Math Quest

Math Quest

New Model for Numeracy at the Library

Math Minds, Math Playground, and Number Ninjas have positioned the Library as a provider of high-quality math learning—and we have the waiting lists to prove it! A change in funding led to the discontinuation of Math Minds, but provided an opportunity for the Library to re-evaluate its approach to numeracy.

The Challenges: We want to continue to offer numeracy programs at the same high standard and foster a love of numeracy amongst more young patrons. Another goal is to showcase the Library and its resources while engaging caregivers in their child’s learning. We’d also like to give volunteers meaningful opportunities to share their love for math while freeing up valuable staff time.

Our Response: Math Quest, a new model for numeracy, was designed after observation of math programs at Quarry Park, Shawnessy, and Alexander Calhoun libraries (which included informal interviews with participants, parents, staff, and volunteers).

How do you go on a Math Quest?

• Kids aged 6–12 will put on a “I’m On A Math Quest” button and pull a quest from the Math Quest kiosk. The quest might be “measure the longest thing in the Library” or “find a recipe book and double the recipe for twice as many dinner guests.”

• They complete the hands-on, curriculum-connected challenges throughout the Library with the support of a parent, volunteer or peer.

• Common materials such as measuring tapes, flashcards, rulers, calculators, and notepaper—as well as the Library collection, resources, and even the building itself—can be used to complete the quests.

• Because Math Quest takes place throughout the Library, the program room is freed up and parents and siblings can join in the fun.

Math Questers, parents, staff, and volunteers are invited to regularly contribute to the development of new quests to ensure that the collection is ever-growing. Math Quest begins with pilots in January and February, and will be followed by a system-wide launch in March 2017.

You can contribute Math Quests—stay tuned for a challenge on The Kitchen! We have a goal of designing 175 quests by December 31.

Questions? Please email kate.schutz@calgarylibrary.ca

Introducing Kristen Duke

Kristen’s passion for working with preschool-aged children and families began during her days as a preschool teacher. Her commitment to developing innovative services for kids deepened in her time as the Research Coordinator at Mount Royal University in the Centre for Child Well-Being. She worked on a variety of projects there, including the development of a physical literacy measurement tool and coordinating community-based learning opportunities in the Child Development Lab. Kristen also has experience working as part of a program called Start Smart Stay Safe, where she coordinated the “Family Engagement” component with the Calgary Police Service, Calgary Board of Education, and Calgary Catholic School District.

Since joining the Library in 2015 as Service Design Lead–Early Literacy, Kristen’s major projects have included working with a team to develop new Early Learning Centres at Fish Creek, Village Square, and Quarry Park libraries (with more to come in 2017). She’s also supporting libraries with resources and learning materials for play spaces geared towards families with children aged 0–5. Kristen helped develop the innovative Read and Play Kits, and a pop-up Little Library at TELUS Spark. In the future, she will be collaborating on research with Mount Royal University, and the pilot of a new program: Library Month at Your Dayhome, which will include the introduction of the Story Truck.

Kristen loves music and plays piano. She can often be found checking out local shows or the next best concert with friends and family. This winter, she’ll be skiing or hanging with her bunny Brucie.

Winter Word Fair

Plan now to attend the Library’s second annual Winter Word Fair—our one-stop bookish Christmas shop featuring entertainment, refreshments, and more than 18 unique vendors, including Shelf Life Books, Kensington Art Supply, The Sentry Box, and Uppercase Gallery! Author in Residence Micheline Maylor will be writing custom poems for attendees, and students from ACAD will personalize gifts with their art.

Everyone is welcome at Winter Word Fair—so don’t miss it! This is the ultimate night to find bookish gifts for all the bibliophiles on your Christmas list—and no one will mind if you get a present or two for yourself.

Central Library

Thursday, December 1 | 5:00 pm–8:00 pm

Get Inspired at the Library Foundation's

Fundraising Breakfast

On December 6, The Calgary Public Library Foundation is hosting a fundraising breakfast on the main floor of Central Library before it opens. During this free hour-long event, attendees will hear a number of inspiring stories from local community members about the impact the Library has had on their lives.

One of these inspiring community members is Varun Kundra, who won the 2015 Emerging Leader Award for his dedication as a Library volunteer. Varun is a high school student with a passion for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. In addition to volunteering at the Library since 2012 for Math Minds, computer buddies, and reading programs, he also donates his time at a number of other organizations. Varun’s address at the breakfast will be complimented by a video featuring two other individuals whose lives were positively changed by the Library.

This event will be the first in a series that aims to engage potential donors and encourage long-term commitments. The Foundation is delighted to share that a donor has already stepped forward, and will match up to $25,000 of donations made during the event.

The Library Foundation would also like to extend a big thank you to all of the Library managers and staff who have supported and facilitated our tours over the past year.

Library staff are invited to attend and see what it's all about! Register at libraryfundraisingbreakfast.eventbrite.ca or by contacting Denise Da Costa, Leadership Giving Coordinator, at denise@addin.ca or 403.260.2631.

Please note that all guests will be asked to consider making a donation, but are not obligated to give.

December 6 | 7:30 a.m.

Central Library

STAR Awards

The STAR awards happen tonight, November 25, at 6:00 pm!

Have a great time celebrating your colleagues’ accomplishments tonight, and watch for coverage of the event in the December 9 issue of The Bulletin.

Hoopla Checkout Limit Changes

The e-resource hoopla works on a pay-per-use basis: each time an item is used by a patron, the Library pays a fee for that use. Although hoopla is subsidized by funds from Alberta’s Public Library Services Branch, our patrons make more use of this e-resource than the subsidy can cover. This means that the Library must pay for each usage after the subsidy is exhausted. Consequently, in order to extend this excellent resource to as many Calgarians as possible—while containing pay-per-use costs—the limit on checkouts per card will change to three (from six) as of December 1.

While this will be disappointing to some patrons, the Library continues to seek video streaming products that work in the public library environment. The Library will also continue to acquire copies of popular materials in DVD and Blu-ray formats for patron use.

Read and Play Kits

Celebration at Quarry Park

The Library is hosting a special event at Quarry Park Library, with a Colossal Playdate as our boisterous background! We’re celebrating the official launch of Library’s Read and Play Early Literacy Kits, as well as the partners who helped us create this innovative early childhood development initiative: Imperial and the YMCA.

Each Read and Play Kit is housed in a kid-friendly, wheeled suitcase called a Trunki—kids can even ride on them! Inside each Trunki are themed books and toys for children, along with a parent’s guide full of rhymes, songs, activities, and tips to help build early literacy skills.

The kits are three-year pilot project based out of the Quarry Park Library. To support this, Imperial has donated $350,000 over three years to support Read and Play Early Literacy Kits.

The Library worked closely with the YMCA on the Read & Play Kits, and creating these kits included intensive research and extensive prototype testing. The kits were designed to meet the need for physical and cognitive play, which is the foundation for all future learning. Just as the Library’s expertise is cognitive literacy—the “Read” part of Read and Play—the YMCA’s expertise is physical literacy. They were invaluable when it came to putting the “play” into Read & Play.

We’re very proud of the Read and Play Kits, but we’re not done yet. The Library is piloting this project at Quarry Park Library now, and in the future we want the kits to be replicated locally. In the future, we hope this innovative project will serve as a model for regional and national implementation.

Join in the launch of the Read and Play Early Literacy Kits!

November 28 | 10:15 a.m.

Quarry Park Library