Growing a Reader: Kids' Books, Tips and More

Life is full of ups and downs and undoubtedly it is the connections that we make within our communities that help us to enjoy its awesome ride.

A wonderful example of this recently took shape at the Bridlewood Branch thanks to the generosity and hard work of many different customers from all over our community who came together to create a K'Nex "Screamin' Serpent Roller Coaster".

On both November 18 and December 2, 2016, children woke up early not to go to school (both the Toronto District School Board and Toronto Catholic District School Board schools were closed those days) but to go to their local library to participate in this special K'Nex Maker Program.  Approximately 20 people each Friday, including the children and some of their adult caregivers, worked together to build two different versions of this amazing coaster.

And this project was put into motion not only by people working together, but also because another member of our community generously donated the materials! Angela Wong, Senior Library Assistant at Bridlewood Branch, explains:

"After running After-School Club, [Bridlewood] always displays kids' projects in the library. A patron came to us and showed her interest in donating her Screaming Serpent Roller Coaster to Bridlewood Branch. She said she purchased it for her son years ago but her son is grown up now. They both believed that 'the library can make better use of the roller coaster.'"

Bridlewood's K'Nex Clubs are certainly continuing to make quite an impression.

And the roller coaster itself continues to attract a lot of attention with people of all ages stopping to take a look and to add their voice to the growing chorus of "oohs" and "ahhs" as they watch the cars zoom around the track. Wong goes on to say:

"...the patron who donated the roller coaster came to library with her 24-year-old son. They are very happy that the library makes good use of it. She even showed the staff how to use the sound button when roller coaster was running."

Sometimes all it takes is one little roller coaster to bring a community together.

Yes, life is full of ups and downs...thankfully we can all enjoy the ride together.