Kitchener Public Library

🌈 Happy Pride Month!

We've put together some great programs and reading lists to celebrate the 2SLGBTQIA+ community this June.

You won't want to miss:
✅ Pride Art Night
✅ Q***rKPL Zine Making Workshop with KW Zinetopia
✅ Rainbow Craft Jewelry for Tweens
✅ Trans Health Fair
✅ In My Back Pocket: Deconstructing Archival Ways of Knowing Q***r Desire

You can also learn more about the collections we have in the Grace Schmidt Room of Local History to help you discover 2SLGBTQIA+ history right here in Kitchener!

Discover all of our resources on our blog: https://www.kpl.org/your-library/blogs/all-blogs/blogs/~484-it-s-pride-month-

Summer program registration opens on Monday, June 8 at 7 p.m.!

Keep your kids busy all summer long by signing up for fun programs across all our Kitchener Public Library locations 😀

You won't want to miss:
📚 Summer Stories in the Park
🥦 Tween Foodies
🖍️ Bookworm Craft and Create
🧸 Toy Story 'Stravaganza and more!

Browse the programs today and set a reminder for registration: https://kpl.events.mylibrary.digital/search?c=23,6,10,18

We're looking for artists to exhibit in the Central Library Art Gallery!

Here's what you need to know before applying for a gallery exhibit:

✅ Exhibits need at least 20 pieces of art
✅ Groups of artists can apply together
✅ We welcome all kinds of mediums
✅ You'll install the exhibit and create labels
✅ Exhibits run for approximately six weeks

We're honoured to have had so many great artists exhibit in our space. You could be next!

Learn more and apply: https://www.kpl.org/programs-and-events/artist-program

Come meet the man who worked with music legends like Iggy Pop, The Sadies and Peaches!

Don Pyle is an author, photographer, producer and Juno-award winning musician who came of age during Toronto's formative punk years. These photos of iconic musicians were featured in his first book "Trouble in the Camera Club."

📅 On Thursday, June 11 at 7 p.m., Don Pyle is coming to Central Library to discuss his new memoir, "Rough Description: Love Letters and Ghost Stories From a Life in Music."

Free tickets are now available on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/don-pyle-rough-description-tickets-1984811618982

We're looking forward to National AccessAbility Week!

National AccessAbility Week began in 1988 and was inspired by Rick Hansen's Man in Motion World Tour. This year it runs from May 31 to June 6.

This is a great opportunity to raise awareness of the critical need for accessibility and inclusion for everybody in our community!

Check our reading list that highlights books written by people with disabilities and books about accessibility: https://www.kpl.org/your-library/blogs/all-blogs/blogs/~407-it-s-national-accessability-week-

🎉 Last week we had an amazing opening for the (dis)Ability: An Art Showcase!

The Central Library Art Gallery was buzzing for Meet the Artist Night. It was awesome to see the community come together to celebrate!

(dis)Ability: An Art Showcase features art created by local people of all ages with a lived experience with disability. To make the show more accessible, pieces are hung lower and audio descriptions are available for each piece.

Thank you to all of the artists who shared their work and brought this exhibit to life!

(dis)Ability: An Art Showcase will be up in the Central Library Art Gallery until Tuesday, June 30. Come check it out!

Learn more: https://www.kpl.org/programs-and-events/contests-and-exhibits/art-showcase

Do you have teens in your family? They can fill out the Youth Impact Survey to help shape our community!

Plus, teens will get a chance to win some great prizes when they fill out the survey!

Learn more: https://youthimpactsurvey.ca/

Two surveys are underway to hear directly from young people and immigrants about their experiences in Waterloo Region. The Youth Impact Survey, run by the Children and Youth Planning Table (CYPT), and the Immigrant Survey, led by the Waterloo Region Immigration Partnership (IP), are both open until May 31. The data collected will help build a safe, inclusive community where everyone belongs.

