Section 3
EDUCATION PROGRAM
In the Education Program, the Kennemerwaard Public Library furnishes direct services to institutions within education, e.g., schools and childcare centers. All activities within the Education Program focus on providing children with the necessary foundation to participate in society later in life. It is preferable to start from a very young age because the earlier a child is in contact with language, reading and 21st century skills, the greater the pleasure later. The range of services includes activities related to linguistic development, reading enjoyment and digital skills and is targeted at children, teaching staff and education staff members. We want to create an opportunity to learn, build and share each other's expertise together and do this on a regular basis. There were special and significant activities undertaken again in 2021.
Education Program in primary childcare
Book Start in Childcare
New childcare locations were again opened within the scope of the Kennemerwaard Public Library in 2021. We now have a partnership agreement with fifty locations in our area, and eight Book Start consultants representing the library active in and at the various childcare centers. We lay the foundation at a new location during the first two years. Together with the childcare facility, we create a good reading environment, give tips on updating the (book) collection and the purchase of new materials. We educate one staff member as a Reading Coördinator at each participating location. This is automatically the contact person for the Book Start consultant. All education staff working at the participating location then complete the Interactief Voorlezen training. We make a reading plan which includes annual work schedules and together they act as a guide for the activities. Every child at a Book Start location receives a free membership to the library. Parents are also actively involved in learning about the importance of reading out loud. Once every two years national monitoring is carried out as a basis for the work plans.
Role model behaviour The Book Start consultants visit the locations regularly where they focus their attention on leading by example. For instance, think about organizing a reading moment. This will gradually be adopted by the educational staff themselves at the location, which will then give the consultants more time for deeper and broader insight. These in-person library services could not continue this year unfortunately due to Covid-19. Trainings, parent meetings and network meetings could not take place. Several trainings were however given online via a webinar. The consultants had a considerable amount of online contact with the centers and materials were either sent or delivered. The Book Start consultants managed to visit the locations as much as possible between the lockdowns to promote reading out loud even more. The festive openings for almost all new locations had to be postponed.
In brief
Highlights from the Education Program in Childcare (Book Start) in 2021
Book Start Day 2021
Activities were organized for the youngest members and their (grand)parents on Saturday, 19 June, the national Book Start Day. It was a wonderful opportunity for young families to familiarize themselves with the library and the planned activities. In Alkmaar Centrum two consultants set out with the library’s delivery bike to promote the library and talk to the parents of young children. During these chats we distributed Book Start vouchers, and as we did during the reading days in January, we gave them a Coco finger puppet. Parents with young children could join in the Reading Out Loud workshop for babies and toddlers in the Kennemerwaard Public Library branches. Parents also received tips from professionals and then started reading to their child there and then. All new library memberships during the national Book Start Day were in the running to win a set of books.
Sylvia: Fantastic project!
Media Ukkie Dagen (Media Days for the little ones)
Everyone made more use of the internet, tablets, and other digital sources during the coronavirus period. Even little children. But how can you be sure that all media sources provide something positive towards the linguistic development of the young child?
The Book Start consultants, disguised in a Book Start bearsuit, distributed a media sample package to the participating Book Start childcare locations during the Media Ukkie Dagen (26 March-2 April). The media sample package gives professionals tools to access media in a particular way, with a specific well-balanced content.
45
packages distributed
National Voorleesdagen in Kinderopvang
Attention was given to the Nationale Voorleesdagen in childcare. The book Coco kan het! by Loes Riphagen was the focus during this annual reading festival. This picture book of the year is about gaining courage and being able to do more than you think. It’s time for little Coco to spread her wings and that is exactly what little children do in their daily life too. A picture book is a wonderful form of support for various theme activities where you can actively contribute to the linguistic development of the young child. We have made special use of tablets and other digital sources to help bring parents and carers in touch with the themes. We were again able to contribute to language development and increase parents’ involvement by organizing two webinars that showed how different sorts of media can be incorporated into a theme.
Webinars
We organized the webinar, Do more with picture books from the top 10 picture book list, in partnership with MediaSmarties. The focus was to read (out loud), look, listen, play, and practice, both with or without a screen, and indoors as well as outdoors, with practical tips to get you started. There was a webinar for library staff members and one for educational staff members. Every Book Start location also received a bag packed with inspiration to bring the Coco kan het! book to life for the group.
125
enrolments webinar
45
no. of bags distributed
VideoLab Coco kan het!
VideoLab took a great step forward in 2021 with over 110,000 views of Coco kan het!. The narrative of the picture book of the year is presented visually in this video. Several search assignments were included in the video for children to work through either at home or in an online class. The Book Start and library consultants shared the video with all the childcare centers and primary schools where they work. The video was accompanied by a letter to the parents and with relevant exercises. VideoLab began in March 2020 aimed at making digital teaching tips available from the library to students, teachers, colleagues, parents, and educational staff. Books, as well as library staff members, play a role in every video. We want to motivate and inspire our target group this way. The videos can be viewed either at home or in the classroom via You Tube or the library website.
(Book Start) in Childcare statistics
Municipality of Alkmaar
Total no. of childcare centers
57
Childcare centers with Book Start
11
No. of children in contact with Book Start
737
The number of foundations that participate in Book Start
Rollebol child centers, Forte Kinderopvang in De Rijp, Blosse
3
Municipality of Bergen
Total no. of childcare centers
11
Childcare centers with Book Start
7
No. of children in contact with Book Start
258
No. of children contacted in the toddler library in De Branding 60
The number of foundations that participate in Book Start
Forte Kinderopvang and Blosse
2
Municipality of Castricum
Total no. of childcare centers
17
Childcare centers with Book Start
6
No. of children in contact with Book Start
525
The number of foundations that participate in Book Start
Forte Kinderopvang and Blosse
2
Municipality of Heerhugowaard
Total no. of childcare centers
29
Childcare centers with Book Start
25
No. of children in contact with Book Start
1,791
The number of foundations that participate in Book Start
Book Start, Blosse, Forte Kinderopvang, Childcare Babbels, Rollebol Child Centers, Villa Kakelbont, ‘t Schelpje and Pinkeltje
6
Source no. of childcare centers in the municipalities: national register childcare.
Education Program in primary education
The service provided by the Education Program to primary education is based on three disciplines: The Library at School (dBos), individual activities and projects and additional training for teaching staff.
The Library at School The first discipline is now a proven concept for the Library at School: an intensive, long-term partnership between primary schools, libraries, and municipalities. Within this concept, we work towards quantifiable improvement in educational results in the fields of reading and language skills, and information and media skills.
Individual projects The second stage for primary education includes individual activities and projects that schools and after-school care organizations can use to their advantage per activity or project. The activities vary from an introductory programming track to a library visit in the Childrens Book Week, and from participating in Scoor een Boek! to using the Level UP! project on responsible gaming.
Extra training We make extra training available to teachers in our Kennemerwaard College in the third stage. Here you will find for example the Open Book to Reading Coordinator course, or a course on Digital Storytelling - how to portray stories using digital media. We also support schools when updating their school library and the policy on digital literacy. Despite Covid-19, we provided a good service to schools in 2021. Education changes, and our services change with it. During the lockdown we prepared online reading and media lessons, which teachers and parents could make easy use of. The consultant taught classes via Teams and reading videos and audio fragments were produced. The library consultant was able to stay in close contact with the children and teaching staff this way. As soon as was permitted, a consultant could again be found at school. The number of schools with a structural partnership grew to three in 2021, with one new colleague joining the team.
In brief
Highlights from the Education Program for primary education in 2021
Children’s Book Week at dBos schools
The Children’s Book Week theme, 'Become who you want!', received a positive response from the schools. There are many wonderful books available on this theme and we promoted them with enthusiasm in the classroom together with the accompanying VideoLab video. The schools were also very creative. Parents from all different professions were invited into the classroom and the children were allowed to dress up for one day and come to school in an outfit that depicted their chosen profession. The teachers were play-acting and there was also a treasure hunt where the teachers dressed up and portrayed the profession of the main character in a book. There was also great enthusiasm in the library for the treasure hunt, and librarian consultants and teachers distributed information on this to parents and children. Approximately 500 children joined the hunt in the Kennemerwaard Public Library branches. It was a Children’s Book Week that was well organized despite coronavirus restrictions.
