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 ------------------------------------------>
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
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 :)
Can you sense the lively atmosphere in the room?
Alex and I discussing the way the program will runSpeaking 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?Tuesday, March 9, 2010
North York Central Library Almost Ready!
As one of Toronto's largest libraries, the North York Central branch is almost ready to join the Chess in the Library network. One small piece of the project needs to be filled in before we can announce a firm "yes" to everyone supporting and following the program.
However, do not be disappointed because the librarians, volunteers and I have all made a tremendous progress in regards to the program at the North York Central Library since my last update about the program there.
If all goes well, the Chess in the Library program will run weekly in a slightly smaller room and monthly in a larger room due to the following formula. :)
The formula works this way:
large library = many rooms + tight bookings = must book the rooms early
I want to take this opportunity to thank the librarians and volunteers at the North York Central Library for working so hard during the past few months to get the program set up.
Stay tuned for updates on the program at NYCL!!!
However, do not be disappointed because the librarians, volunteers and I have all made a tremendous progress in regards to the program at the North York Central Library since my last update about the program there.
If all goes well, the Chess in the Library program will run weekly in a slightly smaller room and monthly in a larger room due to the following formula. :)
The formula works this way:
large library = many rooms + tight bookings = must book the rooms early
I want to take this opportunity to thank the librarians and volunteers at the North York Central Library for working so hard during the past few months to get the program set up.
Stay tuned for updates on the program at NYCL!!!
New Library Alert!
Chess in the Library is expanding to another location - Humberwood Library!! The librarians and I started talking about chess club possibilities at the Humberwood branch for half a year now, and finally it's going to start running! Isn't that exciting?
We've confirmed to start the program there on March 27th, 2010. That's only 2 weeks away! We will still need to do some advertising, however, the volunteers are already all in place and ready to go.
The Humberwood Library is located on the far west end of Toronto. We are definitely spreading this program in all areas of Toronto!
We welcome you to come on down to the Humberwood Library to play some chess on our opening day - March 27th. The program will run every Saturday from 2-4pm. Below are the details of that branch:
850 Humberwood Blvd.
Toronto, ON
M9W 7A6
416-394-5210
We've confirmed to start the program there on March 27th, 2010. That's only 2 weeks away! We will still need to do some advertising, however, the volunteers are already all in place and ready to go.
The Humberwood Library is located on the far west end of Toronto. We are definitely spreading this program in all areas of Toronto!
We welcome you to come on down to the Humberwood Library to play some chess on our opening day - March 27th. The program will run every Saturday from 2-4pm. Below are the details of that branch:
850 Humberwood Blvd.
Toronto, ON
M9W 7A6
416-394-5210
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Downsview Library Joins the Network
A while ago, we received an email from a librarian at the Downsview Library asking for support from the Chess in the Library team. Their chess club has just started and they hope to teach the kids not only the basic rules, but some "advanced techniques" as well. Hearing this news, the Chess in the Library team was most definitely willing to provide aid.
Since we have many volunteers that are chess masters, we have no problem with teaching the kids. As a matter of fact, we're already started doing some teaching within our own system after receiving the demo boards donation. Thus, we've decided that one of our volunteer will go to the Downsview Library to teach the kids once in a while. We'll also provide support with one of our demo boards, which is essential to teaching chess.
Although this case is a bit different - we're providing aid instead of helping to start up a chess club, it doesn't mean that the Downsview chess club is an outsider to our organization. Since we will give them our full support, the chess club at Downsview is now a part of our Chess in the Library network!! Downsview chess club, welcome to the big happy family! =)
Please support the Chess in the Library program by coming down to the Downsview Library to play some chess! Here's the info:
Downsview Library
2793 Keele St. (*Closest major intersection: Keele St. and Wilson Ave.)
Toronto, ON,
M3M 2G3
416-395-5720
Chess club opens on Monday nights from 6:30-7:30pm for now and 7:00pm-8:00pm starting from April 5th, 2010.
