Page-turning fun as BOB Squad returns to Western Bay libraries

Gather around, bookworms! The summer reading programme, BOB Squad, is back.

The free, take-home reading programme is aimed at primary school aged tamariki keen to spend their summers diving into the ‘Bag of Books’, or BOB.

This year’s theme is Kaitiaki Moana - Ocean Guardians and the goal is to encourage children to immerse themselves in books – and to have fun doing so.

There are also activities or missions for tamariki to complete, including a word find, beach yoga, creating a story, a reading challenge log… and more.

“The Bob Squad booklet is full of fun activities you can do with your children over the summer holidays. Bring your whānau into your local Western Bay library to sign up!” says Valeta Duncan, Customer Services Manager.

Now in its eighth year, the programme began with our libraries giving decommissioned books to schools to share with their students.

It has since evolved to a take-home booklet, with more than 400 young readers having registered to take part in 2022.

As part of the programme, tamariki can log their reading, and for every hour of reading they get an entry into a prize draw, with prizes including books and gift cards. The last day for check-ins for the BOB Squad booklet is Tuesday 24 January 2024, 5pm.

Those who take part will also receive an invitation to a finale party to round off the programme with some kai and themed games and activities. To join the celebration, all our readers need to do is complete at least one of the challenges in the BOB Squad booklet.

And we haven’t forgotten about our teen readers. Teens can pick up an entry form for our Teen Reading Challenge this summer. At the end of the summer, all the entries will go into a prize draw.

Write, draw, craft…

Looking for something creative for your tamariki to do these holidays? We’ve got you covered too.

Our libraries have free Take and Make Craft Kits which you can pick up and take home with you.

Plus, all of our libraries will have craft activities on during the month of January, so come along to join in the fun:

• Tuesdays 10am-3pm in Katikati, from 9-30 January
• Tuesdays and Thursdays 10am-3pm in Te Puke, from 9-25 January
• Wednesdays 10am-3pm in Ōmokoroa, from 10-31 January
• Fridays 10am-3pm in Waihī Beach, from 12 January-1 February

Or children can show off their colouring-in skills by printing off one of our Jellyfish or Dolphin pictures from our website and entering in our holiday colouring contest, which runs until 12 noon on Saturday 27 January. You can also pick up printed copies at your local Western Bay library.

And young wordsmiths and artists wanting to create something unique might like to enter our ‘Imagine Your Future District Competition’, which runs until 5pm on Monday 29 January. We are looking for poems, short stories and drawings, which will have the chance to be published as part of our plan for what we want to achieve for our community in the future.

Our library locations

• The Centre - Pātuki Manawa, 21 Main Road, Katikati

• Ōmokoroa Library and Service Centre – 28 Western Avenue, Ōmokoroa

• Te Puke Library and Service Centre – 130 Jellicoe Street, Te Puke

• Waihī Beach Library and Service Centre - 106 Beach Road, Waihī Beach

Please note: Our libraries will be closed from midday on Friday 22 December and reopen regular hours from Monday 8 January. Regular library hours can be found here.