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"Community partners can be an important resource for schools and students. They can provide support for students in the classroom, and can be models of how the knowledge and skills acquired through study of the curriculum relate to life beyond school. As mentors, they can enrich not only the educational experience of students, but also the life of the community."
- from the Ontario Curriculum
We continue to be committed to supporting learning in our community. Visit us at any location, invite us to your school for a special event or utilize our resource pick-up service.
Each of our locations is unique and we invite you visit:
Clemens Mill Library – all ages
Ontario's first integrated high school and public library. Book a 1-hour tour to experience our award-winning Multi-Sensory Room, vibrant Active Living collection, and enjoy a customizable story time with interactive activities.
Hespeler Library – all ages
Constructed in 1923, the beautifully preserved Hespeler Carnegie library, often referred to as the "Ship in a bottle", offers 360 views of the neighbourhood. Enjoy a 1-hour customizable story time with interactive activities.
Old Post Office Digital Library – all ages
The Old Post Office is an award-winning, all-digital public library. During a 1-hour Discovery Time tour, visit the Creative Studios, Makerspace, Riverview Reading Room and finish up in the Children’s Discovery Centre for some exploration time.
Preston Library – all ages
During your 1-hour visit, tour our Seed Library and Tool Lending collections, art gallery and garden (weather-permitting). Enjoy a customizable story time with interactive activities.
Queen's Square Library – all ages
Located in downtown Galt, Queen’s Square library has our largest public library collection in the city. Spend an hour with us in our Children’s Department to learn more about all the great resources we have for you to borrow. Enjoy a customizable story time with interactive activities.
Summer Reading Club Visit – all ages
May and June (all locations)
Visit your Cambridge Public Library location to learn all about our award-winning Summer Reading Club!
Students will go on a 1-hour tour of the location and website, read a story and participate in some fun activities. They will get a membership card and choose a book to borrow so they can get started on their Summer Reading adventure.
Can't make it to us? We will send someone to your school for a Summer Reading Club interactive presentation. Presentations can be for one class or multiple classes - we want everyone to know how much fun they will have this summer at the Library!
Library and Gallery Tour – all ages
(Queen's Square and Preston locations)
During this 1.5 hour visit, tour the library and learn about all of the resources available to you with your membership card. Don’t have a card yet? Get one during your visit and start borrowing some really fun stuff. Next, take a tour of the Cambridge Art Galleries current exhibition and finish up with an art activity with one of our art instructors.
Gallery Tour and Art Activity – all ages
1.5 hours (Queen's Square Gallery)
Tour the current exhibition to learn all about the artist and their practice. After the tour classes will engage in a hands-on art making activity related to the artwork on display and highlighting the Ontario Curriculum appropriate to each grade level.
Printmaking – Recommended for Grades 6-12
1.5 hours (Queen's Square Gallery)
Learn to create unique artwork using relief printmaking. Students will be shown reductive print techniques while considering composition, colour, line, and subject matter.
Biology and Art – all ages
45 minutes (Queen's Square Gallery)
Learn how art and biology intersect in this hands-on workshop. Students will make their own artwork working with mud and soil microbes while engaging in conversation about ecology, soil health, and the soil cycle.
Museum, Library and Gallery Tour – grades 4-8
This 2-hour tour focuses on the importance of water and stewardship of this vital resource. Students will go on a tour of the Currents of Change exhibit at McDougall Cottage. Next, they will have an art lesson and complete a painting of the Grand River, “en plein air” with a Cambridge Gallery instructor. “The Water Walker” will be read by a professional storyteller and a bundle of resources can be borrowed to take back school to use in the classroom. Teachers may also request Library membership cards for their students as part of the visit. Book this visit through the Region of Waterloo Museum.
Education Kits and Reading Kits
Tell us about your unit of study and Idea Exchange staff will pull together some books and online resources so you can learn more about your topic.
What do you enjoy reading? Let us know your interests and reading level and Idea Exchange staff will bundle some books for you.
Please allow 10 days for Education or Reading kits to be ready for pick-up.
Membership Cards
Help your students get a membership card in three easy steps:
- Print the form, and have your students take it home to be completed
- Collect the forms
- Drop them off at your nearest location, or contact us to scan and send via email.
Cards will be ready in one week and delivered to your school. Applies to Cambridge schools only.
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