Summer begins NOW

If you have been wondering when summer really begins, the answer is TODAY. Our annual Summer Reading Club starts today. Why is that such a big deal? Let me tell you .

Over the summer, schoolchildren experience something called the "Summer Slide". Click on that link and watch that 2 minute video if you want a visual of what happens. Suffice it to say, keeping your child reading and learning throughout the summer is a Very Good Idea. And it can be FUN! That's what the Summer Reading Club at the library is all about. We don't ask our readers to read anything they don't want to read.  Besides novels and picture books, we encourage audiobooks, magazines, comics, and even the back of cereal boxes. Just read, that's our motto. Kids who finish the program even earn a free Fast Pass to Upper Clements Park.

And guess what? the Summer Reading club is FREE. Yes, that's right, FREE. Just head to your local library to sign up. It is that easy. And if you are not yet convinced, read this blog post from a librarian in the states. She gets it and wants you to sign up for Summer Reading.

Because we know that people of all ages like to read and win prizes, we have a Summer Reading Club for TEENS. Readers ages 12-16 can read and enter to win great prizes and earn a Fast Pass to Upper Clements Park. And this year, we've added a Summer Reading Club for adults! Readers ages 17 - 170 are invited to complete 2 cards for chance at some nifty prizes. Pick up one card at your local library, and one at one of our Community Locations.

You can show us your progress this summer with the hashtag #AVRLSRC. Follow along on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Show your library love on social media! And don't forget to print our SRC Mascot, RAVEL, and show us where you take our little friend.

Oh, I nearly forgot to tell you about our Summer Programs! You can enjoy Storytime with a Farmer, Little Ray's Reptiles, Anne Glover's String stories, Mad Science, tech programs, Preschool Disco, Musical Zoo, and Camp Overdue (summer camp for teens and adults). We will also give away books at each branch. And you could win a bike. And all of this is FREE! 

So run, don't walk, to your nearest library and get signed up for Summer Reading Club. See you around this summer.

--Angela J. Reynolds, Community Engagement Coordinator

Summer Reading is around the corner

  Summer. It is nearly here and at the library, that means one thing. The annual Summer Reading Club! This year we have a few extras that we think you will be excited about. As usual, we have the Summer Reading Club for kids and teens. Kids up to age 12 can sign up, read and do activities, and win cool prizes like pencils and a Fast Pass to Upper Clements Park! We are even giving away a bike this year, courtesy of Adopt-A-Library. Our teen readers, ages 12-16, can read and enter to win prizes. For every five hours, teens get a ballot to enter for prize draws. And they too can win a Fast Pass.

  This year, we've added a Summer Reading Club for adults! Readers, ages 17 -170 are invited to read and enter to win prizes. Each adult club member can enter twice-- we have one card at our libraries, and one that will be available out in the community.  Read, enjoy your summer, and you could win some really fun prizes. Because why should little kids have all the fun?

  We've got great programs lined up for you too. We are happy to host Anne Glover, a storyteller from BC who will be doing string stories in several of our branches. We are bringing back Little Ray's Reptiles and Mad Science for your educational entertainment. To celebrate our local farms, we are hosting Storytime with a Farmer in all our branches. We've partnered once again with Oaklawn Farm Zoo to bring you two free Zoo Days-- July 5 and August 9, where our friends ages 18 and under who have library cards can get in free to the zoo! We've planned some fun things like  PreSchool Disco, Musical Zoo, storytimes, tech programs, and more. There will even be  Pink Gorilla wandering around, looking for library lovers to give prizes to.

  Teens & adults, don't feel left out! We've put together a fund program just for you! Camp Overdue is a Summer Day Camp just like when you were a little kid, only made for more grown-up people. Play, make crafts, enjoy S'Mores, and write a letter home. But no little kids allowed.

  It all begins June 27. Visit your local library and find out what summer has in store for you!

What does your library have to offer?

Have you recently visited your local branch of the Annapolis Valley Regional Library? If not, you might be surprised by the content and services provided by a library near you. We have eleven branches located throughout the Valley, hence free and exciting reading as well as viewing and listening opportunities are always close to home.
We know that you enjoy stories not only from the pages of books, but also from your electronic devices including smart phones, e-readers and tablets, mp3 players, and even TV and game consoles.
With nothing but your library card you can have access to our ever expanding collection of audio books, available in both CD and mp3 formats.  These make a fantastic companion on long drives or quiet afternoons at home.
For those reading on the go we now carry an expansive collection of eBooks and e-magazines that can be borrowed for your e-reader much like a normal book. Simply search for what you're looking for and download it to your device.  The book will automatically be removed after the expiry date, no late fees!  Your library card even gives you access to popular movies and video-games. Save money on expensive rentals and borrow ours instead.
Your local library also has free programming and events for toddlers, school-aged children, teens and adults.  We have something for everyone in your family.  Have your children signed up for the summer reading club in past years?  At the end of the school year, sign up.  You can win prizes and at the completion of the reading assignments receive a free fast-pass to Upper Clements Park.
Accessibility is also important to us. If you have difficulty reading regular print, chances are we have a large print copy available. If you need help accessing content on computer, phone or tablet we can certainly assist with that too.
Your local libraries strive to remain vital members of your communities. We're constantly searching for ways of providing the best service to our patrons and ensuring that everyone has access to a diverse selection of educational content and entertainment. So please come visit soon and let us know what we can check out for you.

