Our Stories - Coming to Canada

The Enjoy Summer Learning program invites newcomer children and youth between the ages of 7 and 21, to share their experiences of immigrating through the Our Stories - Coming to Canada project. Written submissions and drawings can be accepted at all branches and sent to Jen Gal in Youth Services. Children are also invited to join us to share their stories with others at four library events:

• Terryberry Library - Wednesday, August 16th, 10 am -11 am
• Central Library - Wednesday, August 16th, 2 pm - 3 pm
• Red Hill Library - Thursday, August 17th, 10 am - 11 am
• Westdale Library - Tuesday, August 22nd 1 pm - 2 pm

Check out the HPL website under Kids' Programs for more details: www.hpl.ca/Kids/KidsPrograms/ESLOurStories

Summer Reading Rewards

The summer is now in full swing and kids are starting to redeem their Summer Reading Rewards vouchers to relieve up to $5 in fines.

There are a few changes to the procedures for redeeming the vouchers this year:
- It is no longer necessary to add a note to the patron's record.
- Vouchers can be redeemed by parents as well as children and teens.
- Vouchers can be used once on one card and cannot be divided to pay fines on multiple cards.

Check out Summer Reading News on HPLNet for the full circulation procedures.

Children’s Dandelion Festival

Green Venture, a non-profit environmental organization working in partnership with the City of Hamilton, presents the Children's Dandelion Festival, an exciting program that teaches children about healthy gardening without the use of pesticides. Children will explore the world of plants and critters, play the Web of Life Game, and have fun with an art project.

To book the Dandelion Festival for your branch, please contact the Kevin Friedrich or Andrea Magakian by phone at 905.540.8787 ext. 18 or by email at garden@greenventure.ca.

Power of the Pen - Only 2 weeks until the deadline

The Power of the Pen deadline is fast approaching!

The deadline is July 31st - only 2 weeks left for teens to submit their original poems and short stories. Please make sure that you still have some entry forms on hand and remind Teen Summer Readers, Parents and Reading Buddies volunteers about this fantastic opportunity.

So far, the online submission form is working like a charm and has been very popular to date.

Marine Discovery Centre

The Marine Discovery Centre, located at Pier 8 in Hamilton, has generously offered to visit branches this summer to provide free children’s programs focusing on marine conservation. The program can be geared to suit whatever age range and length of time would work best for your branch and can include storytelling, a craft, an experiment, or a visit from the Marine Discovery Centre mascot.

If you are interested in bringing this program to your branch or if you would like more details about what the program will include, please contact Krista Taylor, krista.taylor@pc.gc.ca.

Summer Student Retreat

The Summer Student Retreat is scheduled for next week Thursday, July 20th from 9-11:30 at the Central Library in the Hamilton Room.

Please let us know who will be attending from your location(s) so we can ensure sufficient snacks. We would like as many Summer Literacy Workers as possible to attend.

We will be reviewing some key issues, answering questions, and running through some of the end of summer aspects of the program.

Summer Festival of Reading

The Summer Festival of Reading on Saturday, July 8th on the Jackson Square Rooftop was great fun. We had a good turnout during the afternoon's family festivities with lots of activities and performances. A good crowd attended the teen portion of the event, during the evening, which included performances by local bands and several Teen Open Mic favourites.

Thank you to the Summer Literacy Workers and Central Security Staff who assisted.

Kick-off performances are in full swing

In branch kick-off performances are well underway. Magic, music and reptiles - what more could we ask for?

On Wednesday, 75 kids and parents headed to Picton to enjoy the Reptile Man's friends and creatures.

All reports indicate that Summer Reading is off to a wonderful start. Continued success to all!