Development & Fulfilment Program
Chapter 3
In the Development & Fulfilment Program we focus on all community members in our districts: children, adolescents, and adults, of all ages. We make development possible in a fun and informal way, from personal growth, linguistic development and reading improvement, as well as sharing knowledge, research, and inspiration. In this program we work towards a connection with the local community, our partners and with other programs offered through the Kennemerwaard Public Library and Artiance. We were able to welcome visitors into the library again in March for the various activities.
In brief Highlights from the Development & Fulfilment Program in 2022
CoderDojo Kennemerwaard
A CoderDojo is a place where young people can learn programing. It’s an activity co-run by volunteers. We organized live (in person) dojos again in March 2022. We began in seven locations and during the year two more were added. Dojos can now be found in Huys Egmont since May, and CoderDojo Langelijk also joined in during the autumn. This was in anticipation of the merger between the Langedijk Library and the Kennemerwaard Public Library. CoderDojo’s seventh anniversary was celebrated in December. The increase in participants is a result of one of our ninjas becoming a mentor who now assists the younger children.
No. of dojos
54
No. of participants
547
Outwitting Crooks Online
The information desk for Outwitting Crooks Online was organized twice in 2022. This was in partnership with the project manager for digital security and cybercrime at the Alkmaar city council; Seniorweb Alkmaar; actor Simon Daniël Brommer; and the local digital police officer, Youri Liek.
During the free walk-in people could discuss topics on safety, privacy and preventing problems related to digitalization with each other and with the representatives of organizations that were present. Whether it was on phishing, spam, fraud via email or Whatsapp, all questions and concerns about online crime were open for discussion. Actor Simon Daniël Brommer, as ‘barista’, tempted visitors with a free coffee or tea in exchange for their bank or telephone details. Although details were of course not accepted, almost 90% of the visitors were prepared to reveal their personal details in exchange for a free treat.
This provided interesting material for conversation during these afternoons and confirmed that information and advice on this subject continues to be a top priority for the library and partners.
No. information desks
2
No. of visitors
38
Alkmaarcentraal.nl
Valuable session ‘Outwitting crooks online’ in the library in De Mare: Simon discovered a crazy amount of info.
National Book Start Day
The Dutch Reading Foundation organized the National Book Start Day for the second time on 11 June. The Kennemerwaard is part of this project to stay in touch with our target group (babies 0-1 year and their parents). A display on baby and toddler books, as well as informative books for parents, can be found in all branches. In some branches a special baby corner has been designed with soft materials, a tipi tent, baby books and educational toys. There were also five baby books with small activity materials. Parents were able attend a baby bootcamp workshop, presented by By Fleur, in the Alkmaar Centrum and Alkmaar De Mare branches.
No. of participants Bootkamp By Fleur
Alkmaar Centrum 6
De Mare 12
No. of participants Sing-In
Castricum 12
Heerhugowaard 14
Children’s Book Week
The Children’s Book Week was held from 5-16 October. The theme this year was Gi-ga-groen! And there was of course so much to do in the library. Children were welcomed and were given the chance to become a true nature hero.
There was a treasure hunt through the branches with all sorts of wonderful information on nature and many children took the activity book home with them.
Fantastic tree huts were built in the Alkmaar Centrum branch in partnership with JOL Alkmaar, and the children helped in the Kinder Repair Café (Children Repair Cafe) in Heerhugowaard and Castricum. Bears and dolls were repaired here, and broken trains and battery-operated cars were moving again. Punctured bicycle tyres were also repaired in cooperation with people from Met Elkaar Voor Elkaar and Rataplan Heerhugowaard.
The Mixed Media Animal Art workshop proved to be a great success. Tearing and cutting paper, painting, pasting, and drawing were all activities in this workshop.
Owl pellets could be dissected during the Owl Workshop together with the IVN Institute for education on nature.
The great Mad Science Theaterfeest (improvisation theater) was sold out. The mad professors held a whirlwind show here for the children on the power of airflow.
Quote father
"These sorts of activities are such a great education for children, to increase their knowledge in a fun way like a Mad Science show, chapeau!"
Danny M. van der Cingel
What a great idea to teach children how to repair their bike tyre again. Maybe a good idea for Alkmaar too. Surprising how many children from Alkmaar came here with punctures ...
Evelyne de Rijk
Great fun and a beautiful giga tree!
No. of participants treasure hunt
353
No. distributed activity books
567
No. of participants building mini fantastic tree hut
24
No. of participants Kinder Repair Café
Heerhugowaard 1
Castricum 6
No. of participants workshop punctured tyre
Heerhugowaard 9
No. of participants Mixed Media Animal Art
Heerhugowaard 15
De Mare 15
No. of participants Owl Workshop
Castricum 21
Bergen 14
Improvisation theater Papaver
Alkmaar Centrum 235
No. of participants Het Grote Mad Science Theaterfeest
Alkmaar Centrum 80
Heerhugowaard 65
De Groene Loper (The Green Carpet)
We were able to take significant steps in 2022 to highlight sustainability in our programs, partly due to the sponsoring by the Rabobank Club Support.
Under the collective term De Groene Loper, we organized a range of activities, particularly on Wednesday evenings, to help visitors learn about sustainability in an easy, accessible way and to give them ideas on how to reduce their ecological footprint.
From then on in 2022 we began to run the Repair Cafés (in partnership with Stichting natuur- en milieu-educatie) in the evenings for clothing swap, exchange of toys and belongings. A series of seminars and workshops, entitled In Gesprek met ... (In Conversation with ...), was also held with local role models and inspirers. There was always some sort of connection to trends and social activities. During the National Climate Week, the local Climate Mayor came to visit.
There was also a presentation and exhibition on sustainable housing by LiberTerra in the Alkmaar Centrum branch, and two well-attended sustainability stands in Heerhugowaard and Alkmaar Centrum.
The Children’s Book Week theme Gi-Ga-Groen! worked in nicely with the program theme on sustainability. Many activities in this context were also organized for the children.
We were able to attract a new group of users to the library during the swap evenings, which resulted in a great community of people who are motivated and regularly come to help, exchange, and meet up.
No. Repair cafes
3
No. clothing swap evenings
5
No. toys and belongings exchange evenings
2
5-year Reading Together Book Club with foreign-language speakers
The Reading Together Book Club with foreign-language speakers began in March 2017. This was facilitated by funding received from the Heerhugowaard city council. The weekly sessions were soon attended by eight to ten participants. Easy Reading Books on level A2/B1 are read every week. The theme and genre change regularly. The narratives often lead to sharing personal experiences and good conversations. Participants come from different countries, and all have a mutual goal: to learn, read and speak Dutch well. During the corona period the book club also proved to help reduce loneliness. The book club continued online during this period but afterwards meeting in person was enjoyed even more.
One of the previous participants said how happy she was to see and talk to everyone again in person after the period of corona. Her fragile health kept her housebound for a long period, but she longed for contact with others. Another member of the group said that she had spoken to no-one except her husband. She was glad she had found a group with similar interests with whom she could read and chat. This lady is now a regular at the Taalcafé.
No. of participants
334
Human Library
In the Human Library, you don’t read books, you read people; interesting people who you probably wouldn’t speak to often in daily life. Visitors to Heerhugowaard chatted with thirteen so-called living books which lead to many positive reactions on 21 May.
"The frankness and honesty were really great!"
"A good conversation, it was enjoyable, and it gives you a different perspective on life and on your day. I’m only 17 years and it was fun to do, I’d even say that everyone my age should experience this at least once."
"Beautiful and valuable conversations happen here. There was so much understanding and no judgment on either side, expectations were low, and I was just curious, extra fun to then be taken by surprise"
In conversation with Thomas Olde Heuvelt
The session on 18 November in Heerhugowaard was a blood-curdling evening with Thomas Olde Heuvelt, a.k.a. our own Dutch Stephen King. It was a fantastic evening, not for the faint-hearted but for the lovers of scary and horror literature. Thomas talked personally about his work, his life, and the journey his writing has taken him. It was a narrative with spontaneous interaction from the public.
Suzanna Jansen on her new book De Omwenteling
As part of the reading campaign Nederland Leest, Suzanne Jansen talked about her book De Omwenteling in the Castricum branch on 15 November. The book, subtitled De eeuw van de vrouw, describes the history of women’s emancipation and is based on some of her own family history. It became an interesting discussion about fiction and non-fiction, for a well-mixed audience.
"Such a good and motivated speaker! She knows what she writes about but can also communicate it well orally."
Meet & Greet writers market
During the Nederland Lees month, November 2022, Saturday 19 November was a day that was completely dedicated to authors. Various writers in the Alkmaar area, from beginners to advanced, came to share their books at the Meet & Greet.
