Youth Services
In addition to our extensive collection for the young people in the community, we run programs aimed at developing literacy, creativity, and improving youth engagement.
Sign up to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with other exciting youth and literacy-related activities such as:
- School Holiday Story Playground
- National Simultaneous Storytime
- Children’s Book Week
- Summer Reading Quest
- Beanstack Reading Challenges
Couldn’t find the youth program you were looking for? Please use our contact form and we'll get back to you!
Children's Book Week 2024
Children's Book Week runs from Saturday, 17 August to Friday, 23 August 2024
The 2024 theme is Reading is Magic!
Feature Artist: Jess Racklyeft
Join the conversation and share the joy: #CBCA2024 #ReadingIsMagic
📚✏️ Calling all creative kids! 🎨🌟
Get ready to unleash your imagination because the Book Week Poster Competition is here! Whether you're in Kindy or Year 6, this is your chance to shine and show off your artistic skills. Design an A3-sized poster that celebrates the magic of books, the joy of reading, and the adventure of storytelling.
Let your creativity run wild as you create a masterpiece that will inspire others to dive into the magical world of reading. And guess what? The best part is, you could win a Lenovo Tablet!
So grab your coloured pencils, markers, or whatever art supplies you fancy, and start brainstorming ideas for your poster.
Rhymetime & Storytime
We also support and promote Better Beginnings, a Western Australian family literacy program that connects families with books through free reading packs. The goal of Better Beginnings is to inspire a love of literacy and learning for all W.A. children by encouraging families to read, talk, sing, write and play with their child every day.
Splish Splash Storytime
Join our library staff in the pool for fun splashy rhymes and stories to share with your little ones while introducing them to the water. Splish Splash is suitable for babies and toddlers 0-4.
- Please remember to cancel your booking if you are unable to attend, there may be a very keen little person eager to attend.
- Please stay home if you or your child are unwell.
Registration includes entry for one child & one adult.
Ready to start splishing and splashing? BOOK HERE!
LEGO Club
An hour of LEGO building fun! LEGO Club will provide challenging builds for you individually, in groups and teams whilst challenging your design and thinking skills as you work under pressure. It promises to be an hour full of fun learning and experiences.
Join us on every 2ND & 4TH Wednesday of each month from 4.00pm until 5.00pm.
LEGO Club is suitable for children 6-12 years and all LEGO bricks supplied (donations of LEGO are very welcome).
BOOK ONLINE HERE!
Can't make it to a LEGO Club session? See our list of online monthly challenges and submit your design.
VIEW MONTHLY CHALLENGES
UPLOAD YOUR PHOTO
PHOTO GALLERY - Take a look at previous entries from our Master LEGO Builders!
LOTE4Kids🦉
Storytime, in their language.
LOTE4Kids is a digital collection of picture books (ebooks and audiobooks) in a diverse range of World Languages. It allows kids to enjoy the magic of books and other activities in LOTE (Languages Other Than English), and each book comes with English translations to help kids learn new languages.
LOTE4Kids has over 3,000+ picture books in 65+ languages, with new books and languages released each month. This fantastic resource helps the library to engage with multilingual families in our community and allows kids to learn a language and connect with books through storytelling. Suitable for ages: 3+
Ready to get started? Grab your library card and head to LOTE4Kids!
Beanstack - Reading Challenges
The Albany Public Library welcomes you to reading challenges throughout the year. Beanstack is a free online service for City of Albany residents that offers an innovative new way to connect readers of all ages with books, engaging reading activities, and reading recommendations.
It includes book and activity logging, badges, and registration for all members of the family under one account. You can view the available activities, enter the books you have read, write book reviews, and more.
Find out all about our current reading challenges on our dedicated Beanstack page
Hey, bookworms! The Bingo Reading Challenge is officially underway! Join us in collecting badges for logging your reading, completing fun activities, and earning bingo. Let's make this reading challenge a blast and expand our literary horizons together. Happy reading!
Study & Homework Help - Studiosity
Feeling overwhelmed, stuck on a study question or not sure where to even start with an assignment?
With your library membership, you get free access to Studiosity: online study help from real people. View the GETTING STARTED VIDEO to find out about how we can help with:
- Connect Live: Select a subject (like writing, maths, science, economics, assignment research and more), type your question and you’ll be connected with a friendly Subject Specialist for live, one-to-one help in real time. It’s a typed chat, interactive whiteboard and you can even share files.
- Writing Feedback: Submit your draft essay or written assignment, and in less than 24 hours one of the writing specialists will send it back to you with detailed feedback on how you can improve your own work. They’ll comment on your spelling/grammar, structure, language and more.
- Practice Quizzes: Access a database of over 750 practice tests in all core curriculum subjects, including maths, english, chemistry, biology, and physics with year levels from 7-12. If you get stuck on a quiz question you can connect straight through to a Specialist. Get more tips for pre-exam study here.
Access Studiosity with your library card number and pin. Don’t worry if you are not already a member, if you live in Albany it’s free to JOIN ONLINE.
Do you love Minecraft? Click here to find out HOW TO JOIN the LibraryCraft server.
LibraryCraft is a free online 24/7 Minecraft Server for all WA kids aged 7 to 17!
For the Minecraft savvy, there are both Survival and Creative worlds to build on, minigames like Parkour, Spleef and PVP, and competitions galore.
COMPETITIONS: Join in with monthly build competitions and mini-games for your chance to win some great prizes including JB HiFi vouchers.
