Events Update!

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Virtual Story Times

A little bit of this and a little bit of that: stories, singing, dancing, puppets and lots of fun and laughter for kids of all ages and stages. All library story times are free – register to get the URL to join the fun! For more information about our children’s programs, please see our Event’s Calendar or email Ardie at aburnham@orl.bc.ca

If you can’t find a live virtual story time that works with your schedule, or if you want even more story time fun, check out our prerecorded stories, songs and rhymes on our ORL YouTube Channel.

Picture Book Read-Alouds

Library Songs & Rhymes

Oral Stories

More stories, songs and rhymes will be added each week.

Baby Time

Baby-Time-Penguins

Bond with your baby through the power of song and rhymes!

This program is recommended for babies, newborn – 18 months and their caregivers. We welcome the whole family to join in the fun!

This program will be presented through Zoom. Registration is required.

Thursday, April 30 from 1:00-1:20 PM– presented by Val from Vernon

Thursday, May 14 from 1:00-1:20 PM– presented by Val from Vernon

Thursday, May 28 from 1:00-1:20 PM– presented by Val from Vernon

Toddler Time

Join us for simple songs, stories, rhymes and puppetry fun. Plenty of action for little ones on the go!

This program is geared for ages 18 months to 2 years. The whole family is welcome!

Times will be posted when this program is set up.

Family Story TimeStory-Time-Woodland-Creatures

Bring the whole family for great stories, silly songs and puppetry fun!

This program is geared for ages 3 to 6 years, but all ages are welcome. Caregivers are encouraged to join in the fun.

This program will be presented through Zoom. Registration is required.

Wednesday, April 29 at 11:00 AM– presented by Ardie from Salmon Arm

Friday, May 1 at 11:30 AM– presented by Stephanie from Vernon

Wednesday, May 6 at 11:00 AM– presented by Ardie from Salmon Arm

Friday, May 8 at 11:30 AM– presented by Stephanie from Vernon

More to come!

Pyjama Story TimePyjamaStoryTime-SpringBreak

This program is geared for ages 3 to 6 years. All ages are welcome.

This virtual Pyjama Story Time will be brought to you through ZOOM and presented by Judy from Kelowna. You will need a computer, smart phone or tablet plus internet to participate.  Registration is required.

Tuesday, April 28 at 6:30 PM

Tuesday, May 5 at 6:30 PM

Tuesday, May 12 at 6:30 PM

Tuesday, May 19 at 6:30 PM

Tuesday, May 26 at 6:30 PM

Tuesday, June 2 at 6:30 PM

Events for Kids & Teens

Go to our Events Calendar to see the full list of activities, details and dates.

Audiobooks for Families

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COVID 19 has impacted all of our lives. With the libraries closed, we can’t bring you great programs like story time, LEGO Building, or Library Choir. However, we can still guide you to great books.

Today, I hope to help you get through this time as best you can with some audiobook recommendations. Here are some of my 5 Star suggestions that you can listen to together as a family during your self isolation.

WishtreeThe Wishtree by Katherine Applegate

This is a beautiful story told by a tree named Red who observes the lives and habits of the humans around her. Red sees beauty and kindness in humans, and she sees hate and cruelty. As Red tells her story, we learn about the importance of kindness, community, friendship, and family.

 

Insignificant Events in the Life of A CactusInsignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

This story is delightful, full of heart, and laugh-out-loud funny. I was trying to listen to it at night and had to give up, because it had me laughing so hard I cried at one point.

Insignificant Events… is about a girl who is born with no arms. The story follows her struggles when she moves to a new city and goes to a new school. But it’s about so much more than that, as well.

As a side note, anyone who has grown up with Tourettes, or has a loved one who has Tourettes, will be touched by Dusti Bowling’s ability to write about the syndrome with tremendous humour and kindness. I was blown away by the accuracy of her description of the syndrome and the acceptance and love shown to those who struggle with it.

The Inquisitor's Tale, Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy DogThe Inqisitor’s Tale: Or, the Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz

It took me a while to get into this one, but once I did, I was fully engaged. If you like stories set in the 13th Century with a Canterbury Tales flavour, then this book is for you.

The story starts at an inn in France where travellers cross paths and share their stories of three unusual children and a very special dog. As the travellers share their tales, we begin to see how the individual stories of the three children intertwine and create one great whole.

Where the Mountain Meets the MoonWhere the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

This story has the rich flavour of Chinese folktales. Grace Lin has taken the Chinese tales of her childhood and created a delightful quest with a strong female protagonist. The book is a wonderful adventure with tremendous heart.

 

The War That Saved My LifeThe War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Set during World War 2, this is the story of ten-year-old Ada who has never left her small London apartment. Her mother sees Ada as useless and an embarrassment because of Ada’s clubbed foot. When her mother arranges for Ada’s little brother Jamie to leave London for the safety of the english countryside, Ada escapes to go with him, and her life begins to change dramatically.

 

Happy listening!

 

Let’s Get Caught Up!

