The Kennemerwaard Library's Education Program has a wide range of educational options for study and care. The aim is to increase children's enjoyment of reading and to teach them the necessary skills that are essential for full participation in society. This starts at a young age, because if you are introduced to language, reading and the modern skills of the 21st century at an early age, you will benefit from it throughout your life. Our offer includes a wide range of activities, aimed at language development, reading pleasure and digital skills. Sometimes from one of these three subjects and sometimes by combining them.

In addition, through ABC Huis we work on a combination of Art & Culture and Language & Reading, in which the story is key. This offer is available for children as well as for teachers and pedagogical staff at the institutions involved. Our goal is to offer opportunities for development, as well as to create a culture in which learning together, creating together and utilizing each other's expertise are stimulated.

In 2023, as in previous years, several wonderful and noteworthy activities were offered within the Education program, both in childcare and in primary and secondary education. Below we would like to highlight some of them.

Education in Childcare

BookStart in Childcare

The library has nine BookStart consultants who are operate at various childcare locations and within various projects. During the past year, our focus was mainly on deepening and anchoring BookStart in childcare. In 2023, several new childcare locations were added with which we collaborate on a structural basis. This is thanks to the municipal merger between Heerhugowaard and Langedijk and the availability of the master plan subsidy. We use the first two years at a new location to lay a solid foundation. Together with the childcare center, we create a stimulating reading environment, provide advice on managing the book collection and purchase new materials. At each participating location we train a pedagogical employee to become a Reading Coordinator, who also acts as a point of contact for the BookStart consultant. All pedagogical employees at that location then follow Interactive Reading training. We draw up a reading plan, including an annual work plan with the priorities for that year, which serves as a guideline for our activities.

All children at a BookStart location receive a free library subscription. Moreover, we actively involve parents in the importance of reading. The national monitor is carried out every two years and serves as a basis for our work plans. The BookStart consultants regularly visit the locations, where they place great emphasis on setting the right example, for example by organizing reading times. We pay special attention to reading to babies. This is gradually taken over by the pedagogical staff at the location itself, giving the consultants room to further deepen and expand their tasks.

In addition to reading consultants at BookStart in childcare, there are also three BookStart coaches active at baby clinics. In this instance too, the BookStart coaches discuss language and reading with the parents and refer parents to the library and activities in the branches.

Talk show Beterlezen.nu for childcare and years 1 to 3

On September 28, the talk show Beterlezen.nu was held in the De Mare library. Organized by employees of Kennemerwaard Library, together with ABC Huis and educational enhancers. This time the talk show focused on childcare and years 1 to 3 of primary education. The subject was 'a flying start' and 'the continuous progression from 0 to 7'. Colleague Rian Koopman was involved in the organization on behalf of the 0 to 6 year-olds team and was on the 'continuous line' panel. Our consultant Joyce Druiven talked to people about the flying start. It was a great success, with 35 participants in the room and ninety people watching online.

Below is a selection of the questions raised during the talk show: Do you want to encourage children's reading development from the very start? Are you looking for inspiration and practical ideas? And are you curious about how you can successfully collaborate with parents and other people for the child?

Click below to watch:

BookStart Day

June 3 was National Book Start Day. The opportunity for young parents and their babies to get acquainted with the library and BookStart. Kennemerwaard Library organized various workshops in four locations, appropriate to the age of the children. Fleur van Uhm from By Fleur provided a Baby Boot Camp in Heerhugowaard and Castricum. She encouraged parents to exercise together with their children. It was a delightful morning! Danielle de Ruyter of Fun & Music made music and sang songs during the Music on Lap workshop in the library in Alkmaar Center and De Mare.

Music on Your Lap represents the intimacy between parent and child. Playing games together on your lap, singing, playing and making music. In the lesson you will hear songs that are probably familiar to you, but you will also learn many new songs and be inspired to continue working at home. Both parents and children enjoyed the workshops a lot and parents indicated that it was nice to spend some time together in this way.