Challenge Event
The Challenge Event on 1 and 2 September was the conclusion to the Level UP! program. It took place in the AZ stadium with over 180 children from the Heerhugowaard and Alkmaar municipalities. They were the winning grades 5 and 6 from the Hasselbraam, De Vaart, Het Kompas, De Phoenix, De Vlindertuin en de St. Josephschool primary schools. The children played FIFA supervised by AZ e-Sporters Dani Visser and Jens van der Flier. They scored points in the gym, checked out the dressing room, and sat at the desk in the press room to act out their own press interview. They were also allowed to play ping pong in the players' lounge. The children left with a goody bag afterwards and returned to school.
“Can I borrow this book for another week, I’m almost finished!” • “A book just for me?” A student after he received a book as a gift after the final presentation.
Liereland Leesbende
The Liereland Leesbende after-school program was run with success from August to November at the OBS Liereland in Alkmaar. This program, which was especially developed at the request of the Liereland primary school, involved twelve sessions with twenty students from grades 5-8. The goal was to promote the motivation to read, increase vocabulary, and to learn to think about how texts are made. The library consultants received assistance from the BiebBoys at the Gelderland-Zuid Library who gave the students a challenging assignment every week that was explained in a video.
They studied informative books, made a video loaded with facts on unique animals, wrote scary stories and gave book pitches. Reading enjoyment was the priority at every session. They were able to borrow a book every week to read at home. The library in De Mare was also paid a visit.
The Liereland Leesbende concluded with a session for the students to present their work. The BiebBoys made a personalized video for them which all children thought was special (‘I feel a little famous’, said one of the students). The earlier reluctance to read and the general dislike of books became less for most students as the program progressed. They also knew the books they preferred. A report on this program will be made in 2022 and will be assessed to determine if this format can be adopted more often for primary schools.
Online escape game De plaag van de Boekenwurm (The Bookworm Plague)
Students’ reading skills are in decline. This was found in the PISA-onderzoek (Programme for International Student Assessment). At present it appears there is a threat that one in five children will have low literacy. This must and cannot happen. With this thought in mind, several parties have met to push reading campaigns (see also chapter 1 In brief) with the aim to increase reading enjoyment for children and adolescents, because reading is fun if you have the right book. An online escape game was designed to reinforce that notion. It was a successful partnership with the Kennemerwaard Public Library, De Aktiviteit, Boekhandel Plukker, Boekhandel Stumpel, teachers and the educational organization SAKS and teachers at the Pabo Hogeschool InHolland. The game was designed for children in grades 5 and 6. They discovered different sorts of books and genres in this game, and they were encouraged to start reading. It is important to first familiarize yourself with the great diversity of books available and believe that there is that one right book for everyone. Children were challenged to solve escape puzzles while playing this online game (for free). The answers could be found in the available youth books in the library. The children prevented a threatening bookworm plague by solving the puzzles. The site was viewed + 500 times. A winner was chosen from the best entries and received a prize package which included the book Lampje by Annet Schaap.
"Thanks, I’m super happy, I’m going to tell my teacher tomorrow" Hug Broers The winner of the escape game.
Scoor een boek! (Win a Book)
Many different dBos schools participated in the Scoor een Boek! project this year which encourages reading. Three videos were made - before the kick-off, in the break, and when the whistle was blown, in partnership with AZ soccer club and these were played in the class. Children could place stickers on the poster in the classroom when a book had been read. Grades 4/5 at the Vinckhuijsenschool in West Graftdijk was the class that had the highest number of stickers (read the most books). This class met AZ player Ron Vlaar online with Meet & Greet. They prepared original questions and discussed the player’s life in depth via the digiboard in the classroom. A few other classes that almost won, received an AZ ball and every student received a Panna magazine.
Total no. of books read
2,493
Total no. of classes
27
Total no. of students
652
Total no. of schools
18
27
The land of WilleWete
The Kennemerwaard Public Library began a pilot in 2021 entitled: The land of WilleWete, a refresher training program in partnership with Uitgeverij Clavis, the Pabo Hogeschool InHolland, Stichting Ronduit and Cultuur Primair. This program was designed for interested educational staff who teach from an interdisciplinary perspective and who promote a learning environment where students are encouraged to ask questions. Two of the seven 'expeditions' (as the workshops are called in the program) were given by the Kennemerwaard Public Library and were entitled, Monster aan op onze boekenexpeditie! and Digital Storytelling. The explorer Humboldt played a central role during both expeditions.
