Registration for the Iowa City Public Library’s Reading is Beary Cozy Winter Reading Program begins December 18.
Available for readers ages three and up, kids through adults, participation in the program will help pass the long winter nights. It will run from December 18 through February 12.
Readers ages 3-12 who read and track 20 books on their reading log will be entered into the grand prize drawing for a $50 gift certificate to the Iowa City Downtown District. Teens and adults who finish two books and complete three challenges will be entered in a separate drawing. After finishing, all participants can stop by the Library to receive a hot cocoa mug!
Sign up at online at icpl.org/wrp or pick up a reading log at Lobby Grab And Go. All participants can track their progress online, or download a paper reading log to return to the library.
Have questions? Visit icpl.org/wrp for more information or call the Library at 319-356-5200.
Register to join us Wednesday, December 9, from 6:30-8:00 pm for an interactive workshop to learn more about how and why schools and neighborhoods in the Midwest remain segregated in many ways. What is "redlining"? Has anyone ever asked you where the "good" schools are? Do you define your neighborhood as safe, and what does that really mean? How do we navigate these complicated conversations? Sara Alvarado brings her 25+ years of real estate savvy and her passion for racial justice to a much needed conversation that many of us are nervous to have. Her work is rooted in humanity and love and we encourage you to sign up and bring a friend or a neighbor!
Sign up for a 20-minute tutoring slot for your K-6 child with a pre-service teacher volunteer from the University of Iowa Elementary Education program. This volunteer will meet your student in a library-hosted Zoom space and offer support and guidance to your K-6 student with homework, listen while your student practices reading aloud, or help instruct them in concepts your student is having trouble understanding.
Sign up on the ICPL's Events page to reserve a tutoring session for your student. Your automated confirmation email will contain the Zoom link for this program. You are also encouraged to send a copy of the materials your child will be working on to anne-wilmoth@icpl.org. These materials will be emailed to the tutor ahead of time so they can look at them along with your child.
This program will be offered December 7, 11, 14, and 18 - sign up for one or more dates!
We at ICPL are excited to announce a change in our collection of children's Read-Along titles: audio enabled books, from VOX Books and WonderBooks!
Audio enabled books are a technology update to the classic "turn the page" read-alongs that featured compact discs previously. They look just like regular hardcover books, except they have an attached digital listening device on the inside of the front cover.
The attached device houses the audiobook content and serves as both a speaker and controller, allowing the user to start, and stop the title and to listen aloud or plug in a set of headphones for silent assisted reading. This device is rechargeable via a Micro-USB port, and once charged each book will last up to at least 50 plays.
Vox and Wonderbooks will be available for checkout starting in early December, and our collection will feature a range of titles and reading levels including picture books, nonfiction titles, early readers, and chapter books in both English and Spanish.
To see ICPL's current collection of VOX and Wonderbooks and to place items on hold please visit this page in our online catalog.
Keep little hands and minds active, engaged, and learning! Winter Break Busy Bags from ICPL are designed to activate your little one's mind through building, creating, reading, writing, and playing. Register to pick up one of these activity bags that will hold multiple activities to keep kids, ages preschool through 4th grade, creatively entertained during the school break!
Register for 1 bag per child, ages preschool through 4th grade, and pick up the kits during Lobby Grab and Go desk hours, 10am-6pm Monday-Saturday. Add a book bundle to include 5 books in your bag, hand selected by staff based on your child's age and interest level.
Looking for fun fall activities for the littles in your life this month? Set a goal of completing ICPL's December Bingo card to receive a button, Aspen Leaf Frozen Yogurt coupon and a bookmark. Return your completed BINGO (traditional BINGO rules) card, in our book returns, by mail, or take a picture and email us.
*Prizes will be awarded to children, ages 3-12, in the Iowa City area. Limit one per child.
Register for Sunday Fun Day Craft-To-Go Kits from the events page. Kits can be mailed via US Mail or picked up during our Lobby Grab and Go hours, from 10am-6pm Monday-Saturday. Please register for pick up at least one day in advance and allow several days for mail delivery. Limit to one kit per child in a household. A new craft kit will be offered every Monday and be available until Saturday or as supplies last, so check out the calendar for new crafts weekly! We also will have extra crafts available in the lobby throughout the week, so if you're not sure if you will be able to come pick up your crafts or miss registration, consider coming to the library to grab one in the lobby.
