Development & Fulfillment program
Chapter 3
With the Development & Fulfillment program, we focus on all residents in our working area aged between 0 and 100-plus. So that includes youth, young people and adults. We create fulfillment in a pleasant and informal way. This ranges from personal development, language development and reading promotion to sharing knowledge, deepening knowledge and inspiration. We seek connections with the local community, with our collaboration partners and with the other programs of the Kennemerwaard Library and Artiance.
5 years With Each Other, For Each Other
The With Each Other, For Each Other group was set up in the library of Heerhugowaard in 2018 to bring seniors into contact with each other as an informal initiative. Meetings are held each month with programs based on the interests and wishes of the group. First priority is to provide a social get-together with coffee/tea and a cookie and the opportunity to get to know one another and catch up.
Five years after its founding, the group is still growing and flourishing. New people join every month, looking for activities and contacts.
We have an email database of 63 addresses and an average of 30 to 35 people attending the meetings. There is also mutual contact outside the meetings in the library. The participants also regularly organize outings themselves.
We can therefore conclude that we have succeeded in achieving our objectives. The celebration of the five-year anniversary of With Each Other, For Each Other attracted a lot of interest from the municipality of Dijk en Waard. Councilor Annette Groot was there to mark the occasion and emphasized the importance of these types of initiatives in her speech. The municipality of Dijk en Waard attaches great importance to combating loneliness and pursuing a good social policy towards the elderly. And With Each Other, For Each Other is a textbook example of just that.
Backlight Meet-up Freedom Fighters
How do you deal with the war? Do you bury your head in the sand or do you get up and go? These questions were the main focus in September during the Backlight Meet-up in Stadsfabriek, which was very well attended. With 60 students from the Supreme College Netherlands, 15 parents and teachers and a number of visitors, it was a full house. Students from neighboring countries of Ukraine were also present and that made the meeting even more valuable. Speakers included a refugee dancer from Ukraine, a young Marine in training and two students from Keep Them Warm. There was emotion as well as a genuine interest from the students in the speakers; some interesting questions were asked and the evening ended with an assignment: 'Where do you draw the line?' Everyone was given a map of Europe with the aim of drawing a line at the end of the Meet-up. When will you take action? When are you going to flee, help or fight? The evening provided not only a fascinating collage of European maps, it also produced plenty of food for thought.
A bird's eye view The highlights from the Development & Fulfillment program in 2023
National Reading Days – January 25 to February 4
This year, as in previous years, the libraries went all out during the National Reading Days. People read from the award-winning picture book 'Maximiliaan Modderman'. Other activities included dance and crafts and children took part in a Scavenger hunt through the library.
Dancing with Fleur
number of children
43
Storytime in the library
Number of children
142
Book Week – March 11 to 19
This year's Book Week focused on the theme 'I am everything'. This involved various activities surrounding the personal search for your own identity. Such as the I-dentify exhibition, a painting workshop, a Philosophical Café and a lecture by journalist and writer Dido Michielsen. All activities were well attended.
'I am everything' Book Ball with painting workshop in De Mare
Number of participants
10
Children's Book Week – October 4 to 15
This year's topic of Children's Book Week was 'At my home'. This is based on the idea that 'home' is different for everyone. Activities included fun things to do in all branches of Kennemerwaard Library. From building houses with LEGO or boxes and designing your dream house with Tinkercad to even searching for traces from the Iron Age. The highlight was a slumber party in the De Mare library. The winner of a writing competition was allowed to sleep at the library with her friends, but not without first decorating cakes, creating sleep shirts, playing hide and seek and listening to ghost stories.
The children had a great time. They will never forget this!
Building your dream house with Lego
Number of children
35
Creative workshop making photo frames
Number of children 51
Improvisation theater Papaper4Kids
Number of children 220
Children's Book Week Scavenger hunt in the libraries
Number of children 408
Creating your own family tree
Number of children 318
All of the Netherlands Reads Sonny Boy – month of November
In November, Kennemerwaard Library organized various activities surrounding the 'All of the Netherlands Reads' campaign. During these activities members and visitors met and discussed the book Sonny Boy by Annejet van der Zijl. One-off reading groups and writing workshops were organized surrounding this book.
Meet en greet Sergio Vyent
Number of participants
35
JJoost Zwagerman Lecture – November 18
For the sixth time, Kennemerwaard Library organized the Joost Zwagerman Lecture together with Theater De Vest, Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar and Indrukwekkende Kunstwerken. Ellen ten Dame paid tribute to Joost Zwagerman, while Scha Bronwasser gave a lecture on the language of art. Luuk Vulkers won the Joost Zwagerman Essayist Prize with his essay 'Everything is Leaking'.
The Historical Moment - Your neighborhood in view
In the villages of the former municipality of Langedijk, the Langedijk history was the central theme during the year under review. During a spring and autumn series of a total of thirty meetings, old photos of houses along the 'Lange Dijk' dike were shown. Each week the villages took different turns. These concerned a series of photos from the early 1970s, which is in the possession of Stichting Langedijker Verleden. Two members of this foundation (two brothers) showed the images, explained what they know and went on to talk to the visitors.
The meetings that were offered under the name of 'Historical Moment' turned out to meet an enormous need among the public. Between 55 and 100-plus visitors were present at each edition. A lot of information was exchanged and, above all, there was a lot of laughter. The input from the public has been recorded by Stichting Langedijker Verleden to be preserved for the future. The visitors were mainly aged over 65. And sometimes, two generations visited the Historical Moment, such as a daughter with her father. At each meeting, there was the opportunity to chat afterward and enjoy some coffee. Sharing knowledge and information about history was of course one of the goals here, but meeting up with fellow villagers and contemporaries was an important bonus and therefore at least as important.
