Neighbours Day!

Put your Kitchener home on the map!

The City of Kitchener’s Neighbours Day is designed to showcase the many programs, services, and facilities available throughout our great city. It’s a day for everyone: kids, teens, adults, and seniors.

From now until the third annual Neighbours Day on June 10, use our 3D printers to create a mini model of your home, and help us create your neighbourhood on a giant map.

STEP ONE
Use Tinkercad to design your home
OR
Use Thingiverse to find a pre-designed model that looks like your home
Design at home, or at any library location.

STEP TWO
3D print your project at Studio Central (at Central Library)
or at Country Hills Community Library
OR
Leave your file with us, and we’ll print it for you

Need help? Staff are available to answer your questions or to help with your 3D printing project. Just ask us!

3D printed models of City Hall, a house, and Central Libary

Artist Louise Jessup is creating a large map of the neighbourhoods of Kitchener as a puzzle. Puzzle pieces for the neighbourhoods near each library will be at that library on Neighbours Day. All 3D-printed homes will remain at the library and will populate the maps for Neighbours Day.

Visit your library location on Saturday, June 10 to see the results! Come and see your house on the map in YOUR neighbourhood.

Take pictures and share them using the hashtag #PrintMyHood.

Be sure to check out all the other KPL Neighbours Day activities.

Grand River Stanley Park Community Library

Country Hills Community Library

Pioneer Park Community Library

Forest Heights Swim & Storytime

At Central Library
DrumFit Dance Party
First Nations Traditions with Jan Sherman
Brown Bag Storytime
Free Flicks: movie and discussion 

World Knit in Public Day

March Break Boredom Busters

We had an amazing March Break at Central Library and all four community libraries, and we hope you did too!

The staff of Children’s and Teen Services planned and hosted more than 50 Boredom Buster free events and programs, with more than 2,000 participants.

Country Hills winter wonderland

Our community libraries are getting in the holiday spirit. Check out Country Hills Community Library – the weather outside’s not frightful, but they’ve decided to let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. They’ve even created a fire that’s so delightful!

Won’t you be my neighbour

On June 13th, every Kitchener Public Library location joined all City of Kitchener community centres to celebrate the first Neighbours Day! We offered plenty of activities for neighbours big and small – including a bike maintenance workshop, sidewalk chalk, face painting, giant chess, refreshments, storytime, games, and crafts.

At Central Library, we also offered tours and a chance to learn how to download music, books, magazines, and more to your tablet or smart phone. We hosted the City of Kitchener’s artist-in-residence, Janice Jo Lee, as she collected stories from you! Find out what she heard from you, and learn more about Janice’s project.

Our neighbours also painted Library Rocks, (because the library rocks, and so do you!) which you’ll now see peering cheerfully out of the gardens at Central. And they made bookmarks that were randomly placed into books – a nice surprise for the next neighbour who signs out that book.

Thanks to the City of Kitchener for this amazing community initiative, to library staff who planned great activities, to Recycle Cycles for their bike maintenance workshop, and to YOU – our neighbours. Would you be mine, could you be mine, won’t you check out my Neighbours Day photos below:

Face painting at Pioneer Park/Doon Pioneer Park Community Centre

Gettin’ messy

Paint the town pastel

I’m dating myself here, but this one looks like Mr. Bill.

Kids created bookmarks and tucked them into books throughout the library – a lovely surprise for their neighbours!

Kids created bookmarks and tucked them into books throughout the library – a lovely surprise for their neighbours!

Kids created bookmarks and tucked them into books throughout the library – a lovely surprise for their neighbours!

Public art at Central Library

Reading outside makes summer special!

Her future’s so bright, she’s gotta wear shades.

Sandra and Meg can help you with your tablet, smart phone, or e-reader.

Karen can help you with your tablet, smart phone, or e-reader.

Kids (and adults) painted their own library rocks which are now cheerful additions to the landscape at Central Library.

Spring Roll bike maintenance workshop with Recycle Cycles

Spring Roll bike maintenance workshop with Recycle Cycles

How can a book club change your life?

Want to feel healthier? Research consistently indicates that social ties are good for your health. So good, in fact, that one study suggests if you don’t currently belong to a group and you join one now, you can cut your your chance of dying in half for the next year.

What else makes you feel happier and healthier? Reading. Research indicates that reading reduces stress, increases memory function, can help prevent Alzheimer’s, and makes you more empathetic.

Here’s an easy way to double your happiness/healthiness quotient in one fell swoop. Join a book club! Kitchener Public Library offers several different book clubs – all are free and new members are always welcome. We’ve got a book club that’s the right size and shape for you: