March Break is a few weeks away, and here at the Library we have tons of FREE fun planned for kids of all ages!
Visit our online calendar at www.tbpl.ca/getinvolved for a full listing of fun events at all four locations. Some programs require registration, and are designed for particular age groups, and others are drop-in and suitable for the whole family.
One of the highlights is Retro Video Game Night, planned for Monday March 11th, from 5 to 9 pm at Waverley, for ages ten and up. Drop in, play video games, and eat snacks! On Tuesday March 12th, stop by Brodie between 10:30 am and 12:30 pm for some fun with the Science North Bluecoat Scientists as they share an interactive Mighty Machines exhibit. Sign up for Happiness Rocks, a hands-on rock painting program, planned for Wednesday March 13th, 10 am at Mary Black. Registration for this all-ages event begins on February 27th. On Thursday March 14th at 2:30 pm bring the whole family to a Grumpy Grandpas concert at Brodie. The County Park Branch Library will be hosting a St. Patrick’s Day drop in craft program on Friday March 15th, from 10 am to 5 pm, for all ages.
If you prefer an unstructured March Break, why not explore one (or more!) of our four locations. Each Library has a special Children’s area with books for all ages and interests, DVDs, CDs, “Krayon Kiosk” iPads loaded with fun, educational games, cozy places to read, and fun things to do. Brodie has a new light table with which you can explore xrays, and discover light and colours. Ask our friendly staff to show you how it works. The Mary Black Library is home to Northern Nature Trading — a natural swap-shop where you can trade things you find outside for points, then cash in those points for other cool things. It’s open Tuesdays 6 pm – 8 pm, Wednesdays 3 pm – 5 pm and Saturdays 2 pm – 4 pm. Hours and locations of our four branches may be found at www.tbpl.ca/hours.
Tumblebooks, colourful, interactive eBooks, are a great way to keep little ones occupied at home or on the road. Go to www.tbpl.ca/virtualcollection, click on the Sleeping Giant, and log in to My Giant Search. Choose TumbleBook Library from the list (it’s at the bottom), and start the fun! You’ll find story books, read-a-longs, graphic novels, non-fiction, math stories, French stories, National Geographic videos, and puzzles and games as well.
Also available online is Transparent Language, a platform which provides access to fun, interactive language-learning. Transparent Language recently introduced “KidSpeak” — courses designed just for children. Currently KidSpeak is available for Mandarin Chinese, English as a second language, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Go to www.tbpl.ca/learnalanguage to get started.
Looking for a good book to read? NoveList, and NoveList K-8 are amazing tools which connect readers with books through a wide range of appeal factors. Do you prefer to read about a particular time period, location, or type of person? Type that info NoveList, and it will give you a list of books. You can also tell it the title or author of a book you have enjoyed, and it will recommend similar reads. NoveList and NoveList K-8 may be found at www.tbpl.ca/virtualcolleciton. Log in to My Giant Search with your Library card number and PIN, and find NoveList in the list. NoveList K-8 caters to kids from 0 to teen, and include non-fiction as well as fiction. You can make an account if you like, and save books to read later. Book reviews are included for most titles.
Naxos Music Library is a rich collection of classical, jazz, and world music you can listen to from a computer or mobile device wherever you have an internet connection. It also has a “Study Area” which includes a “Junior Section” offering a wonderful introduction to the instruments of the orchestra, and the story of classical music. Find Naxos Music Library in My Giant Search, or download the app and log in with TBPLmm as the username and password.
Joanna Aegard – www.tbpl.ca. If you have a comment about today’s column, we would love to hear from you. Please comment below!
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