The Flin Flon Public Library’s Kinsmen Room, formerly a lackluster basement meeting room, has been transformed into a delightful area for creative play, storytime and craft-making.
“We had a lot of fun designing it,” says Cindy McLean, who worked with Linda Sonnenberg Jackson to create the mural that enlivens two walls of the room.
The women recall that the mural evolved through collaboration, as Sonnenberg Jackson’s style tended to lean more toward evoking nature, while McLean wanted the space to have a colourful, fantasy-like quality.
“I would put my hands on her shoulders and say, ‘Linda, pretend you’re a little girl,’” laughs McLean, recalling their creative process.
The bright, happy mural that resulted includes a babbling brook, a rainbow, a green meadow and lots of friendly characters for visitors to discover. Sonnenberg Jackson even hid a tiny leprechaun in the scene for munchkins to spot.
The design is evocative of the mural upstairs in the library’s children’s reading area, which was also painted by Sonnenberg Jackson.
The key for this room’s design, says McLean, was to “bring the outdoors in” so children could feel like they were spending the day outside in the sunshine – even in the darkness of a northern Manitoba winter.
In addition to the mural, the room transformation, which cost about $4,700, included the addition of a play house, plush toys and seats for storytime, child-sized Ikea tables and chairs for craft-time, new toys and craft supplies, and the upcycling of a dull brown cabinet unit into a bright yellow shelf for storing all those goodies.
A $4,343 grant from the Northern Neighbours Foundation covered most of the costs of the renovation.
The room’s primary use will be the library’s weekly story hour program, which is being reinvented this year as “Mindful Fun,” a program that teaches preschool children to better understand their emotions and state of mind.
This program, which will be led by Jelisa Wiegers, will also include a story, a craft, a small snack and playtime for kids and parents.
In addition, the space will be used for children’s camps, such as the TD Summer Reading Camp and special events like Christmas and Easter parties and school visits during the year, McLean says.
The library is also exploring partnerships with organizations that can benefit from the space, including the Nor-Man Regional Parent Child Coalition and Read to Me, a family literacy program.