Monster aan op onze boekenexpeditie! (Sample during our book expeditie!) Angela Pater, the program consultant, and Marco Moerbeek (teacher at the Openbare Vroonermeerschool) led participants on a discovery trip into the world of youth books in this workshop. What should you take note of when choosing texts and books on a theme in your class? Which important texts and books do you take with you on the expedition with your class? In the Alkmaar Centrum branch the participants searched for books that were somehow linked to Humboldt. What options does a book provide to be able to work with texts and to increase reading enjoyment and improve reading skills? It was an interesting workshop that resulted in many educational ideas. As a result of this workshop the De Cocon primary school booked an area at the Kennemerwaard Public Library on their study day to gain inspiration from the collection of youth books.
Digital Storytelling How does a student share the results of his or her research? Our program consultant Femke Hofstede, together with Klaas Jan Lammers from the Hogeschool InHolland, gave suggestions on how to convey a message with new media in the Digital Storytelling workshop. During this workshop the teachers identified ways to make a presentation via different digital sources. Some teachers decided to share a message via the green screen, while others made digital posters or used Google Maps. Or what about making a game, podcast, newspaper or stopmotion? The teachers said that they could continue this in their own lessons.
The Library at School statistics
Municipality of Alkmaar
Total no. of primary schools
44
Primary schools that have Library at School
20
No. of students within range
2,791
Municipality of Bergen
Total no. of primary schools
14
Primary schools that have Library at School
7
No. of students within range
1,042
Municipality of Castricum
Total no. of primary schools
13
Primary schools that have Library at School
3
No. of students within range
993
Municipality of Heerhugowaard
Total no. of primary schools
20
Primary schools that have Library at School
11
No. of students within range
2,764
4,086
Total no. of loans Library at School
460
Total no. of extended loans Library at School
The number of patrons and loans from the Library at School is included in the counts by the automated loan system BICAT-WISE that is used in the branches. The number of loans for home reading was 4,546.
Education Program in secondary education
We have a special team of consultants for students 12 years and older, the so-called Team 12+. These consultants work for Secondary Education (VO), Secondary Vocational Education (MBO), and the iPABO. We focus on reading and digital literacy in this second education stream. Classes come to the library branch for an introductory visit, or a library staff member visits the school and teaches the groups there. These lessons may cover social media for example, and questions on online behavior, but also for the upper grades on how to make profile assignments or use the online library. We began the Library at School for secondary education in 2021. A library consultant goes to the school for three hours per week to raise awareness for reading. We began at two VMBO schools and one MBO school in 2021 and now have a structural collaboration with four schools (partnership with Clusius MBO in 2020) where one library consultant visits the school weekly, which is why the 12+ team gained an extra staff member.
Reading for pleasure We especially promote reading enjoyment for the students at the VMBO/MBO colleges. Our consultant helps the students discover together how much fun reading can be. The collection of books and choosing the right one of course plays a major role. The reading consultant also ensures that tutors are made aware of the importance of reading in the different departments. The goal of the partnership between the Team 12+ and the iPABO is to show future teachers how to encourage children to start to read in a fun way. These students will play a very important role in their careers to help fight low literacy in children. The coronavirus again impacted this section of the Education Program last year. We were fortunate enough to be able to welcome most classes, and by paying a visit to the schools we were still able to contact many students.
In brief
Highlights from the Education Program for secondary education in 2021
The Library at School at Clusius College Alkmaar
Thanks to a subsidy received from Kunst en Lezen, the Kennemerwaard Public Library was able to implement the Library at School at the Clusius MBO college in Alkmaar, and after a successful first year, the partnership was continued in 2021. The library’s reading consultant and the school have mutually taken steps to improve the reading environment and have laid a foundation for an ongoing reading culture at the Clusius College. An important focus during the first year was to solidify the position of the mediatheek. The mediatheek (an open learning center at Clusius) functions for both VMBO students and MBO students who have classes in the same building. We noted that very few trainees and students were members of the library, and that the availability of reading material was very limited in some homes. We have made the mediatheek more visible and attractive by purchasing new open cupboards so that books can be displayed to their full advantage. The mediatheek also has a new book collection tailored to the target group and a new loan system is in use. All first-year classes in level-2 education have paid a visit to the mediatheek with their mentor at the beginning of the school year. The reading consultant introduced students and tutors to the many possibilities and the new collection. The consultant also organized two webinars where speakers explained the importance of reading and language skills to the tutors, to promote their own competence in motivating students to read. It was also stressed here that pleasure in reading and the motivation to read go hand in hand.