Organized 30 times
Number of visitors
2,490
Health Podium Dijk en Waard
A total of 163 visitors were drawn to the Health Podium Dijk en Waard in 2023. This is a physical stage in the library to inspire and inform people about self-care and a healthy lifestyle. This takes the form of workshops, lectures and other sources. This year's topics that were discussed included: The key to pain-free and smoother movement with ChiWalking, Improving Your Sleep, Entering Surgery in Fit Condition, The Different Worlds of Yoga and Pilates, The Power of Healthy Eating and Boosting Job Satisfaction. The lecture 'The Fountain, taking control of your life through insight into your family system', based on the popular book series by Els Steijn, was one of the highlights with more than seventy interested visitors. These activities were offered in the library of Langedijk or Heerhugowaard Centrum. The Health Podium was compiled by and implemented together with various collaboration partners from the municipality and was supported with a project subsidy from the prevention agreement.
Health Podium Dijk en Waard
Number of visitors
163
The day after I completely revised my LinkedIn profile, I was approached by a recruiter. Thanks to you, I'm full of confidence now and on the right track.' (About 'Boosting Job Satisfaction')
Kunst10Daagse in the Bergen Library
Naturally, the library also participates in Kunst10daagse. This is an annual event in which almost 300 artists exhibit their works at approximately 160 different venues in the artists' villages of Bergen and Bergen aan Zee. Traditionally, this cultural festival is held in the month of October. During the 2023 Kunst10Daagse, people could visit various exhibitions, workshops and lectures in the library of Bergen.
BiblioKeet in De Mare: a year full of creativity and connection!
In January we started a new adventure with the launch of BiblioKeet in De Mare. BiblioKeet is a vibrant place where young people can create and learn things, as well as a place where they can come together. BiblioKeet is open in the afternoons, with youth evenings held every Wednesday evening. We started a graffiti workshop in collaboration with Artiance with the aim of really making BiblioKeet something for young people.
In 2023 we welcomed more than 600 young people. The success of this initiative cannot be measured in numbers, as well as by the radiant faces and sparkling ideas of the young people who have now embraced BiblioKeet. We organized many different workshops and activities in 2023, such as 3D printing, designing and printing bags, making zines, board games nights and much more!
We also participated in the Golden Chance project with BiblioKeet. For a period of ten weeks, five young people helped us think along about the content, design and possible activities program of BiblioKeet. It was an educational experience for both us and the youngsters.
Doubling of the number of completed income tax returns
In 2023, we also organized walk-in consultation hours for digital income tax returns. In Alkmaar and Dijk & Waard this was organized together with students from Inholland University of Applied Sciences, who received support from social counselors during consultation hours.
In addition to the existing collaboration for these consultation hours with MET Welzijn in Heerhugowaard, another collaboration was set up in Alkmaar with MEE & de Wering. As usual, volunteers from Stichting Welzijn organized the walk-in consultation hours in Castricum. The tax return days were very successful. In the libraries in Heerhugowaard, Alkmaar Centrum, Alkmaar De Mare and Castricum, a total of 269 less digitally-skilled residents were assisted. That is more than double the number of 2022. Inholland University of Applied Sciences has included the project in its curriculum, thereby guaranteeing a long-term collaboration for the coming years.
Erwin Tuin (Inholland)
More than 50 Accountancy and Finance & Control students from Inholland-Alkmaar assisted more than 200 people with their income tax returns in the last seven weeks. Thanks to all students and collaborating partners such as Kennemerwaard Library and welfare institutions Mee & de Weering and MET.
CoderDojo Kennemerwaard
We already had nine, and in 2023 another dojo was added in the Akersloot branch. This brings the total number of CoderDojos within the operational area to ten. A CoderDojo is a place where young people can learn to program.
In Limmen, Akersloot and Huys Egmont the dojos are smaller with a maximum of ten ninjas (children) and with exclusive attention to the Scratch programming language. In Bergen, Castricum, Alkmaar Centrum, Alkmaar De Mare, Heerhugowaard, Youth Center De Wal in Egmond aan Zee and in Langedijk there is room for up to twenty ninjas where children can discover Python, Unity and various robots.
The group of participating ninjas consists of a very regular group of young people who are present at (almost) every dojo. Not only do they develop programming and digital skills, they also work together to solve problems. A group of vulnerable children confided in us that they feel safe at CoderDojo Kennemerwaard: they can be who they are, without being judged for who or what they are. Naturally, this something we are proud of.
The children are happily supervised by a team of fifteen volunteers with specific (IT) knowledge.
Dojo's
Number of participants
580
PrutsHub and PrutsHub Days
The PrutsHub is a space where we and colleagues show visitors what we have to offer in the field of digital literacy and 21st-century skills. We offer visitors the opportunity to be curious and ask questions in a place where people work and create. In principle, we do not teach. Children and (grand)parents work together to learn informally through discovery. We often assist in the form of a basic explanation, where necessary. We, in turn, learn from the visitors. Children teach us new things about materials that we had not yet discovered!
In Heerhugowaard, opening hours were expanded to four times a week in 2023. In addition to three afternoons, the PrutsHub is now also open on Saturday mornings. In March of the year under review, we started the PrutsHub in Alkmaar De Mare.
During the PrutsHub Days, we organized workshops with a specific digital topic in branches without a PrutsHub present, such as Build Your Own Robot, Programming Your Parents and 3D Design.
Tinkerers in PrutsHub
number of participants
over 3,000
Library employee
Two new children from non-Dutch parents were very insecure. Throughout the afternoon, they became more and more independent and really started to enjoy themselves. By the end of the afternoon they didn't want to leave!