The LP Fisher Public Library in Woodstock, N.B., Canada has had a running club for a number of years now. In addition to our annual summertime Kids Kilometer Fun Run, we also hold a yearly Reindeer Run in partnership with the River Valley Runners (our local run club) and the Salvation Army.
Looking for an easy craft to do this fall that is fun for all ages and helps reuse old materials? At the L.P. Fisher Public Library in Woodstock, N.B., we made decorative fall garlands! We had nine patrons from three different families gather on a windy/rainy Saturday morning.
If you weren't already familiar with the craze for painting rocks and hiding them, you might be living under, well … a large boulder.
Do you spend a lot of time scrolling through Facebook or Instagram, admiring all the amazing programs other librarians are putting on, wondering where they get their endless ideas and enthusiasm? Yeah, me too. Except I am also one of those people often approached to deliver webinars and conference talks and write books about my "endless ideas and enthusiasm." Huh? What's going on here? Am I lying? Faking it?
Saturday mornings in our small town are not the busiest time at the LP Fisher Public Library, especially in the summer. People have either gone to the lake, are working in their gardens, or are at the farmers market. We are situated in a fairly rural area and agriculture (both marget garden and industrial) makes up a fair bit of our economy. So in 2018, we decided to try going to where the farmers and shoppers are — the market.
While attending the Next Library Conference in Berlin in September 2018 I showed up for an interactive session called "Library Story-Times and Maternal Mental Health." The talk was led by a library assistant from Essex Libraries in the U.K. and two researchers from the firm Shared Intelligence. I was curious about how storytimes could benefit new mothers, especially given my own experience as a new mom.
The L.P. Fisher Public Library in Woodstock, New Brunswick, likes to periodically hold Family Art Nights. It is a process-oriented, intergenerational program that allows people of all ages, whether they think of themselves as “artistic” or not, to try their hand at something creative. There is no defined outcome, so people can experiment and enjoy the process of play, something that is very good for relieving stress.
If you spend any time on social media, especially if you follow other libraries, librarians or community groups, you’ve probably heard a lot of talk about intergenerational programming. I have read news stories about daycare groups being integrated with seniors’ homes, or 20-somethings finding mentors (and roommates!) in older adults.
Something we notice a lot here at the LP Fisher Public Library (and you probably do, too) is that when many of our young patrons get their first library card they have a difficult time signing the back. And we're not just talking preschoolers who are still learning to form letters — we're talking preteens and teenagers. Sometimes even adults.
Looking to add some movement to your story times? Interested in physical literacy, but not sure where to start? Here are six groovy titles to get you off on the right foot (pun intended). You can find more kid-friendly physical literacy book reviews here. So gather some kid-friendly instruments and be prepared to make some noise!