Yet turnout was lower than normal. We suspect this had to do with the starting times, which may have been inconvenient with a view to children's nap times. Few people registered, particularly for the activities planned at 11.00 am and 1.30 pm. We will take this into consideration in future.

Education Program in Primary Education

Our educational offer for primary or primary education consists of three main parts: Library at School (dBos), individual activities and projects, and further training for teachers.

Library at School is a proven concept that can rely on long-term collaboration between primary schools, libraries and municipalities. Within dBos we strive for demonstrable improvement in learning outcomes in the field of reading and language skills, as well as information and media literacy. We focus on achieving continuous reading progress in preschool care and the lower grades of primary education through a number of programs.

The second part of our educational offer for primary education includes individual activities and projects that schools and afterschool care facilities can request per activity or project. These activities range from introductory programming lessons to library visits during Children's Book Week, and from participation in Score a Book! to introducing the Level Up! project at school about conscious gaming.

As a third part of the educational offer for primary education, we organize additional training for teachers within our Kennemerwaard College. Here teachers can, among other things, attend the Open Book training program to become reading coordinators. Or participate in Digital Storytelling: how do you tell stories using digital media? We also support schools in updating the school library and developing policy in the field of digital literacy.

Thanks to the Master Plan subsidy for the 2023/2024 school year, the number of participating schools increased in 2023. The Master Plan subsidy is an incentive scheme for basic skills. Six primary schools became affiliated through this subsidy, with an additional two joining, one of which received an NPO subsidy. We now serve a total of 54 locations. For this purpose, we have taken on three new colleagues in 2023. Library at School is a structural (long-term) collaboration that a school enters into with the library.

Education in secondary education

Our offer from the Education Program at Secondary Education and Secondary and Higher Vocational Education consists of two prongs: Library at School (dBos) and individual activities and projects.

The 12-plus Team of the Education program currently consists of nine consultants who work for Secondary Education (VO) and Secondary Vocational Education (MBO). In addition to the structural collaboration in the form of Library at School, we offer modules focused on Reading, Digital Literacy and Citizenship (Safe Adolescence Lessons and Controlling Your Brain). At our branches, we host classes for workshops on digital literacy and for programs to promote the joy of reading.

We also provide lessons and workshops in classrooms at school. These can be about a variety of topics, such as the use of social media and online behavior, but also about poetry or making stop-motion videos.

Library at School (dBos)

Our reading consultants work at schools in Secondary Education (VO) and Secondary Vocational Education (MBO). Library at School is an intensive, multi-year collaboration between schools, libraries and municipalities. Through this concept we work on demonstrable improvement of educational results in the areas of reading and language skills and information and media skills. We work on creating a pleasant reading environment and offering a topical collection. Furthermore, we train the teachers in the field of reading pleasure and reading motivation. We take the students on a journey of discovery through books and stories by providing work formats, expertise and enthusiasm!

At MBO and VMBO (preparatory Secondary Vocational Education) levels, we mainly focus on increasing the joy of reading among students. Our consultants therefore encourage students to discover the joy of reading. Naturally, the collection and the selection of suitable books play an important role in this. In addition, the reading consultants work on raising awareness of the importance of reading, among teachers within various subject areas.

As regards Library at School, we work together with five schools in the municipality of Alkmaar, three schools in the municipality of Dijk en Waard and one school in Castricum. This covers both secondary education and secondary vocational education. We also employ a reading consultant at IPABO, who is deployed there to promote the joy of reading.

Thanks to NPO funds from the municipality of Alkmaar, a Controlling your Brain pilot could be started in secondary education in Alkmaar.

National writing competition Once upon a time

A textbook example in the context of Library at School is the national writing competition Once upon a time. Once upon a time is not just any competition, it is a story competition. This reading and writing-promoting program encourages young people in MBO and vMBO to read books and show creativity in writing their own story. This year, with the guidance of the reading consultant, thirdgrade students wrote a story with which Vonk Heerhugowaard reached the national finals Click here to watch the winning pitch.