Black Creek Library Settled and Ready to Go

I visited the Black Creek library last Saturday and discussed a few things with the branch head there. Since the Chess in the Library program will be an after school program at that branch, none of our volunteers would be able to attend (high school students are busy busy busy :)

The staff will run the program and they hope to do some teaching. Recently, other than teaching on a demo board, we also taught some beginners the basic rules in a group (view my last post about the Humberwood library). It's really awesome to see such a great interest in chess from those who never touched the game before! However, explaining the basic rules of chess each week is getting a bit repetitive for the volunteers. Teaching something different every week is totally fine, it's just that we get new members each week coming in and telling us that they don't know how to play chess. Thus, our next project is to create a children-friendly brochure that explains the rules of chess. It's a good idea, isn't it? :)

Also, I taught the librarian how to use our pairing sheets as well as the structure of the program. She was definitely a quick learner! Everything is now set for the Black Creek library and all we're waiting for is the day in which the program commences! Oh and if you're uncertain of which day I'm talking about, it's May 6th (check out the side bar that lists all the locations ------------------------------------------>

CITL's Expansion to Etobicoke - Humberwood Library

I'm proud to announce that the Chess in the Library program has now officially spread to a new area of the city, Etobicoke. Last Saturday, March 28th, 2010 was the day that we celebrated this ecstatic event. Kids anxious to play chess rushed into the Humberwood branch while an overwhelming number of volunteers were getting ready to commence the program. I was definitely astonished by the amount of interest for chess at the Humberwood branch, especially volunteer wise. I want to take this chance to welcome all these volunteers to our team, notably Alexandru Florea, a strong junior with a CFC rating of 2080 (I'm sure he'll be 2200+ in no time :). Alexandru will be leading the program at Humberwood.

Alex and I discussing the way the program will run

Speaking about the volunteers, I must mention how friendly and approachable everyone was. Some participants were a bit unclear about the rules of chess but were eager to learn. A few of our volunteers were very enthusiastic about teaching the group of kids. In about 1 hour, these kids were ready to join the others in a mini-tournament. These volunteers must have been extraordinary teachers!

the teaching group :)

The turnout was fantastic for the opening day of the program at Humberwood. If my memory serves me right, we had almost 20 participants and 8 volunteers. Without a doubt, I can imagine a harmonious chess club at the Humberwood branch in the future. It will be like a one big blithesome chess family!!

Can you sense the lively atmosphere in the room?