Seniors, youth in library camp

THE Siparia Public Library hosted vacation camps for children, young adults and adults during the July/August vacation. The camps, which were held at the library on George Street, featured a variety of leisure activities.

The adult and golden members’ camp, the first of its kind hosted by the library for those 60 and over, ran from August 6-10 and included tie-dying and dye extraction, winemaking and tasting, cake decorating, car maintenance for women, and a lecture on a balanced diet facilitated by the South-West Regional Health Authority.

The young adult camp, for youths 13-17, included jewellery-making, head- and body-wrapping, and a lecture from ChildLine of TT.

Children under 13 were taught how to do research and science experiments as well as craft making. There were also lectures about beach safety and a joint library field trip to Chuck E Cheese’s in Chaguanas. The children’s camps ran from mid-July and early August.

At the Siparia Public Library’s camp, 28 people participated in the free adult and seniors camp, while over 40 attended the children’s and young adult’s camps.

As is the custom throughout the Nalis network of libraries, library staff develop various programmes by assessing the interests and needs of people in their communities. Additionally, the age of the population, their vocation and availability to attend programmes are taken into consideration, said a media release. The library’s role in each community is to provide meaningful activities and a safe place where people can learn and interact with each other. This is in keeping with Nalis’ mandate to provide library and information services to facilitate the social and educational development of citizens.

According to a study in the Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 2017, the benefits of leisure activities at libraries include “providing relaxation, improving health and well-being, opening up choices and opportunities despite financial constraints, alleviating boredom and allowing people to socialise.”

For more info about ongoing activities at your public library visit the Programmes and Events page at www.nalis.gov.tt or a library near you.