Since we have many volunteers that are chess masters, we have no problem with teaching the kids. As a matter of fact, we're already started doing some teaching within our own system after receiving the demo boards donation. Thus, we've decided that one of our volunteer will go to the Downsview Library to teach the kids once in a while. We'll also provide support with one of our demo boards, which is essential to teaching chess.
Although this case is a bit different - we're providing aid instead of helping to start up a chess club, it doesn't mean that the Downsview chess club is an outsider to our organization. Since we will give them our full support, the chess club at Downsview is now a part of our Chess in the Library network!! Downsview chess club, welcome to the big happy family! =)
Please support the Chess in the Library program by coming down to the Downsview Library to play some chess! Here's the info:
Downsview Library
2793 Keele St. (*Closest major intersection: Keele St. and Wilson Ave.)
Toronto, ON,
M3M 2G3
416-395-5720
Chess club opens on Monday nights from 6:30-7:30pm for now and 7:00pm-8:00pm starting from April 5th, 2010.
Friday, February 19, 2010
A Dream Come True
Everyone has their own dreams, and I do too. I have different dreams for different aspects of my life, and as for chess, one of my dreams is to own a giant chess set one day. I dreamed of taking the set and placing it in the middle of the mall or in a park for kids to enjoy the game of chess with 100x more fun! It's also really big, so getting people to notice that chess actually "exists" in Canada wouldn't be a problem!
Guess what? This dream came true already! A generous person has donated a giant chess set to our program after listening to me talk about my dreams. It was a huge surprise for me too - I never expected it to come true so early in my life! I want to take this opportunity to thank this person for supporting chess in Canada, for giving me hope and most importantly, making one of my dreams come true. Once spring comes, I will try to make arrangements with some shopping malls to place the giant chess set there, and just promote chess in general! I also plan to host a 2010 Grand Chess in the Library Tournament at the North York Central Library (they have a huge room!) sometime this summer and place the giant chess set there. I'll post details regarding this tournament once everything is finalized. WOW, this is really exciting!!
I absolutely LOVE the set!!! =D
Guess what? This dream came true already! A generous person has donated a giant chess set to our program after listening to me talk about my dreams. It was a huge surprise for me too - I never expected it to come true so early in my life! I want to take this opportunity to thank this person for supporting chess in Canada, for giving me hope and most importantly, making one of my dreams come true. Once spring comes, I will try to make arrangements with some shopping malls to place the giant chess set there, and just promote chess in general! I also plan to host a 2010 Grand Chess in the Library Tournament at the North York Central Library (they have a huge room!) sometime this summer and place the giant chess set there. I'll post details regarding this tournament once everything is finalized. WOW, this is really exciting!!
I absolutely LOVE the set!!! =DRecently, we've also received a few other donations:
from Bob Armstrong - 1 box full of chess magazines
from Wilf Ferner - 3 used analog chess clocks
from the same person who donated the giant chess set above (as well as 100 chess sets to get our program started) - some endgame books + 3 used analog chess clocks *This person contributed the most to our program so far!*
I represent my team to thank you all for caring about "what chess in Canada will look like in 25 years" as well as supporting our program. I know that many people are watching us and with each touching donation that we received, I get more and more motivated.
With every event/situation in the society, there are supporters and there must be people who go against it. Perhaps to some people (I hope not), my teammates and I are still considered "a bunch of teenagers that aren't trustworthy", and they are suspicious of us using the donated items for personal purposes. Of course, everyone has the right to doubt others, but honestly, I would feel heartbroken if someone says that to me. I can swear that I would never use the donated items for anything else other than our program or the promotion of chess in general. Everything that has been donated so far will be use in a proper way for the benefit of others. I add this paragraph to my blog post today because I actually did hear someone doubting the uses of the donated items. Honestly, I have put countless hours and efforts into this program, I don't get payed for this (neither does anyone else in my team), so why on earth would I waste so much of my time just for the sake of using the donated items myself? I had one and only one intention when I started the program and I hope that everyone will always remember it- to promote chess in Canada.
from Bob Armstrong - 1 box full of chess magazines
from Wilf Ferner - 3 used analog chess clocks
from the same person who donated the giant chess set above (as well as 100 chess sets to get our program started) - some endgame books + 3 used analog chess clocks *This person contributed the most to our program so far!*
I represent my team to thank you all for caring about "what chess in Canada will look like in 25 years" as well as supporting our program. I know that many people are watching us and with each touching donation that we received, I get more and more motivated.
