Staff of the Champlain Library are thrilled to be recognized by Ontario’s Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, after being named to the shortlist of nominees for the Angus Mowat Award of Excellence.
“It’s a real honour,” says library CEO Cynthia Martin. “Staff work tirelessly to deliver programs that will enrich our community, and to be recognized at such a level is wonderful.”
The Champlain Library’s nomination for the award was earned by the staff’s creation of discovery kits for children and their parents. The kits were originally created to help with home schooling during the pandemic. Due to the popularity of the project, staff then created more discovery kits for adults and seniors.
“During the pandemic our patrons were struggling with at-home schooling. We wanted to find a way to engage kids and parents in the learning process,” Martin explains. “We therefore created take home kits on various topics with a variety of learning materials, such as activity sheets, experiments and reading materials.”
“Our discovery kits for kids were so popular that, we decided to create kits for adults and seniors as well.”
The kits focused on various topics, such as mental health, yoga and gardening. Memory kits, that center around a place, time or theme, were created for seniors with dementia. These kits are available to families with parents in long-term care, or to caregivers.
The winner of the 2022 Angus Mowat Award, which recognizes a commitment to excellence in the delivery of public library service, will be announced during the gala evening of the Ontario Library Association Conference in Toronto on February 2, 2023.
