New Initiatives Grant Final Report
“Explore the World Kits”
Please provide a brief narrative explaining your project and its outcomes.
The aim of the project was to create Explore the World Kits, intended to spark a child’s curiosity in the people and places around the world using aspects of reading, geography and play. These kits are appropriate for kids 8 and up. We chose countries that span the continents and that are politically or culturally important to our current generation of kids: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, Greece, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, North Korea, Russia and the United Kingdom. Due to some internal and external setbacks, we haven’t completed each kit. Of the 12 planned kits, we’ve completed 7. The rest are in the works.
What is the most remarkable accomplishment or finding of your project?
We’ve found that kids and families are happy to get a taste of different cultures, especially those they might see in the news. They’re just really appreciative of having access to something like this!
Please provide a brief summary of your evaluation activities and/or results, if available.
The parents and kids we’ve talked to love the kits. They like the variety of books, accompanied by maps and hands-on activities. We feel these are a great addition to our collection, and as we continue to add them (again, delayed by the current closures), we think they’ll only get more popular.
Anything else you’d like us to know?
Thanks so much for awarding us this grant! We wouldn’t have been able to introduce this kind of collection with CLRC’s support.
Nickie Marquis
Director, Skaneateles Library
Are you interested in being our next New Initiatives Grant recipient? Check out the grant page for the rules & requirements!