Fill out the surveys here:

1. Immigrant Survey (For newcomers age 19+): https://wlu.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bDCox8shs2r3Dts

2. Youth Impact Survey (For youth age 9-18 including newcomers): https://youthimpactsurvey.ca/

“With Waterloo Region on the road to reaching one million residents, it’s critical that we plan for the future now,” said Karen Redman, Chair of Regional Council. “By hearing directly from community members like youth and newcomers, we’re ensuring that diverse voices are included in that conversation. The experiences you share are helping government, organizations, and community members build the Waterloo Region of the future.”

The Children and Youth Planning Table of Waterloo Region is a community-wide partnership of service providers, researchers, planning bodies, and funders who serve children, youth, and families, that works to improve the well-being of children and youth in the region. A large part of meaningfully serving children and youth is to ensure that they are given a platform to express their needs, concerns and ideas in their own words.

For 20 years, the Waterloo Region Immigration Partnership has united public, private, and non-profit organizations to help immigrants succeed and the community prosper. Its vision is an inclusive Waterloo Region where immigrants thrive and contribute to shared prosperity, and its mission is to equip partners to enhance immigrant success through research, mobilization, and influence. The 2026 Immigrant Survey is a key tool in this work, capturing experiences of living, working, and studying in the region.

Both CYPT and IP are hosted by the Region of Waterloo, connecting their work directly to the local community and its residents. The surveys are being conducted in partnership with the Family Psycle Lab at University of Waterloo and the International Migration Research Centre at Wilfrid Laurier University.

The Immigrant Survey is available in seven languages (English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Tigrigna, Ukrainian, Mandarin, and Serbian.) The Youth Impact Survey consent forms are available in seven languages (English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Farsi, Urdu, Tigrigna) and the survey is available in English, French, and Arabic.

To get paper copies of the Immigrant Survey, please reach out to Saba Shafiq at [email protected]. To get paper copies of the Youth Impact Survey, please reach out to Sevil Berenji at [email protected].

The data has been used by government, community organizations, and individuals in grant applications, strategic planning, and other decision-making efforts. Organizations in Waterloo Region have leveraged the Youth Impact Survey data to gain $2.99 million in funding to put towards supporting young people. Previous Immigrant Survey data and the Youth Impact Survey data are publicly available.

Want to start a small business? Come out to Small Business Basics every Thursday in June at 6 p.m.!

We're partnering with YMCA of Three Rivers - Waterloo Region to bring you these sessions:

✅ Understanding Your Business Idea Through a Financial Lens
✅ Business Structures and Registration
✅ Funding, Cash Flow and Startup Costs
✅ Pricing, Profitability and Taking the Next Step

Sign up for one or join us for all four at Central Library!

Learn more and register: https://kpl.events.mylibrary.digital/series?sn=Small+Business+Basics+with+YMCA

📣 Calling all sci-fi fans! Hugo and Nebula award-winning author, Robert J. Sawyer is coming back to the library!

In 2024, Robert J. Sawyer visited Central Library to talk about "The Downloaded," a novel set in our very own Waterloo Region in 2059. Now the story continues in the sequel "The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine!"

📅 Come see Robert J. Sawyer on Thursday, May 28 at 7 p.m.!

Get free tickets on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/robert-j-sawyer-the-downloaded-2-tickets-1984142111467

📚 Want to read more but can't stop scrolling? Us too!

Coming in at less than 100 pages, Liisa at Grand River Stanley Park has the perfect book to help you break free from your phone!

"Here's a remedy for our modern distraction," Liisa says. "Helen Dewitt's short novel 'The English Understand Wool' looks like a beautiful hardcover children's book. The story, however, is very much for grown-ups."

This book follows a 17-year-old girl who was raised in Marrakech by a French mother and English father with ferociously lofty standards. During her travels, she finds all her assumptions about "mauvais ton" (aka bad taste) overturned.

Read Liisa's full review: https://www.kpl.org/your-library/blogs/all-blogs/blogs/~483-staff-review-the-english-understand-wool