THUNDER BAY— With more than 200 events planned at Thunder Bay Public Library branches this summer, there will be no shortage of activities for kids to keep busy until September.
On Wednesday, the Waverley Resource Library welcomed local musicians the Grumpy Grampas to start off the 2025 summer programming for children.
“They're an amazing family show and we are so excited to host them again,” said Laura Prinselaar, programming librarian.
“We have been around for about 15 years and have played many concerts in this room, it's a wonderful place to be and we just love working with kids,” said Jamie Gerow, a member of the Grumpy Grampas.
The concert focused on call and response songs where the children were invited to participate in the live music, he said.
“We do a lot of songs about animals because they love animals and have a lot of sound effects in them and we do some traditional songs in less than traditional ways by adding sound effects to them,” he said.
Some of the crowd favourites at the event were I am a Pizza, Five Little Ducks, and a fire safety song, he said.
In addition to the concert, all three library branches in the city will be hosting a variety of children’s events throughout the summer, offering younger attendees the chance to experience activities they may not otherwise have access to.
“For a lot of families, we know that we end up being the children's first concert, which is really pretty special for us and special for the families. It's an environment where they can come in, and it is really child-friendly so that if your kids want to get up and dance and move around, they can. No one's going to be worried about noise or keeping them quiet,” she said.
To keep the summer schedule packed, Prinselaar said staff from all of the city’s library branches sat down together to divide the calendar into sections, and then filled it with activities aimed at maximizing children’s enjoyment.
“We are just hoping that a lot of families will make us part of their routine and we'll get to see them all through the summer,” she said.
“Even days when there's no programming, there's always going to be some toys and lots of books to check out, we're always happy to help,” she said.