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As you can see, I have fallen off of the blogging wagon again. Things at the library have been so eventful this past fall and winter that I haven’t had a free moment to upload program photos and share what had been going on.

So, let’s get caught up!

I’m working from home today, due to crazy library renovations, which means I don’t have access to the photos on my work computer. That means there will be no fun pictures to break up all the wordiness of this post. I promise to post pictures another time.

Let’s go back to September, October and November. That was a great time filled with preschool visits, school visits, and local fairs and festivals that I was able to attend for work. (I have such a great job!) It was also when story time programs and S.T.E.A.M. started up again and when I started the Library Children’s Choir. (So much fun!)

Around this time, our branch head accepted a new job, we got a new branch head, and we learned the exact dates that our library would start major renovations (November!). Once renovations began in late November, the library turned into an ever changing maze. Each day was a different set up at the library, and programs ended up being cancelled or moved to new locations.

In December, the renovations were the main focus. When I wasn’t out doing programs or writing reports, I would help the staff move furniture and shift books. We were all thrilled to be free of the sound of jackhammers when the library closed for the holidays.

Renovations are a bit behind schedule, so staff have been shuffled off to other branches to work, or are enjoying a little longer holiday, and I get to work from home. I’m excited to see what progress has been made when I return to work on Tuesday. Hopefully computers and telephones will be back in service by then! 🙂

And now we are all caught up. Pop by the library to see the new changes when they are finished.

Happy 2019 to you all!

SRC Celebration 2018

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For our Summer Reading Club Celebrations this year, the kids played fun carnival games like Toilet Bowl Toss, Ring Toss, Face Painting and Fishing Booth. They earned tickets at each booth they went to and cashed their tickets in for treats and toys at our concession stand. We also celebrated those who have already completed their Reading Records.

Summer Reading Club is not over. Kids have until September 4 to earn points and finish filling out their Reading Record. Paralympian gold medalist Natalie Wilkie will had out medals on September 4 at 4:00. She will also draw names for our grand prize winners. If you can’t make it to the library on September 4, you have until September 17 to pick up your medal.

Until then, keep reading and having a great summer! See you all in September!

 

Summer Reading Club: 2018 Week 7

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We started this week off with a bang. For Book Smack today, we had several courageous children get up and talk for 30 seconds about a book they read. Many ended up getting marshmallows thrown at them for taking longer than 30 seconds while a few were able to beat the clock and walk away unscathed. Whether or not the kids were on the receiving end of a flying marshmallow, fun was had by all.

After Book Smack, we had a fun S.T.E.A.M. activity. We created Little Red Riding Hood’s town complete with houses, a playground, school, skate park, dirt bike park, hospital, zoo and woods for Little Red to navigate around in order to get to Grandma’s house. Little Red (our Ozobot), went off exploring different paths a few times, but eventually arrived at Grandma’s safe and sound. (She did end up taking a quick trip to the hospital after visiting the skate park, though.)

Summer Reading Club: 2018 Weeks 5 & 6

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For week 5 of Summer Reading Club, we did Origami with Eiko, Yoga Story Time with Lisa, and Book Smack & S.T.E.A.M.

For week 6, we started with Jedi Training Academy. (Check out some of the cool costumes that we had. Those Storm Troupers were made out of recycled materials!) Next, we had Motion Commotion in Space with Colleen O’Hare from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada- Okanagan Centre.

 

Summer Reading Club Continued

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This week was full of exciting and educational experiences.

First, Leif David showed us some super cool magic tricks.

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Next, we had two conservation officers come and teach us what to do when we encounter a predator in the wild and how to identify wild animals. Remember everyone, it is illegal to feed wild animals.

 

Last, but not least, we had The Pinky & Pretzel Show with Taryn. Pinky is a corn snake and Pretzel is a  ferret. Pretzels sister Squirrel also came and played with the kids.

So sorry that I don’t have pictures of the ferrets. I was too busy with crowd control at that point. Also, sorry for the blurriness of the bottom picture. I was zooming in from far away so that I wouldn’t have to get close to the snake. I guess camera phones aren’t meant to zoom in clearly from that distance.

 

Summer Reading Club 2018 Update

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Here’s a peek at some of the fun programs we’ve had at the library so far this summer.

Book Smack and STEAM

The kids all got a chance to talk about a book for 30 seconds. Most of them went over time and had marshmallows thrown at them to let them know their time was up. We then did a fun STEAM activity with KEVA Planks, Lego, and Ozobots. The kids created a city for the Ozobot and drew roads for it to follow. The team work and creativity was fun to see.

 

Bubble Wonders

Geoff Aikens of Bubble Wonders came and showed us through his bubble presentation that Anything Is Possible!

 

Maker Crew

The ORL Maker Crew showed us how a 3D printer and green screen work. We even got to try using a handheld 3D printer!

 

Opera Kelowna: The Joy of Song

We even had Opera in the library! Thank you Haley for a wonderful presentation and for singing to us.