A decade worth of literacy programs at Coquitlam Centre will be celebrated later this month with a Juno-award nominee and story times with VIPs.
Will Stroet — the star of the TV series Will’s Jams on CBC Kids and Kidoodle TV — will kick off the pyjama party on Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. to mark the 10th year of the Tri-Cities Literacy Committee’s monthly Family Learn + Play in the mall.
Stroet and his band will entertain on Level 2 (in front of Bath & Bodyworks) until 5:30 p.m. while, at 5:45 p.m., Tri-City mayors Richard Stewart and Greg Moore will read stories aloud to the crowd for a 15-minute set. Librarians from Port Coquitlam’s Terry Fox Library will join Coquitlam Mounties for another storytime at 6:30 p.m. while, at 7:15 p.m., the Port Moody Public Library closes the bash with a third story session.
Ann Johannes, the Tri-Cities literacy outreach co-ordinator for the Tri-Cities Literacy Committee, said a number of other organizations have partnered with her group for the special anniversary and will share their resources. Among them, Step-By-Step Child Development, Westcoast Family Centres,
Share Family and Community Services and SUCCESS, an organization for new Canadians living in the Tri-Cities.
Started in 2008, the Family Learn + Play event runs by The Bay on the last Wednesday of each month from 5 to 7:30 p.m. from January to October.
About 100 children between the ages of three and eight attend the free event, learning at different stations and collecting stamps or stickers in order to win a book — either donated through the mall book drop (by guest services) or bought.
“It’s not just about reading and writing but also mastering their fine-motor skills,” Johannes said. “And they get a chance to interact with other kids.”
Still, it’s not the only outreach program the committee oversees: It also runs the Little Free Libraries (where house-shaped cases are placed in parks and other high-profile locations) and Stories Galore & More, a park storytime during the summer.
Adult literacy and ESL programs are also a focus, with its Literacy Is Life Campaign, a Canada Day picnic for LINC students and seniors writing workshops.
jcleugh@tricitynews.com
