CHILDREN'S LIBRARY PROGRAMS 

Stay tuned for our 2025-26 Summer Reading Quest program!

We also hold craft activities and other events over the summer as part of the School Holiday program (see more info on this page), so keep an eye on our Events page and follow us on Facebook.

Held at 10am on Tuesday mornings during school term, Storytime is a great way to encourage your toddler to continue along the path of reading! A fun combination of songs, rhymes, and a craft activity each week, Storytime is a great way for your child to socialize with others and experience the library.

Suitable for pre-school children aged 2 - 4 years.

Sessions are free and normally last half an hour or a little longer on craft days. There is no need to book - just turn up on the day.

Join us in the Kids Zone at 10am on Thursday mornings during school terms. Baby Rhyme Time is your opportunity to meet other parents and bounce and interact with your baby with fun rhymes and songs.

Rhyme Time builds an early knowledge of reading and writing in children and aims to inspire a love of reading from birth and develop a sense of community for both caregivers and children.

Suitable for children aged 0 - 2 years old, their parents, carers and friends.

Sessions are free and are about half an hour in length. There is no need to book - just turn up on the day.

Are you looking for an after-school activity for your 4-6 year old? 

The Crafty Bookworms is a chance to learn new art skills, increase reading and comprehension skills, and socialise with other children outside of the school environment!

Crafties participate in arts and craft activities, listen to stories, and do fun activities. Call the library for more information.

Better Beginnings is 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 Western Australian children by encouraging families to read, talk, sing, write and play with their child every day.

The program has been developed by The State Library of Western Australia and is funded by the State Government of Western Australia, Royalties for Regions, Rio Tinto and Western Australian Local Governments.

The program delivers free reading packs to young children and consists of three stages;

Yellow Better Beginnings Reading Pack - ages 0-2 and are delivered through child health nurses and available from the Library. 

Orange 'Sing to Me' Better Beginnings Reading Pack - ages 2-3 years are delivered through child health nurses and available from the Library.

Green Better Beginnings Kindy Reading Pack - ages 3-4 years and delivered through local schools.

These packs contain a quality Australian picture book and information and resources for parents and carers. 

If your child has not yet received their appropriate reading pack please contact the library on (08) 9941 3727 or email the library.

CBCA Children's Book Week 2025

Book Week will be held 16-23 August with the theme: BOOK AN ADVENTURE

Costume Competition

Bring your favourite book character to life! Visit the library wearing your costume, take your photo in the Adventure Zone, and upload it to our website for your chance to win!

Are you out on a station and want to enter our Costume Competition remotely? Take a photo of yourself out on station in your Book Week costume and upload it using our entry form!

When: Tuesday 19 - Saturday 23 August

Who: Ages 0-16

Colour-In Competition

Collect an official Colour-in Poster and show us your colouring skills! Display your completed artwork in the Adventure Zone at the library for your chance to win awesome CBCA Children’s Book Week themed prizes!

Are you out on a station and want to enter our Colour-In Competition remotely? Simply email the library and we'll send you a copy of the colouring-in page. Then, email your completed artwork back to us and we'll print it out and add it to the display!

When: Saturday 16 - Saturday 30 August

Who: Ages 0-11

Storytime

Celebrate a fun combination of CBCA Children’s Book Week themed songs, rhymes, and a craft activity.

Light refreshments provided, and feel free to dress up in costume!

When: 10-11am Tuesday 19 August

Who: Suitable for pre-school children aged 2 - 4 years

Baby Rhyme Time

An opportunity for you and your baby to learn new rhymes, bounce, dance, and sing along with fun tunes while celebrating CBCA Children’s Book Week!

Light refreshments provided, and feel free to dress up in costume!

When: 10am Thursday 21 August

Who: Suitable for children aged 0 - 2 years old

Adventure in a Box Party

Celebrate the 80th birthday of CBCA at our Children’s Book Week Adventure in a Box Party!

We invite you to create your very own special ‘Adventure in a Box’ using air dry clay, craft materials, paint, and your imagination!

When: Between 10am - 12 noon Saturday 23 August

Where: Carnarvon Library & Art Gallery

Who: Family friendly event ~ Adult supervision required for children 6 and under

RSVP: No bookings required!

Artwork by Jess McGeachin

About Children's Book Week

For one week in August each year, CBCA Children's Book Week celebrates books and Australian children's authors and illustrators.

With themed displays in the kids areas of the library, dress-up competitions, author visits, and much more, CBCA Book Week should be marked on your calendar well in advance!

CBCA Children's Book Week 2024

In 2024, CBCA Book Week was held Saturday 17 August to Friday 23 August 2024. With the theme; Reading is Magic, we celebrated reading stories and their amazing power to transport minds. 

Our special guest, storyteller extraordinaire Glenn B. Swift brought the joy of reading to Carnarvon! His book The Ghost in the Bell Tower can be found on the shelves of Carnarvon Library, and several of his short stories can be read for free on his website.

LEGO Club at the Library

Are you aged 7-12 years and hope to become a LEGO master? You may be interested in being part of our LEGO Club!

Held on a Thursday afternoon during school terms from 3-4pm, children sign up for an 8-week program of solo and group build challenges that will put their imagination to the test!

Places are limited, so email the library team to register.

Donating LEGO to the library

If you have a collection of LEGO at home that you are no longer using, the library appreciates all donations of LEGO that can help give our builders even more possibilities for amazing Builds!

Every school holidays, the Shire of Carnarvon, including the library, and in partnership with other agencies, puts together the School Holiday Program to keep kids entertained over the break!

Keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates during the lead-up to each school holidays.

Our 2025 National Simultaneous Storytime celebrations were part of the Timmy Turtle's Picnic event, held at Baxter park on Wednesday 21st May!

Stay tuned for details of our 2026 celebrations!
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National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is held annually in May.  Every year, a picture book that is both written and illustrated by an Australian is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, and many more places all around the country!

In 2025, the picture book chosen was The Truck Cat written by Deborah Frenkel and illustrated by Danny Snell.

The Shire of Carnarvon is proud of our dedication to supporting young people and their families in Carnarvon. Children's Week is brought to you by the Gascoyne Early Years Network. Stay tuned for more details of our celebrations from 20-26 October 2025!