It’s back! Summer Reading at the library!

Once again, we’re starting the TD Summer Reading Program at the Carleton Place Public Library. Kids of all ages will have a blast collecting a poster, stickers and much more just by reading!

All they have to do to get started is come in and pick up an invitation. We’ll sort out the rest (it’s easy…they just have to read 3 books and bring the invitation back to the library).  Once they’ve registered, they’ll receive a great starter kit and a ballot for one of our great prizes this summer. There’s plenty of time to read and collect ballots, so don’t worry.

This program doesn’t require you to come to the library on a particular day or time, so it’s perfect if you’ll be dropping in and out of town during the summer. Kids just need to keep track of what they’ve read, and we’ll bring everything up to date once they come back in. It’s always great to give kids incentive to keep reading during the summer.  We’ll have once BIG grand prize and lots of smaller ones, so the more they read, the more chance they’ll have to win something!

For the older set (kids in Grade 5 and up), we’ll have a separate program to keep them occupied. Remember “BOOK BUCKS”? They’re coming back, only this year, they’ll have to play Book Buck Bingo to earn them. Drop in for more details.

One of the really fun things to watch for this summer is our Gnomebrarian (a library gnome, of course)!  Not only will the kids be helping him put away books on our large wall, you’ll be able to follow all his antics on Facebook, here on our blog, and even on his own Twitter account!

As usual, we’ll also have lots of events running each week for all ages. Drop in to pick up a summer calendar, or download a copy here on the blog ( it just won’t be on our wacky paper). Almost everything is free, but you need to register for EACH event, so call us or drop by the library for more information.  We’re looking forward to a great summer. IMAGINE what could happen!

Fall into reading at the library!

Our latest bulletin board

We’re back into our regular fall schedule at the library, with storytime on Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 10 – 11am.  Registration is a MUST, so please sign up early.  We need to know how many will attend so that we can have enough crafts ready for everyone. Children aged 2 – 5 are welcome and there will be stories, games, songs and a craft.  Plus, there will be plenty of time for choosing books afterward.  Please come a few minutes early so that we can start on time.

For those of you doing the TD Summer Reading program, we’re going until the end of September so that everyone has time to collect all of their stickers.  And then…we’ll be making the draws for PRIZES!!  Yes, prizes!  And we have lots of them!  Hopefully, you’ll be one of the lucky ones!

Don’t forget, we always have a newsletter each month available on the front desk so that you’ll know what’s going on all month.  We usually have events such as craft nights or reading programs for the kids, but there’s lots for adults, too. We have the latest bestsellers and tons of DVDs that you can take home for free. Stop by and see what the library has to offer today!

Our Grand Prize!

Here it is…..just what everyone has been waiting for!! Our Grand Prize for the summer program!  It has really been a whirlwind of a summer here at the Carleton Place Public Library!  But we couldn’t have had more fun if we tried!

The theme for the TD Summer Reading Program was Destination Jungle, and after decorating our library and program room with vines, leaves, trees and jungle animals, we also encouraged our kids to read, read, read!  To give them a little incentive, though, we asked local businesses to donate prizes for our kids, and here’s our Grand Prize!

This basket is STUFFED with fabulous prizes!!  Of course, kids have been pressing their noses to the window all summer to try and make out the contents (you can see a few items….but not everything). This will be the main prize that only one person will take home (we’ll draw the prizes in September), but there will be plenty of other prizes  for other readers.  And what did the kids have to do to win?  Just read three books!  But…the more books they read, the more ballots they have in the prize box….

Thank you to all of our great local businesses who generously donated prizes this summer, including:

Dairy Queen

The Carleton Place Lion’s Club

The Heroes Lounge

Scraptease

TD Bank

and Giant Tiger!

I’d like to announce that we won another Honorable Mention in the TD Summer Reading Program Awards for our program last summer! We’re on a roll, but mainly, we just love being creative and try to provide the best experience for our readers all summer long. Thanks to all of the kids who made this possible (and a BIG thanks to the TD Bank and the Canadian Library Association!) See you next summer…….

Our summer calendar is almost ready!

Our summer reading program mascot….just hanging out at Canadian Tire.

Our fabulous summer student, Kelsey, arrived on Monday and she’s working away at our 2010 summer calendar!  We’re just about ready to put it out and start signing kids up for some wonderful programs, so give us a call at the library later this week, or drop by to pick one up. I’ll post one here on the blog as well later this week.  We’ll have lots of fun things for kids of ALL ages to do this summer, all based on the TD Summer Reading Program theme which is Destination Jungle!!

I am almost finished visiting schools this week where I’ve been telling everyone about the fun program which includes reading, posters, stickers and prizes! I’m sure some of your kids have come home talking about my crazy safari hat and binoculars, not to mention the frog!  We’ll be officially starting that program the first week of July, so stop in and pick up an invitation then! There is no set time or day of the week that you need to be at the library, so kids can participate on their own terms and read as much as they like this summer.

If you want to know a little more about the TD Summer Reading Club, you can drop by the official website here.  And for the kids, there’s a great spot devoted to the program just for them, with online games, book reviews and much more!  We’ve also got book lists posted here on our blog if you’d like a few suggestions.  All of these books are available at our library, so come in and take a look, or request a book from another library.

So join us for a summer where we’ll be WILD about reading!

Summer Calendar coming soon!

To those of you eagerly waiting for our summer calendar to come out, keep watching!  We’ll have the hard copy available in the next few weeks and I’ll immediately post it online so that you can sign up for the first week’s events right away. We’ll have something going on each week for kids aged 0 – 16 (yes, we have stuff for the older kids this summer, too!)

We’ll also be starting the TD Summer Reading Program in a few weeks, and all ages are welcome to participate.  There will be posters, stickers, and lots of prizes and all the kids have to do is read.  The library will be transformed to reflect the theme but for now, I’ll just give you a little hint.

See you in a few weeks!

Fun times at the library!

For our 2008 TD Summer Reading Program, the Carleton Place Public Library won an honorable mention in the TD Summer Reading Program awards.  We were thrilled to have our program recognized, and continue to try to provide great events each summer (as well as year round).  Along with a certificate, we were awarded a small monetary prize and with the funds, I opted to purchase a digital picture frame to display all of our great photos!  We take tons of pictures throughout the year and rather than place them in a book, I thought a fun way for everyone to see them would be to display them in this manner.

So, if you’re at the library, stop by the display case and watch to see if you recognize any familiar faces!