submitted: camrose public library

‘Hello’ From Camrose Public Library’s New Director

BY ROBYN GRAY / Special to the Dagligtale 

I have decided to use this article as an opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Robyn Gray, and I am the new Director of Camrose Public Library (CPL). I was born and raised in Calgary, and have lived in Victoria BC, Berlin Germany, Halifax NS, St. Paul AB, and decided to make Camrose my home about 1.5 years ago. I have loved libraries for as long as I can remember, and I’ll never forget the day I realized that I could take my Bachelor of Arts degree and transform it into a career in librarianship.

Everywhere that I have lived, the library is one of the first places I turn to. There is no admissions fee, no expectation to buy an overpriced coffee, and no other requirements for being welcomed into the library. When I’m visiting a city for the day and need access to the internet, the library is there. When I need to get out of the house, the library is open with comfy couches and magazines. And when I am feeling stuck for how to meet new people and start integrating myself into the community, the library always has events that I can attend.

CPL’s previous Director, Deb Cryderman, was a true ambassador for all of the amazing ways that a library can serve its community. While all libraries are wonderful places, she guaranteed that CPL was always setting a forward-thinking example. CPL has the Book Bike which you can find set up at Farmer’s Markets and special events in the summer with books to check out, it has the Life Cycle which enables people with limited mobility to feel the wind in their hair as they ride a trishaw through the community, it offers book clubs for people in their 20s, it offers after-school snacks for kids five days a week, it offers Spanish and French speaking circles, ukulele lessons, and so much more.

Camrose Public Library is a place where anyone is welcome regardless of income, age, or appearance. Whether you come in to pick up holds and then leave immediately, or attend a 3 hour program on how to knit a Christmas stocking, you are welcome as you are. We put up a wide variety of displays and decorations each year, and we encourage everyone to come in and see what is new on any given day. This year is our 100th birthday, so our events this year are a little extra special.

Of course, you don’t even have to come to our physical building itself to enjoy the library. There are countless apps and e-resources you can use from home to access free language learning tools, audiobooks, ebooks, resume builders, and more. In many ways, we’re happy to come straight to you: we offer holds delivery options, and can be found at the Augustana forum for various events throughout the year, just to name a few examples. And if you know exactly what it is you’re looking for and don’t see it on Camrose Public Library’s shelves, you can sign in online (http://cpl.prl.ab.ca/) and request the item be brought in from another Parkland library. For information on any of our many services, please come in and speak with our friendly circulation staff.

I feel lucky to be joining Camrose Public Library at this time, especially as we celebrate our 100th birthday and reflect on how far we have come in the last century.  Libraries have changed so much from the definition of being a ‘book warehouse’ and I am proud of how Camrose Public Library leads in that example. No longer are libraries a place of shushing people, but instead lively and vibrant community hubs. I have only been in this position for two months, but cannot wait to begin acting on even more ways to enable the library to meet the needs of everyone in the community.

You are welcome to come to our library anytime – I’ve loved getting to know more people in the community, and would be happy if you came to my office to say hello. At Camrose Public Library, we would love to sign you up for a free library card, welcome you to a program, or serve you in any other way possible.

Be Your Own Valentine at the Public Library

SUBMITTED BY THE CAMROSE PUBLIC LIBRARY (NICOLE BANNICK)

 

I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

– from Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

Women of Camrose: you are amazing and we want to celebrate phenomenal you! On Feb.8 from 7- 9 p.m., women ages 18 and up are invited to spend a free, decadent, empowering evening at Camrose Public Library.

Be Your Own Valentine is an event we came up with to pamper and thank the amazing women in Camrose and area. Sixty-nine women attended our first event six years ago, and since then it has grown in both size and scope. Last year, there were close to 300 women, and over 500 in 2015.  Visitors are treated to a chocolate fountain, free mini-massages, opportunities for creative expression, delectable hors d’oeuvres, demo services from estheticians, and a chance at winning some wonderful door prizes that are donated by local businesses and practitioners.

Be Your Own Valentine has become a great venue for women to access information about our community, giving opportunities for local small businesses to connect with possible clients. One of the busiest places of the evening is what we fondly call the mini-spa and vendor room. We invite local businesses and practitioners to provide free demo services to attendees, be it a 5-minute massage, reiki, eyebrow waxing, and esthetics. It is a great, free way for local businesses and practitioners to promote their services, make connections, and give back to the community.

It would not be a library event with the chance to learn, create, and grow. We include art activities, displays, and books that open dialogues on relationship, physical, and sexual health and acceptance. It is also a great venue for social engagement, with fancy finger foods, a chocolate fountain, and plenty of spots to sit and catch up with old friends or make a few new ones.

We hope that on Fri. Feb. 8, women aged 18 to 108 will join us for a fabulous, free night of fun, friendship, and empowerment. Due to the adult nature of the displays, this is an adult-only event; please bring photo identification with you.

Nicole Bannick is the Program Coordinator of the Camrose Public Library. Outside of work, she enjoys time with her family, baking, comic-cons, and cheesy 16-bit role playing games.