With every event/situation in the society, there are supporters and there must be people who go against it. Perhaps to some people (I hope not), my teammates and I are still considered "a bunch of teenagers that aren't trustworthy", and they are suspicious of us using the donated items for personal purposes. Of course, everyone has the right to doubt others, but honestly, I would feel heartbroken if someone says that to me. I can swear that I would never use the donated items for anything else other than our program or the promotion of chess in general. Everything that has been donated so far will be use in a proper way for the benefit of others. I add this paragraph to my blog post today because I actually did hear someone doubting the uses of the donated items. Honestly, I have put countless hours and efforts into this program, I don't get payed for this (neither does anyone else in my team), so why on earth would I waste so much of my time just for the sake of using the donated items myself? I had one and only one intention when I started the program and I hope that everyone will always remember it- to promote chess in Canada.
Bright Posters - A Great Promotion Tool
Since the beginning of this year, I had done promotions with my teammates for the program at three different libraries: with Jesse at Fairview; with Kevin at Pleasant View; with Kostya at Maria A. Shchuka.
Jesse and I originally created a poster that had a very general title with an information sheet that was removable and could be replaced by another anytime. That way, we would be able to do promotions at other libraries with the same poster and all that is left to do is to change the information sheet.
The story goes on as I brought the same poster to Pleasant View to promote the program with Kevin. After the promotion, the branch head suggested that we keep the poster in the library so that us, the volunteers, won't need to be at the library physically to promote the program. A week later, I visited the Pleasant View library and saw our poster right on top of the check-in/out counter! Beside it was the registration sheet for the program. Indeed, the bright orange poster was attracting a lot of attention! More people signed up for the program because of that.
Now, the purpose of visiting Pleasant View was actually to get the poster for the Maria A Shchuka promotion in the following week. Realizing how influential the poster was, I finally decided that this poster would be kept at Pleasant View and I would sacrifice a few more hours of my life making another for the Maria A Shchuka promotion! =)
The second poster that I made. I forgot to take a picture of the first one...:(
Enlarged removable information sheet. It's being taped onto the poster so it's easily removable.
Jesse and I originally created a poster that had a very general title with an information sheet that was removable and could be replaced by another anytime. That way, we would be able to do promotions at other libraries with the same poster and all that is left to do is to change the information sheet.
The story goes on as I brought the same poster to Pleasant View to promote the program with Kevin. After the promotion, the branch head suggested that we keep the poster in the library so that us, the volunteers, won't need to be at the library physically to promote the program. A week later, I visited the Pleasant View library and saw our poster right on top of the check-in/out counter! Beside it was the registration sheet for the program. Indeed, the bright orange poster was attracting a lot of attention! More people signed up for the program because of that.
Now, the purpose of visiting Pleasant View was actually to get the poster for the Maria A Shchuka promotion in the following week. Realizing how influential the poster was, I finally decided that this poster would be kept at Pleasant View and I would sacrifice a few more hours of my life making another for the Maria A Shchuka promotion! =)
The second poster that I made. I forgot to take a picture of the first one...:(
Enlarged removable information sheet. It's being taped onto the poster so it's easily removable.I think the poster took me about 3 hours to make since I had to cut out all the letters and design them. Although I love art, a major reason to why I stopped taking art in school was that it was way too time consuming. If you know me well, you would know that I'm a "perfectionist" as I like to make everything 100% perfectly. Thus, I thought about having one of these bright posters at each library and I do encourage the leader at each one of them to make their own!! We are a team, and if we all pitch in a little bit of our time to make these posters, we would be able to see way more kids playing chess! That was the main purpose of the program, wasn't it?
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