Simone van der Vlugt kicked off the afternoon on stage with an interview held by Maureen Hessel. She talked about the early days of her career and shared facts and tips on the writing profession. The writers and public who attended found it very inspirational.
The talented youth book writer from Alkmaar, Yorick Goldewijk, was also present. He won the Gouden Griffel last year for his beautiful youth book Films die nergens draaien. He read some text to the audience and spoke on the power of imagination.
There were also writers for Young Adults, which included the Young Adult fantasy writer Valentijn Ringelberg from Alkmaar with his magical books, and the Young Adult author Nadine Swagerman who won the Jonge Jury Debuutprijs in 2019.
Several small presentations were made by poets and writers during the afternoon. The local bookstore was also there where the authors’ books could be purchased. Both authors and guests experienced it as very positive.
Total no. of writers:
20
Total no. of visitors:
60
Artificial Intelligence Parade
The AI, or Artificial Intelligence Parade, is an initiative by the Culture and Media workgroup and the Mensgerichte AI platform from the Nederlandse AI Coalitie. The parade came to eighteen libraries in twelve months throughout the country and could be seen in the Kennemerwaard branches in October and November.
It is important to talk about the complex term “Artificial Intelligence” because it is present now in everyone’s life, whether we know it or not. AI is here to stay.
We organized several great activities that contributed to the awareness of this topic during the parade. Young trendwatcher Jesse van Doren talked about what Artificial Intelligence really is during a pizza meet and greet session and how he sees its future. Professor Frans Feldberg and Marijn Plomb from Data Science Alkmaar also came to talk about this topic in an easy to comprehend way so that at the end of the talk everyone understood what it is and more importantly, what it is not. Their explanations helped to overcome any fears some people had on this topic. The Patiëntenfederatie organized a discussion evening during the parade on artificial intelligence in healthcare, and how a robot can help combat loneliness.
Feedback from the audience on the parade was positive. They said that they now have changed their view on artificial intelligence and that they would deal with it differently in the future.
Total no. of visitors whole parade
85
Marielle Harte
It was an interesting presentation and easy to understand.
Lecture War in the Ukraine
The year 2022 will go down in history as the year war broke out between Russia and the Ukraine. People throughout the world were shocked by the violence of war, and so near to the borders of Europe. After years of peace, the war was very close by and caused many people fear. There were many questions as people were not familiar with the situation there. In response to this an information evening was organized in the Heerhugowaard branch immediately after war broke out. This was in partnership with the NEIOS (Netwerk van Europese en internationale oriëntatie in onderwijs en samenleving).
It is part of our mission as a library to provide people with correct and accurate information, and to do this in an accessible way so that everyone can form their own opinion based on facts. Much information on the war has been shared on social media but what is true and what is not?
During the talk it was clear how many interests are at stake here and how far the threats between the Ukraine and Russia go back in history. The reactions to the lecture were very positive. The people who attended were thankful that a lecture was organized so quickly to provide clear information.
Total no. of visitors
70
"Thank you for organizing this so quickly! Great afternoon."
Lisette Mensonides
You do this so well!
Information Market - Sustainability in your home
An information area on making your home more sustainable was organized together with Duurzaam Bouwloket, the Alkmaar and Dijk en Waard city councils and was held in Heerhugowaard and Alkmaar Centrum branches last year. But where to start on sustainability and what options are there when renting to make your home more sustainable? Several different companies and organizations were present at the market where people received information on their products or services. Duurzaam Bouwloket had built a showroom outside which included a model of a heat pump and accompanying general information. There were also companies with solar panels and insulation, as well as the bank for questions on finance. The Doe Duurzaambus was outside giving away small tools to people who rent. The city councils also came to both markets to answer questions and to provide information on future plans.
Total no. of visitors Heerhugowaard
110
Total no. of visitors Alkmaar Centrum
100
Assistance with the Digital Income Tax Return
Although plans had been made earlier, the partnership with Hogeschool InHolland transpired in 2022. During the open consultation hours at the libraries in Alkmaar Centrum, De Mare and Heerhugowaard, students from the Account and Finance & Control course assisted 126 people in completing their online income tax return. There were social council members from MET Welzijn in Heerhugowaard to provide support. The partnership was a success. Students learned a new area of their profession and people who were less digitally competent received help for free. At the library branch in Castricum, Stichting Welzijn volunteers held open consultation hours for any queries on tax matters.
