Make-believe campfires, reading, imaginative play and social connections, all at the Whitecourt Library

One of the Whitecourt & District Public Library’s most popular programs is the Summer Reading
Program which takes place through the hot months in the dip between school years ending and starting.
The program features a weekly get-together for participants of all ages.
On Wednesday, August 9, the six to eight age group kids were busy making a camping-related craft with
library assistant Barb Madigan. “We did lots of things this summer. Our first week was about the
importance of reading. In the second week, kids planted seeds to see grass heads grow over time at
their houses. We made kites and paper airplanes, and today we made make-believe campfires. Kids love
the little lights and pretending they are at the campground.”
Madigan has worked at the library for seven years and always looks forward to the Summer Reading
Program. “It’s a lot of work to set it all up, but I enjoy seeing how happy they are with what they created
and how happy they are to share it with their parents after the fact. I’m glad they enjoyed their time
here.”
Jaanvi, 7, and her tablemate Eleanor, 8, had fun painting the cotton balls to look like roasted
marshmallows. Once they completed their campfires, they lit their battery-operated candles and placed
them into the heart of the tissue paper. The lights in the activity room were off, allowing the little lights
to glow beautifully.
Madigan said the group typically gets to be outside more, but this year, they didn’t get to be outside
much. “The weather didn’t cooperate well, and it was also smoky outside at times. But when we could
get outside and run around for a little bit, that was fun. With the kites, the kids and I went out into the
parking lot and ran around with our kites and made them fly.”
Library Director Joseph Kubelka said this year’s Summer Reading Program was another great time. “We
had a couple of amazing summer students funded full-time, and they really contributed to this year’s
program. They added awesome touches to every program session, put up some decorations, went
above and beyond for many kiddoes, and paid attention to them.”
He said the story walk along the sidewalk outside the library was another hit. “I hope the kids took away
an awesome learning experience but also an awesome social experience. Knowing that you can still
come together over the summer and have fun and learn things and make friends,” he said.
Sasha Martin, library assistant, worked with two groups, the three to five-year-olds and the
tweens/teens. “The 3-5’s was a fun experience. It was about experimentation, so bringing out the
sensory bins, playing with the sand, and trying to play in water or beads. Some of them hadn’t tried
watercolour painting before or playing with clay. Touching the air clay was an interesting experience for
them.”
For the older group, Martin said they wanted to get into everything. “We brought out the button maker
and the 3D pens. Tie-dyeing is always a popular activity for them. This year, many kids hadn’t tried tie
dye before, which made it a fun, new experience. There were a lot of positive interactions. The teens
enjoyed that too because they would find their buddy and sit down to do the day’s project.”

Adults in the program worked with resident artist Lisa Daye and created all kinds of neat things. On
Thursday, August 10, the tweens/teens group and library staff were treated to a pizza party celebration
thanks to library supporter, Panago. Kubelka said they appreciate the community support received to
help make programs happen, and in this case, delicious. Any businesses that want to sponsor an
upcoming program or provide resources are encouraged to email the Library Director at
jkubelka@whitecourtlibrary.ab.ca.
“Our six weeks of summer programming for all ages is incredibly popular every year and usually fills up
within three weeks of registration opening because it is one of the only free programs in the community
that you can come to every week for six weeks. It has an incredibly high quality. Not only are we
focusing on educational activities with literacy and STEM and arts, but we also try and make it a fun
social experience and include hot new things,” said Kubelka.
He said the variety of activities takes it beyond the book. “It’s not just about reading. There’s so much
more. The reading mostly happens outside of the program. There is an online component where you can
get book recommendations, and then everything comes together at the program, the social, the
emotional and the learning.” Martin added, “There’s something for everyone here.”
Roughly 100 youth and adults combined participated in this year’s programming, slightly less than in
previous years. However, several significant barriers proved impactful. “This summer featured fires and
floods. Through the fires, we saw a huge dip in attendance for those two, three weeks. Then we had the
floods, so there was a lot going on,” explained Kubelka.
“We definitely have some post-processing to do after this summer, and we have some ideas already for
next year,” said Kubelka. One of the ideas already in the works is online registration that would allow
residents to sign up for the Summer Reading Program weekly rather than for the whole six weeks. “It
would be nice for people travelling and allow us to plan more and include more people overall. If you
can only come four out of the six weeks, that would open up those two weeks for someone else to
participate.” All library programming will be accessible through online registration once functioning.
Looking to the fall, Kubelka said they have more fun up their sleeves. “We’ve had an excellent summer
with many great programs for all ages, and we will keep delivering amazing programming going into the
fall. There isn’t going to be something every week like we had through the summer, but something will
happen every month. So, follow our Facebook page or come to the library and grab our monthly
calendar to see what’s going on.”