Post by Twila Thibodeau,  clerk at the Rosa M. Harvey Middleton and Area Library.

Where's Chirpy?

We've got a little friend that has been traveling this summer! Chirpy, our Summer Reading mascot,  has been many places, far and near. For instance, Chirpy started the summer visiting with magician David Moon out at Upper Clements Park. Chirpy then hopped into a suitcase and made it to San Francisco, and convinced one of our librarians to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Chirpy has been hanging out in libraries, on beaches, picking strawberries,

going to the drive-in, visiting local museums, going out to restaurants, playing outside, and so much more!

 We've even heard that Chirpy likes donuts.

You can get in on the Chirpy fun, too. On THIS LINK you can find all the details on how to print your own Chirpy. Take a picture and email it to us, or tag it on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram with #AVRLchirpy. Everyone who plays along gets entered to win one of our great prizes -- a ukelele, a set of Boomwhackers, or a Family Pass to Nova Scotia Museums! And if you want to see what Chirpy is up to, head over to Facebook and like us and see our Chirpy Gallery! Where will YOU take Chirpy?

Summer Reading starts June 22!

Summer time means fun in the sun, playing outdoors, and, we hope, time to read under your favourite tree. To encourage kids of all ages to read during the summer, the library hosts a Summer Reading Club each year.  In order to reduce the “Summer Slide” that many students experience, we provide fun programs and incentives to keep kids reading and learning all summer long. 

This year, the club begins on June 22, and runs through August 22.  We are excited to build programs and activities around this year’s theme, PLAY! Anyone 18 and under is invited to join our club, and read the summer away.  Lots of your favourite activities are making a comeback this year. 

We are very pleased to partner once again with Upper Clements Parks to offer a free Fast Pass to everyone who completes the Summer Reading Club. When kids sign up, they will receive a booklet for tracking their READ and PLAY time. We have many fun activities on our booklet this year that families can enjoy together! Teens will read for 25 hours to earn their Fast Pass, and can enter for great gift card prizes for every 5 hours they read.  

We’ll also be returning to the zoo! Oaklawn Farm Zoo has generously agreed to host two Library Days at the Zoo. On Tuesday, July 21 and on Tuesday, August 11, if you are 18 or under you get in FREE to the zoo just by showing your AVRL library card.  Our Bookmobile will be onsite and we’ll have lots of fun activities for kids those days, too. 

We’ve got a few special programs lined up, including Little Ray’s Reptiles, a Musical Zoo, and a Marionette Show from Montreal’s Panadream Theatre.  We’ll have our Book Give Away Days, made possible in part by Adopt a Library. Chirpy, our little owl friend, is ready to travel. Send us a picture of Chirpy and you could win some great prizes! Our travelling Maker Labs have been refreshed, and we’ve got some fun robotics toys to play with, too. The C@P youth are back and they’ll host a wide variety of technology programs. Our branches are planning plenty of fun programs and activities so check our Calendar of Events to see what’s going on at your local library.

Wrapping up the STREAM

Summer is drawing to a close. Already, I’ve seen a few red leaves on the trees. Here at the library, we’ve had a very busy summer with our STREAM Reading program. This year, 2761 kids and teens participated – that’s up from 2667 last year. And for those who love numbers, just a little aside—in 2009 (only 5 years ago), we had 2252 signed up. That’s a 22% increase! So, yes, if you walked into your local library this summer and found it busy, there’s a reason why. We had over 700 kids and teens participating in our Kentville branch alone! You might have seen little fishes taped to walls, or stones outside in a pathway: these all represented the readers in our libraries. 

 

We changed our program this summer to incorporate more learning activities, and it has been met with positive feedback from many of you.  We offered programs to play math games, did science experiments, created collages and glitter pictures, made crafts with old t-shirts, danced with our preschoolers, saw some reptiles, watched chemical reactions, raced toothbrush robots, created movies with LEGO, read lots of stories, and listened to great music. Many of our programs this summer were made possible because we received the CFUW Library Award! This award allowed us to offer great programs all over the valley.

Our partners made the Summer STREAM even better. Upper Clements Parks has been a long-time partner for our summer program, offering a FREE Fast Pass for those who complete the program. Many of our families take advantage of this and visit the park each year. This partnership has been invaluable to the program and we are truly thankful to Upper Clements Parks for this great opportunity. Part of our partnership includes Word in the Park, two days near the end of the program when we have activities at the park. This year we had a StoryWalk challenge and gave away free books, and Clifford the big Red Dog came for a visit.  This year we also added two Library Days at the Zoo in partnership with Oaklawn Farm Zoo. Once in July and once in August, everyone 18 and under got in free by showing their library card. We also did activities during the day and took our bookmobile out to the zoo. Thank you, thank you, thank you to our partners! 

