WilderFutures Fall Young Readers Program
What a great success! On Saturday, November 26th, we came together as a community to host our third family-friendly live reading event at the Central Library! We were thrilled to have all the smiling faces as we began our third reading event. Thank you to all families who came out to support us, and to our guest reader Rebecca Lieb, your support in this event meant the world to our community and us! We also want to express gratitude to Tiny Timber, Indigo’s Love for Reading Foundation, and the Calgary Public Library, and all those who applied for the second instalment of the Young Readers book collection. We are grateful for the number of responses and are touched by each of your stories.
To close off our Young Readers program for the year, we’ve rounded up some notable highlights from last Saturday’s read-aloud. Read on to see how our event unfolded, the value of this program, and special thank you to this season’s partners!
Young Readers Live Event Recap
Families of all ages joined the Calgary Public Library community in the front atrium of the Central Library, sitting with anticipation as they waited for the event to begin! Hannele Gordon, our Equity & Community Director began the event and shared a warm welcome before the Calgary Public Library’s, children’s programmer encouraged all attendees to participate in a children’s version of the land acknowledgement with hand signals and signs. Shortly after, our guest reader Rebecca Lieb greeted the group and began to read the three thoughtfully selected books. Rebecca began the read-aloud with “The Rabbit Listened" by Cori Doerrfeld, followed by a short wiggle break. Once we refocused, she read “You Hold Me Up" by Monqiue Gray Smith. After a short intermission, Rebecca closed our reading event with the third and final book, "The Good Egg" by Jory John and Pete Oswald.
The event was a HUGE success, and it filled our hearts with joy to be able to witness individuals of all ages listen and engage with the books as we intended with our Young Readers program. We hope that this program and event encouraged everyone to seek out diverse narratives while learning about mental health and wellness and building a love for reading!
Through our read-aloud, we engage the audience to reflect on the books they choose to read and the narratives they convey to those listening. By being mindful of the books we choose, we hope to encourage our community to do so as well.
Young Readers Fall Collection Drop Off
Thank you to those who took the time to apply for this month’s book collection. We strongly believe these books will help you educate the next generation of future leaders and innovators by promoting diverse narratives and engaging conversations.
Our selected applicants who received our 6 months to 5 years books include:
Heart Home Network formally The Brenda Strafford Centre
Closer to Home Community Services
Our selected applicants who received our 5 to 12 years books include:
All Recipients Received:
Five diverse and inspirational based books on Mental Health, Kindness and Empathy from our book collection
Five Young Reader's Book Guides to assist in promoting thought-provoking conversations and activities
A personalized note thanking all recipients for their application and working towards creating a brighter future for all
A branded WilderFutures Tote Bag
Thank You to this Season’s Partners!
Meet our Young Readers partner, Tiny Timber! Tiny Timber is a hand-crafted toque company for adults and littles, proudly manufactured in Calgary, Alberta! As a locally grown business founded with the outdoors in mind, Tiny Timber believes that nature can be one of our greatest teachers. For every toque sold, one dollar goes towards supporting mental health initiatives within the Calgary community and beyond. We are proud to partner with Tiny Timber for this season's Young Readers. Their support in helping make this program possible means that organizations and children in Calgary have the tools and resources to learn and educate on mental health, kindness and empathy through the power of narratives.
This holiday season, we've teamed up with the Indigo Love for Reading Foundation to support the Fall Young Readers program to distribute a collection of intentional and thoughtful books to our Calgary community! The Indigo Love of the Reading Foundation exists to provide Canadian children in need with access to relevant, diverse, and high-interest books. Since 2004, the foundation has been dedicated to putting books in the hands of children who need them most while providing the opportunity to encourage our youngest citizens to fall in love with reading! We are thankful to partner with the Indigo Love for Reading Foundation for this season's Young Readers. Their support means children in Calgary will receive the tools and resources to learn about mental health, kindness and empathy through the power of narratives.
The Young Readers program hopes to foster a genuine love of reading in young children and to help educators facilitate age-appropriate discussions about important yet underrepresented subjects. Our goal is to continue improving access to diverse educational resources for organizations facing financial barriers. To learn more about Young Readers, click here. Don’t forget to follow along on our not-for-profit organization’s Instagram and Facebook for more information about upcoming events and initiatives.