The buildings may be closed to visitors, but the Newfoundland and Labrador Public Libraries are ready to read, play, and explore with children of all ages across the province this summer — virtually.
Newfoundland and Labrador Public Libraries (NLPL) invite you to explore our provincial heritage and encourage a love reading through the TD Summer Reading Club, where the NLPL focus is Read Around the Province and Read Together.
The TD Summer Reading Club, which is the largest bilingual literacy program for kids in Canada, aims to ensure children do not fall behind with their reading during the summer months.
Children who do not read during their summer vacation, or who are not exposed to stories, are at a disadvantage, compared with those who do, and can fall six weeks behind their peers once they return to school in September.
This year, reading through the summer is even more important. Being out of a regular reading environment for months due to the pandemic presents new challenges, and the public libraries want to help.
In place of traditional in-branch library programming, this year’s reading program will be entirely online.
Each week, participants will be encouraged to experiment with their reading in a different way — such as reading a book by a local author, reading a book that encourages creativity, reading in an interesting Newfoundland and Labrador location and sharing these experiences through social media with the hashtags #readtogethernl and #tdsrcnlpl2020.
Each week, we will also offer virtual programs that can be done at home and at anytime through social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. There is something to do every Monday — Friday until the end of August.
In place of traditional in-branch library programming, this year’s reading program will be entirely online.
On Mondays, we will release our weekly challenges — fun ways to read and play while at home in our neighbourhoods or in our bubbles. Children’s librarian Leigha Chiasson-Locke shares a favourite book, which can be found on the NLPL Digital Library, and encourages readers to try something new like read outside, read and play, read a story based in Newfoundland and Labrador and more.
Monday is also the day we promote our Ready, Set, Move Storytime. This fun and interactive program incorporates songs, rhymes, actions, storiesand play into the reading experience.
Each week, a new library face pops up to spend quality time reading for children and encouraging them to play along. Each book that we read can be found on our digital library for patrons to borrow and keep the fun going.
Tuesdays, we celebrate teen creators. Our newly launched Teen Quaranzine features artwork, stories, poems and more that reflect the pandemic experience, or showcase the creativity teens have been working on while home these past few months. Check out our current submissions at #nlplquaranzine.
If you are interested in submitting your creation, send it along to [email protected].
Wellness is the theme for Wednesday. Each week, we will have interactive programs dedicated to healthy living. Whether through yoga, recipes, meditation, or wellness-inspired book recommendations, there is something easy to do at home for everyone.
We are extra excited for Thursdays because that means it is time for our Children’s Summer Story Series with a different author every week, A beloved local author will share one of their stories with us through a virtual read-aloud and their books will be available to borrow on digital library as well.
On Fridays, Scratch Summer Camp with Mark, a free coding program for kids, will be available at 10 a.m. on our NLPL Scratch Facebook page. Mark will walk us through creating our own video games and coding programs fun for the whole family.
Reading in the summer is important for all children. Whether they read on their own or snuggling together at bedtime, reading can happen anywhere at any time, and it has never been easier to become a member of the Newfoundland and Labrador Public Library. Be sure to check out our become a member page and register for your free library card for immediate access to our digital book collections.
There is so much to do this summer with our virtual TD Summer Reading Club. Be sure to check out our information page for a full list of our programs and services. We can’t wait to read with you.
Leigha Chiasson-Locke is the children’s services and collections librarian for Newfoundland and Labrador Public Libraries.
On the web:
https://guides.nlpl.ca/summer_reading/TD_SummerReadingClub
https://nlpl.ca/use-the-library/get-a-newfoundland-library-card.html
https://digitallibrary.nlpl.ca/