In the classroom The reading consultant visited the classroom several times per year for a motivational reading activity, which also inspired the tutors. Many classes have now made time for student and teachers to read a few times per week. The classes for Dutch now always begin with 10 minutes of reading in silence. The school also participates in the writing project Er was eens... and, if possible, reading is linked to a citizenship theme, as it did the past year with the project Ondergedoken als Anne Frank.
Also for VMBO
As for MBO, we have also started with the VMBO level at the Clusius in Alkmaar. As mentioned before, some VMBO and MBO students take classes in the same building, and they make use of the same mediatheek. What this means is that the VMBO students can take advantage of the investment that was made last year in this open learning center. Many new titles were purchased last year with special attention given to materials for the students in the first years at VMBO level. All first-year students received an introductory lesson in the open learning center at the beginning of the school year where they creatively worked on numerous titles that were present in the mediatheek. A two-day training was organized together with the Stichting Lezen. The first day of training has already taken place. The promotion of a reading culture has been reinforced internally with the attendance of most VMBO tutors. Magazines (informative) have also been purchased to provide a wider choice for students who have difficulty reading.
The Library at School at Horizon College MBO Alkmaar
The decision to work together with the Horizon College in Alkmaar was begun this year after orientation discussions. The proposed goal of the partnership was to set up a reading culture throughout the school. That involved a good book collection, an inspiring reading environment and the expertise of the tutors. As the school has more than 3,000 students, it was decided to begin with the Pedagogical Work track (800 students). We can then work towards increasing the library reading consultant’s workload step by step. In the meantime, a project group with representatives from the Kennemerwaard Public Library, Waterland and Purmerend under the guidance of Probiblio, has been set up to create a strong basis for a partnership with the various branches of the Horizon College. The reading consultant has now been introduced to the subject class for Dutch, and their initial questions have been noted. The tutors for Dutch want a structural place to teach reading and the enjoyment of reading in the curriculum. First steps have been undertaken towards developing a reading plan in this framework. In this early period of teamwork, we have mainly worked on an action plan for the remaining school year so that there is a good foundation for a long-term partnership.
The Library at School Clusius College Heerhugowaard
The first year of the Library at School began at the Clusius College in Heerhugowaard in 2021. The consultant met with the subject class for Dutch and in this first period of teamwork we have worked in general on an action plan for the rest of the school year. We have begun taking the first steps towards developing a reading plan. The consultant has informed the group about the different national campaigns and has decided that forty students may compete in the Er Was Eens... writing competition. The reading consultant has taken stock of the present collection and a new collection has been purchased. We have begun to improve the reading environment by firstly sorting the books per genre.
Visits to the library and e- book/audio book lessons
The Jan Arentsz College, VMBO department, would also like to partner with the Kennemerwaard Public Library. The school believes it is important to lower the threshold for students to go to the library, which is why all first year and second year classes came to visit the library in the De Mare library branch. After the visits, the library tutors introduced all first year and second year students to the Online Library during class at school. The students learned how to borrow e-books and audio books and how to select them from the collection. We now explore the possibility for further collaboration with Jan Arentsz and the library.
Veilig Puberen (Safety in Puberty)
We have once again set up lessons as media coach on Veilig Puberen at Focus and Het Huygens College in Heerhugowaard. Every year 120 hours are set aside on this per school. Due to the coroncrisis there are even more young people online than ever before. Consequently, problems arise, and these also come to light in the classroom. Think about an abnormal (or an absent) sleep pattern, feelings of anger from too much gaming, or fear of receiving or sharing images and messages that are sexually tinted. Online selection, however, can also be productive if the student uses the internet responsibly, i.e., meeting people online, working together with peers, learning English, and gaining all sorts of information. Due to the coronavirus regretably many Veilig Puberen lessons for the first-year students could not proceed. We have taught newly developed lessons at the Clusius College where we discussed the concept of media literacy with the students: what is it, when do you have media competency and does this mean the same for everyone? The lessons placed emphasis on individual online contact, contact with others, and the question what does being online on a social-emotional level require from you. These lessons will be given at all schools next year.