Literacy Week

Family Literacy Week begins on Jan. 25 and is a great opportunity to reflect on how we support optimal literacy development in our community. At the Gibsons and District Public Library, we are celebrating this week in partnership with Sunshine Coast Literacy Coalition by bringing you a fun way to share a wonderful book outside. From Jan. 25 to 30, there will be poster signs mounted to enable you to walk from the library down through to the garden area below, reading When We are Kind by Monique Gray Smith as you meander through the designated path. Another way we are celebrating Literacy week is with the launch of our new STEAM kits.
In an effort to support people to enjoy learning and resources from home, and with the generous support of our Gibsons Library Foundation, we have developed a diverse range of STEAM kits that will be available the first week of February. STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics). STEAM learning is key to developing problem-solving, fearlessness, and critical thinking skills. With the mission to both help people embrace technology and to offer them respite from the digital world, our STEAM kits can be borrowed to take home and enjoy.
Our Child and Youth Services Librarian Pippa Rogers put together these new resources that will appeal to children and adults alike. Quality binoculars and a bird book in one kit encourages a nature appreciation outing. Musical fun can also be had with the ukulele kit, the Kindred Spirit drum kit, or the innovative Specdrums, where app-enabled rings allow you to make music with colour. Engineering challenges can be taken on with wooden KEVA planks – many intricate structures are possible. On the digital literacy front, there are kits that introduce coding and problem solving with child-friendly robots like Cubetto and the Ozobot Bit.
Happy Family Literacy Week. Hope to see you at the library!