It is hard to believe that the summer is coming to a close already! The CMLibraries has had an excellent summer with an amazing turnout of kids for our family programming. Thank you to those who participated! We will be putting out a survey at the end of August to get feedback regarding what worked and what didn’t work. If you participated in any of the programs this summer, please let us know how we did!
Both branches of the CMLibraries will be closed from Tuesday, September 5th until Saturday, September 9th. We’ll see you back in the library on Tuesday, September 12th!
Hopefully you read the exciting news in our August Newsletter and Times article that we are the recipients of a Seniors Community Grant with our project entitled “Collecting our Stories”.
During the timeline of the grant we will gather stories written or told by our participants and turn them into a published book. To accomplish this, we are hosting a variety of programs from September to March. “Collecting our Stories Workshops” are planned for Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1:00-3:00pm – most of these workshops will be time for participants to gather and share their stories. Some of the workshops will include instruction from people with experience in writing. For those interested in Ancestry.com or needing help with computers and devices, we will be holding Tech and E-Resource Times on Thursdays and Fridays from 3:00-4:00pm.
For those who prefer to work with mixed media, an Expressive Art Therapist will lead a series of 4 workshops on Wednesdays in November. Stay tuned for more information!
While many of these programs will take place within our branches, we will also be increasing our community engagement by working with community partners and volunteers and bringing activities to those who are not able to come to us. Starting in September, Courtney will be working with the residents and their families at Centennial Place to collect their stories and histories. We look forward to working with other community partners such as the Millbrook and Cavan Historical Society, Mount Pleasant Women’s Institute and Age-friendly Peterborough.
We will be officially launching our Seniors Community Grant on Wednesday, September 20th. Stay tuned for more information! If you have any questions regarding this grant, you can email Courtney at tutor@cmlibraries.ca
The purpose of this grant is to provide a safe and accepting space for seniors to meet and socialize; alleviating social isolation while providing volunteer opportunities which may result in “employable skills”. We will require volunteers to help with visiting Seniors to record stories, with editing material for the book, leading workshops and most importantly, taking part in writing stories to include in our book. Those interested in volunteering are encouraged to drop by the Millbrook Branch on Wednesday, September 13th between 1:00-3:00pm for some information about the grant before our official launch.
While we have some big plans for the Seniors Community Grant, we will continue to have our regularly scheduled programming as well. We will be continuing with our Adult Book Clubs at both branches, Community Threads (check out our upcoming workshops!), Cookbook Book Club, and Adult Storytime. We are looking into changing the dates and times of our Adult Storytime in Millbrook, so please let us know what works for you.
We are in the process of revamping our Family Programming! We’ve listened to your feedback and we now have programming on Saturdays in Millbrook! Join us at 11:00am to participate in a variety of activities. We will continue to have Storytime which will focus on learning new skills as well as Sensory Activities that focus on utilizing a different sense every week. See our newsletter for more information on dates and times.
By Karla Buckborough, CEO/Librarian
