporting current programs, and developing partnerships in support of civic literacy, Patrick spends time with his wife Fiona and their four Siamese cats. He can also be found trying to keep up with his young nephew. “He insists that I join him mountain biking, sea kayaking, and off-roading,” Patrick laughs, “No major injuries yet!”
Patrick takes great pride in his work as a Community Learning Advocate in Service Design Support. “Meeting new people and helping to create partnerships is very satisfying,” he remarks, “but the real joy comes from working with great colleagues, whose creativity and support make these programs possible.” Patrick’s Best Public Library for the World traits include: inquisitive, risk taker, collaborative.
Do you have a Math Quest?
The deadline to submit your Math Quest has been extended due to popular demand!
Beginning March 1, children ages 6–12 will complete real-life math challenges in the Library. Math Quest allows kids to get to know the Library and the unique opportunities that our buildings and resources provide.
For example:
"Search the shelves for a cookbook and double all the ingredients in the recipe."
"Ask a staff member to take you behind the scenes to the Automated Materials Handling Machine. Count how many books come through in 3 minutes. Estimate how many books will go through in 15 minutes."
We need your help to make Math Quest the best it can be—send us your challenges!
Submit your Math Quest at tinyurl.com/yourmathquest.
For more on Math Quest, see the November 25, 2016 issue of The Bulletin.
If you have questions or comments, please contact Kate Schutz at Kate.Schutz@calgarylibrary.ca.
Info Investigators
Info Investigators is a new outreach program for all Grade 6 Calgary Board of Education students that emphasizes online research skills through inquiry-based learning. The program introduces students to the Library’s e-resources, especially the new calgarylibrary.ca/school page and school eAccess log-in.
This program was originally called Info Wizards, which proved to be a failure after pilot testing. The content was too complex for the short time frame and needed to be simplified. However, the failure of Info Wizards was a great learning experience, with the program ultimately being completely redesigned and renamed Info Investigators.
The current iteration was piloted with several Grade 6 classes of diverse learners in different parts of the city. Teachers appreciated that their feedback from Info Wizards was used to connect Info Investigators to curriculum. They were excited to see this kind of learner-centred practice being led by the Library. Students had fun investigating our e-resources and documenting the evidence of information they found in our databases.
Info Investigators strengthens our partnership with the CBE,
supporting the success of students.
CBE teachers and students weren’t the only ones to benefit from the innovative development of Info Investigators. A new approach to professional learning was piloted when staff were trained to facilitate this new kind of program. Stay tuned for more information on this new kind of professional learning in a future issue of The Bulletin.
Parents’ Choice Awards
The Library’s innovative programs and services have been recognized in the 2017 Calgary’s Child Parents’ Choice Awards. Every year, Calgarians vote for their favourite child-friendly places and programs. This year, we placed in three categories:
Winner of Best Extracurricular Programs for Preschoolers
Honourable Mention for Best Extracurricular Program for Teens
Honourable Mention for Best Place to Take Your Kids on a Crummy Day
Thank you—your hard work and dedication are what motivate Calgarians to vote for us! With our constant improvement and innovation, we’re sure to be Calgary’s favourite in more categories next year.
Locked Library: Library After Dark
The Library is a fantastic place for Calgarians to visit during the day—they come to study, read, participate in programs, and be part of the larger community. But when the Library closes at the end of the day, everyone goes home.
To reach new audiences and fundraise in an innovative way, the Library Foundation is starting an event series called Library After Dark.
The first event in the series, Locked Library, takes place on March 11 at Fish Creek Library. Inspired by the popularity of locked rooms—games of escape in a real-life setting—the Locked Library challenges teams to solve a series of puzzles in an immersive adventure experience.
To create this event, the Library Foundation has been working with Anders J. Svensson, a local writer and the creator of Treasure League. Svensson, an expert puzzler, has built a cult following with Treasure League—a game that uses Calgary as its board and engages urban adventurers with daily clues that send them searching around the city on monthly treasure hunts.
Svensson is also working with a group of Library staff to make the Library After Dark experience even more enticing, but we can’t give away any more details. Staff members can participate—and with the library theme, staff have a competitive advantage, so get your tickets and register your teams at www.libraryafterdark.ca.
A message from a Library donor:
"Thank you for reserving all the books I've ordered. You've saved me a lot of money! I love my library and your services. Wishing you the best in 2017 and I'm looking forward to the new library."
Library Connect
The March–April Library Connect arrives in libraries during the week of February 6.
Be sure to get a copy into the hands of every Library member and encourage them to #Read150 and check out what’s new at the Library!
Three Things for Canada
For Canada’s 150th birthday, let’s all give the gift of three things.
Three acts of service for our neighbourhoods, our nation, and the world.
That’s 100 million acts of community service!