IMPORTANT: Library craft requires a Java Edition of Minecraft for use on PC or Mac, you must own the game and have logged into the game on PC or Mac. The Java Edition runs on PC, Mac or Linux and can be purchased from the Minecraft website for approx $35. Make sure you select Computer when choosing the platform.
Bedrock Edition is now also available for iOS, Android, Xbox or Nintendo Switch! There are a few differences here and there, but for the most part, it's the same fun experience.
LibraryCraft is supported by Western Australian Public Libraries.
Children's University
We are a proud to be a Children's University Learning Destination! Through a ‘Passport to Learning’, children aged 7-14 from partner primary schools participate in learning activities of their choice beyond the classroom. Their achievements are recognised each year with a formal graduation and certificates, where children wear caps and gowns just like older students do at university graduations. Families are closely involved in the program, joining children in their learning journey and supporting their goals. Head to the Children's University website to find out more.
In the Albany and surrounding Great Southern area, the following are partner schools:
- Flinders Park Primary School
- Little Grove Primary School
- Spencer Park Primary School
- Mount Barker Community College
The Albany Public Library currently has four activities for participating students:
- Read & Review
- Borrow a book to read from the Albany Public Library, it may be fiction or non-fiction. For non-fiction books, it's a great idea to choose a topic that you are interested in learning more about! For fiction books, try a new author whose books you haven’t read before! Chat to one of the library staff for suggestions about what to read next. Once you have read your book, complete the questions and activities on this form and take it to the friendly library staff to receive 2 hours in your Passport to Learning. You can claim up to 10 hours (5 reviews) each year.
- LEGO Club Online Challenges
- Lego loving kids can be inspired to build some great designs as the Albany Public Library sets a monthly challenge with ideas and concepts to stimulate the imagination! Each challenge card has two categories for you to choose from. You can complete both categories for each monthly challenge. For each category you complete, you will earn 1 hour in your Passport to Learning. You can receive Passport hours for a maximum of 10 categories within the challenges. You can take a photo of your Lego creation, or, bring the Lego creation into the Library to show the friendly staff & receive time and a stamp in your Passport to Learning
- Birds in the Backyard (activity overview), Bird Watching around Albany (pamphlet) and Bird Watching Fact File (activity record).
- Sitting, watching and recording what birds you see can earn you from 30 minutes up to 6 hours of time and stamps in your Passport to Learning, depending on the activities you choose. Drop into History Great Southern – Kaartdijin Biddi Albany upstairs in the Albany Public Library to collect a free Birdwatching around Albany brochure, Species List and Birdwatching fact file.
- Once Upon a Time
- Choosing one image from the options, write or record (on a device) a story of up to 200 words. This will earn you 2 hours of time and stamps in your Passport to Learning for each activity you choose. You can do all of the images if you love writing stories! Drop into the History Great Southern – Kaartdijin Biddi Albany upstairs in the Albany Public Library and pick up a copy of one historic image.
Work Placement
We are committed to delivering engaging work placements for young people. Workplace learning enables students to gain workplace knowledge and develop competencies to transition from school to work. To find out more, please use our contact form.
More eResources
Find our complete list here of eResources here.
Paws for Reading
Paws for Reading is currently on hold but we are working on it.
Reading with Dogs! Develop reading confidence while reading with Dogs. Bring a favourite book to read or choose one in the Library. Great for children struggling with reading, children who need to build reading confidence and children with Dyslexia.
Why dogs, we hear you ask? Dogs don't judge, they won't interrupt the flow of reading even when there is a mistake, dogs are great listeners and can reduce stress, embarrassment and anxiety of reading to others.
Three tips for children from our dogs:
- Choose an easy book to read with me
- We love to be patted while you read to us
- I might look sleepy but that's how I listen
Story Playground - Back in Sept/Oct School Holidays
Story Playground will be back during the next school holidays, full of free activities for children and families.
Please book to secure a place. Some sessions also cater for younger children, please check the session details and times for more information.
BOOK ONLINE now or phone the Library on 6820 3600.
Summer Reading Quest - back December school holidays
📚 Congratulations to our local prize winners of the Summer Reading Quest and Summer Steps 2024 for their outstanding achievements during the summer break from December 1st to February 29th! 📚
Let's give a big round of applause to our local kids! Together they completed a whopping 3,235 activities, earned 837 badges, and read over 84,000 minutes! Keep up the fantastic work and continue to explore the wonders of literature.
Winners of Summer Steps Book Packs:
Lukas Eatts & Louis Thompson
Summer Reading Quest Winners:
Minutes Champion Bryce Hordyk
Badge Champion Nolan Rudeforth
Major Prize Pack including a Lenovo Tablet:
Activity Champion Kenzie Shulz, Kenzie can now access all the fabulous Library e-resources on her new device!
Prize Winners from the State competition have also been announced and it is great to see Albany represented with four winners Lukas Eatts, Macy Dobbe, Audrey Rudeforth and Harry McCready. Well done!
Sketchbook Project - back in 2025
Registrations for Sketchbook Project 2025 are opening on 12 August 2025.
This is an ongoing collaborative creative project that takes place every year in conjunction with the Youth Week WA KickstART Festival. It is an opportunity for young people, aged 12-26, to boldly experiment and develop their creative thoughts and capacity for self-expression, and to share this with their communities.
Check out the info sheet here.
National Simultaneous Storytime - back in 2025
The Library supports and celebrates Library and Information Week and National Simultaneous Storytime each year with special events!
National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country. Now in its 22nd successful year, it is a colourful, vibrant, fun event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy, using an Australian children's book that explores age-appropriate themes, and addresses key learning areas of the National Curriculum for Foundation to Year 6.
