The hottest place to cool down in Coquitlam this summer is the Coquitlam Public Library, with the Poirier and City Centre branches luring children of all ages to programs featuring animals, lego, robotics and technology.
"Some of the programs have been so popular we've had to turn people away," said Barbara Weston, youth services coordinator, who speculated that the sheer variety of programming, plus air conditioning are drawing families in, resulting in greater participation than in previous years.
Plus programs are free, which means local day care centers and low-income families can all participate in programs that are both educational, hands on and fun.
Weston said the news is out there and kids are benefitting.
For example, a mobile dairy program showing kids how to milk cows drew double the number of participants, compared to past years, and the popular Science World and Lego day also drew high numbers of children. Story times for toddlers are also seeing great participation, said Weston, who speculated that a combination of word of mouth and social media is also to be credited for increased participation this summer.
"It's really been heartening because we hear so much about how libraries are passé," Weston said.
Summer may be nearing an end, but the library has many programs for families to enjoy.
Here are a few:
• The Art of Storyboarding for Teens at the City Centre branch, Wednesday, Sept. 2 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Learn how to transfer your ideas for movies, comics, and video games in a storyboard, a tool used by film directors, illustrators, and animators. This workshop will go over storyboarding basics, character design, plot development, and panel planning - with artist Jamie McCarthy. For ages 13 to 18. This program is free, but registration is required. To register, please e-mail Chris at [email protected] or call 604-554-7339.
• Girls in Science at the Poirier branch, Thursdays, from Sept. 17-Oct. 22 from 3:45-5:15 p.m. Girls in grades 3-5 are invited to join the library's fall science camp. Make fossils and extract dinosaurs from eggs, learn coding and computer science and build your own geological time scale models. Create electric circuits, build structurally sound towers and program your own Lego robots. Program is free but registration is required. Application are available at www.sciencealive.ca or call 604 937-4142 for more information.
