By Laura Cavette 

As October draws to a close, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library's STEAM Month has ignited a passion for science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics. While this month-long event offers a diverse array of learning activities, it's worth noting that the Library's digital literacy resources are available year-round. More than just a series of classes, DigiLit is the library's dedicated digital literacy brand, designed to equip learners with essential skills for the digital age.  

Whether you're aiming to craft captivating social media graphics and event flyers through our Canva classes, harness the power of cloud-based storage in Getting Started with Google Drive, or dive into the realm of data organization and insightful chart creation with our Excel classes, DigiLit offers a variety of opportunities for learning and growth.  

Taught by live instructors, our classes cover a range of topics beyond Canva, Google Drive, and Excel, available both on Zoom and at some Library locations. Explore the full schedule of upcoming DigiLit classes by clicking here.  

Visit DigiLitCLT.org for more information. 

November is National Family Literacy Month, a celebration that has continued nationally since 1994 to raise awareness of the importance of families reading and learning together. Charlotte Mecklenburg Library fosters family literacy daily at all our Library branches and out in the community. We take time to recognize and celebrate the important role that parents and caregivers play in the development of children and seek to equip parents and caregivers with tools and resources to improve family literacy. 

 Check out these three resources that we hope to improve literacy in your family:  

1. Print and digital materials: Sharing in reading is the best way to improve literacy and foster a love of reading in your family. Allowing your child to select their books from our library collection is a great place to start! Create a weekly habit of visiting your local Library branch and checking out items your child is interested in. Here’s a pro tip: ask our wonderful library staff to show you around and help find the perfect book. If you cannot make it to a physical Library location, a plethora of electronic books await you online! Utilize Libby, Hoopla, or NC Kids Digital Library to find your next great e-book!   

2. Attend Library programs as a family: If you haven’t realized it yet, the 21st-century library is more than just books! Programs for all ages occur daily at the library; if you don’t believe it, just check out our online calendar of events! As always, all programming is free and open to everyone seeking to learn something new and connect with others in our community. Improving family literacy begins with seeking out knowledge! Attend a program together with your family, or show the importance of literacy by registering your child for an upcoming program (Reading Buddies, Storytimes, Creating with Art programs, Makerspace programs, the possibilities are endless!). There are many programs just for parents and caregivers, great for seeking out habits and ideas from others as we are all on this journey to literacy together. 

3. ‘Harvest’ readers in your family: Charlotte Mecklenburg Library strives to create readers, starting from birth and growing throughout all stages of life. Let us jump start family’s literacy journey this November at our upcoming “Harvesting Readers” Family Literacy Night! Visit any Library location on November 14th (drop in any time from 5:00-7:00 p.m., no registration required) for a fun-filled literacy-focused event perfect for the whole family! Learn ways to improve your child’s attitude and motivation for reading through completing fun activities as a family, and plan to attend a special program with your family at 6:00 p.m. You will not want to miss this special system-wide event. Fun surprises await, and every Library location will have a special drawing for a special prize for attendees!  

While we celebrate National Family Literacy Month this November, improving your family’s literacy will continue throughout the year, and Charlotte Mecklenburg Library seeks to be a trusted partner for your family’s literacy success. We cannot wait to ‘harvest’ a reader in each member of your family!  

There are a few reasons to visit library locations this summer. One main reason is the branch displays. All year long librarians create amazing displays to pique your interest and summer is no different. Except for the added “oomph” of excitement.

Need a summer activity to record into Beanstack? Head over to your favorite location and see what books are being featured. Better yet, take a tour of all the branches to see their summer displays.

Take pictures and share them with others on your Library Tour. Just don’t forget to check out a book, read, and record your minutes on Beanstack.

Let’s reach 10 Million Minutes! To find out more about Summer Break or to log your reading and activities go to cmlibrary.beanstack.org.

Exciting Programs

Though our Summer Break 2023 program can be completed entirely online, our libraries are hosting some wonderful programs this summer. Check out the Summer Break tag on our online calendar! All upcoming programs can be viewed here.

During the summer, many branches host presenters like Parks and Recreation, Mad Science, Frontline Puppeteers, and many more! Check with your local branch or click here to see what presenters are coming to Charlotte Mecklenburg Library this summer!

Comments? Questions?

Are you having problems with the Summer Break 2023 website or your account?  Do you have questions about the program?  Feel free to call your local branch or email us at [email protected] for help or feedback.

The 2023 Summer Break program is brought to you by Charlotte Mecklenburg Library with additional support from Wendy’s, Charlotte Football Club and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation.    

Read! Learn! Explore! Books! Fun! Challenge! Prizes! Just a few words to describe Summer Break!

Every year it takes a whole team working behind the scenes to bring Summer Break to Charlotte Mecklenburg Library! Staff work on building the online challenge; create, sort and distribute incentives and marketing materials to branches; build engaging displays; and attend community events just to list a few things staff do to create and promote this fun community challenge!

So much work is put into the program for multiple reasons but the best part about Summer Break for staff is hearing from participants about all the amazing, wonderful, little, powerful, or unexpected ways that the community challenge and the library has impacted their lives.

Want to share what you love and enjoy about the library or Summer Break? Send us an email at [email protected], use the Contact Us form on Beanstack, or share your feedback with staff next time you visit the library.

Comments? Questions?

Are you having problems with the Summer Break 2023 website or your account?  Do you have questions about the program?  Feel free to call your local branch or email us at [email protected] for help or feedback.

The 2023 Summer Break program is brought to you by Charlotte Mecklenburg Library with additional support from Wendy’s, Charlotte Football Club and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation.