The theme for this year’s B.C. Family Literacy Week is “What’s on My Plate” and members of the local alliance for literacy will be joining the staff at the Castlegar & District Public Library to provide a fun day of activities related to the theme on Saturday, Jan. 27.
Members of the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy (CBAL) will be at the library from 12 to 2 p.m.
“We’ll be doing stories and crafts, and then songs,” says Corinne Svardfeldt, community literacy coordinator for CBAL. “And then we also have our StrongStart coordinator coming out with some table activities.”
The Lions are also participating and will be bringing games and a photo booth, and Kootenay Family Place will be doing face painting.
“It’s a lot of activities packed in,” says Svardfeldt.
CBAL works in conjunction with Decoda Literacy Solutions, the provincial literacy provider.
“The focus is Family Literacy Week, which incorporates engaging families to understand that learning happens all of the time. It happens when children are in the cart and they point out signs at the grocery store, when they are cooking together or when they play games,” says Svardfeldt. “So just making families aware that it really is a natural state of things.”
CBAL will be incorporating the “What’s on My Plate” theme into its regular programming as well.
“On our Friday program — our ESL family program — we’ll be making placemats and we’ll have a little lunchtime together and they’ll talk about different cultural traditions at meal times,” says Svardfeldt.
She says her adult ESL class will also be looking at the Canada Food Guidelines, portions, and food labels and how to read them.
Decoda is also holding a #FamilyLiteracyWeek Photo Contest, which will run from Jan. 21 to 28.
You can take photos of family literacy activities using the “What’s on My Plate?” template — found at decoda.ca/support-us/events/family-literacy-week/contest — and post them to social media to be entered to win a grand prize.
The Castlegar Library will also have a number of activities on Saturday, Jan. 27, including the Living Library.
The plan is to have three speakers each do a half-hour talk and Q&A, but the library is still looking for speakers.
The Living Library is scheduled from 12 to 2 p.m. Anyone interested in being a speaker can contact librarian Laura Zaytsoff at lzaytsoff@castlegarlibrary.com.
“Anyone with a unique experience or if they’ve had a struggle that they’ve overcome or if they’re a world traveller,” says Kimberly Partanen, library director.
“I know it’s scary for some people, but I find most people who do it end up being happy that they’ve participated in some way,” says Zaytsoff.
Jan. 27 will also be the last day to bid in the Friends of the Castlegar Public Library’s silent auction, which started on Jan. 8.
The Friends of the Library will also be holding a book sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27 and on Sunday, Jan. 28.
Books sales are by donation and Zaytsoff and Partanen say the sale includes a large selection of young adult fiction.