Another activity that we loved was Finny the Fish. We asked you to print, color, and photograph our little fish. Finny went all over the world this summer! You can see Finny’s travels here.  As a bonus, everyone that sent a picture was entered to win a One-year Family Pass to Nova Scotia Museums. 

We had lots of fun this summer, and we hope you did too. We’ll do it all again next year, and we look forward to playing and learning with you in Summer 2015. We'd love to hear your thoughts on the program, so tell us in the comments below!

--Angela J. Reynolds, Head of Youth Services

Library Days at Oaklawn Farm Zoo

 

Get in touch with your wild side at Oaklawn Farm Zoo.   Located just outside Aylesford in the beautiful Annapolis Valley,  Oaklawn Farm provides a visitors an up-close view with over a 100  species of animals.  Summer is always a busy time at the Zoo.  Many new babies have been born, including goats, llamas, monkeys, sheep, and the list goes on.  Most recent additions at the zoo include a group of Lion-tailed Macaques that arrived in May and three Cheetahs that arrived in June.  The young lion pride of Sterk , Nyah and Obi are a huge favourite to many visitors, as well as the gibbon family of BooBoo, Zandor and their little ones. Come out and discover your favourite creature today!

 

This summer, the library has partnered with Oaklawn Farm Zoo to offer a great opportunity-- everyone 18 and under who shows their AVRL library card on July 15 and August 12 gets in FREE!  So make sure you have your card in hand, and join us. In addition to the amazing animals, we will be doing storytimes, art, and math games. You can also take a StoryWalk while you are at the zoo! Come find us on July 15 or August 12 from 10 AM - 4 PM, by the deer pen. You can also mark off some activities on your STREAM card. See you at the zoo!

Jump into the Summer STREAM

 This year we are changing our Summer Reading Club.  We are inviting you & your child to join the Summer STREAM : Science, Technology, Reading, Experience, Arts, and Math.  The Summer STREAM can help your child enjoy a summer of learning while earning fun incentives. The  activities can be done right here in the valley, or on vacation.  Our library branches will be offering free programs around this theme, and we’ve got a website full of ideas for science, technology, art, and math for you to explore. 

We’ve added more experiential learning into this year’s program so that it will appeal to a wider audience. We hope to show that summer reading and learning can be fun, and we’ve got lots of special programs planned, including Mad Science, Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo, and musicians Jamie Junger and Andy & Ariana. We’ve added two Library Days at Oaklawn Farm Zoo – anyone 18 and under with an AVRL library card gets in free on July 15 and August 12. We’ll be partnering once again with Upper Clements Parks to offer a free Fast Pass to those that complete the program, and the library will be at the park on August 16 & 17 for Word in the Park. Teens have the chance to win great prizes, including a $100 VISA card. We’ll be giving away books and kittens* this summer, so the library really is the place to be.

Last year our GoBots were so popular that we are trying something similar. This year, you can print your own FINNY the Fish and send us pictures of Finny’s travels. Where in the world will Finny go?

Sign ups for the Summer STREAM begin on June 24, and you have until August 12 to join the program. The program ends on August 22.  Find something fun to do this summer, and Jump into the Summer STREAM!

*toy kittens & pandas, that is

Our friends at Upper Clements Parks

For the past 6 years, Upper Clements Park has been our partner in the Summer Reading Club. As many of you know, when you finish the Summer Reading Club, you can earn a FastPass to Upper Clements! How cool is that? The good folks at Upper Clements Parks donate around 2000 FastPasses to the library each year. And they do it for other regions, too! For our region alone, that adds up to a donation of over $50,000! 

As partners, we've built a great relationship with the park. We help out at School Days each year, with educational activities for school groups that attend in June. We've also been out at the park in August for Word in the Park. This year we have a StoryWalk activity planned: read the StoryWalk signs and answer a question and get a prize (including free books!) We also have a couple of special guests lined up—Geronimo Stilton and Clifford the Big Red dog will be there!  Use your FastPass and join us on August 17-18 for this fun event! 

If you've never been to the park, you are in for a treat. There's a wooden roller coaster, a flume ride, paddle boats, a train, and loads of other activities. There's music and other entertainment, and of course, food! Cotton Candy! Fries! Candy Apples! Ice Cream! And hot dogs, hamburgers, and a whole list of other goodies. To find out more about the park, just visit their website  for times, ride details, pictures, and more.

And if you've signed up for our Summer Reading Club, get your reading finished up by August 20, because that is when we close up the SRC and relax for a few minutes. Come see us by then to get your FastPass and to enter for our other prize draws! See you at the park!