 

The World Needs More Love Letters, Write Yours at the Camrose Public Library

SUBMITTED BY THE CAMROSE PUBLIC LIBRARY (SHANNON STOLEE)

“It’s funny; in this era of e-mail and voice mail and all those things that even I did not grow up with, a plain old paper letter takes on amazing intimacy.”
– Elizabeth Kostova

‘Tis the season for warm wishes and glad tidings, and the Camrose Public Library is set to help with holiday cheer and good words. While much of the world is celebrating a happy season, it can be a tough time for many people who may be living with familial and social isolation. Sending a quick note to someone who could use a kind word can make a huge difference in someone’s day, if even for a moment.
Unlike a phone conversation, which can go sideways, a letter gives you a chance to practice what you want to say and make sure it conveys your intended meaning (no fear of missing the email UNDO window of time either!)
Writing down your thoughts onto paper gives opportunity to alleviate stress, loneliness and anxiety, especially when you are far away from friends and family, and of course, letters and cards are beautiful, cherished gifts. Once Grandma gets your letter, you will become the favourite grandchild immediately!
National Letter Writing Week falls on the second week of January every year, and we are celebrating early so our letters can reach their destinations in time for the observance. Every afternoon from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Dec. 3 through Dec. 7, we will have everything you need to write a letter; a writing station will be set up on the main floor of the library with pens, paper, envelopes and postcards. Stamps will be available for purchase at the circulation desk, and we will have a ”mailbox” set out that you can drop your letter in once it’s stamped. We will deliver all the letters to the post office daily.
On Dec. 7 we will have a Letter Café set up downstairs at 1:00 p.m. with snacks and a card making class starting at 4:00 p.m.
No desire to share a love letter with someone you know? We have other letter writing options available for you, too.
Amnesty International Canada’s Write For Rights Letter Writing Campaign
Each year around International Human Rights Day (Dec.10), Amnesty International encourages people to write a letter on behalf of someone who has been imprisoned for expressing their opinion. Ten of these prisoners of conscience are highlighted each year. Amnesty International has done all the hard work and lets you know exactly what to do. The library has the profiles of all ten prisoners, letter writing tips and the addresses for the government offices and prisons. Plus the paper and envelopes! #WriteforRights #WHRD #W4R2018 For more information click here.
Write to the Troops
Our Canadian Armed Forces appreciate letters from Canada while they are stationed overseas. Go to the website and scroll down to find Canadians Sending Letters for “Any Canadian Armed Forces Member”. There you will find Addresses for Overseas Operations. All overseas operations have Canadian addresses, so no extra international postage is required.
More Love Letters
Described as a “serious gang of inspired heart-on-sleevers writing, leaving and mailing love letters to those in need,” over 250,000 love letters have been delivered to people in need of comfort. Go to the More Love Letters website for more information. Most people profiled here are in the U.S. or overseas, so letter will need extra postage.
We will leave you with one final note. If you need an excuse to procrastinate on your next assignment, we can’t think of anything better than writing a letter. As Ernest Hemingway said:

“Or don’t you like to write letters? I do because it’s such a swell way to keep from working and yet feel you’ve done something.”

Shannon Stolee is the adult programmer at Camrose Public Library. Her New Year’s Resolution for 2019 is to write more letters.

Winter Happenings at the Camrose Public Library

SUBMITTED BY THE CAMROSE PUBLIC LIBRARY (NICOLE BANNICK)

The geese have flown south, and days are cooler. The snow has begun to fall, and is sticking this time. Night comes earlier, and the Northern Lights are more easily seen in the sky. It will soon be the time of year that children and adults around the world have been waiting for: Winter holiday season!  Whether you observe Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Yule, Diwali, or any number of other winter cultural or religious celebrations, you will be sure to find something at the library and in the community of Camrose this winter.

Camrose Public Library, as laid out in our Plan of Service, values inclusion regardless of heritage, education, beliefs, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental capabilities, or income, and we strive to hold and take part in events that promote this value. You will find on our shelves and in our programming, global celebration stories from many different cultures including Christian, Judaic, African American, Muslim, Indigenous Canadian, Chinese, and Japanese traditions.

Camrose Public Library has a yearly event which brings people together to celebrate the gifts and merry-making of the holiday season. We invite everyone to join us for our annual Family Christmas Party on Saturday, Dec. 8 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.. The party is again being planned and facilitated by Community Service Learning students from U of A Augustana Campus, and they have some wonderful things in store for you. We are having a sustainable party again this year, with card making, tree ornaments, and pinecone Christmas tree crafts. Embellish Hand Bell Choir will kick off the event with some performances, and a Jolly Man in Red will make an appearance as well. The event is free of charge and open to all, regardless of age or family structure.

While you are here for the Christmas party, make sure to stop by and have a look at our Giving Tree, which will be set up in the Adult Fiction Section. This is our third year of setting up the tree, which gives library users a simple way to pay it forward this holiday season. Pull a tag off the tree and take it to the circulation desk to pay the fine printed on it. Once it is paid, library staff will phone the cardholder to let them know that they have received a gift from another library user. There will be tags in a wide range of prices, from $0.25 to $50.00 or more, so it is an easy way for library users, even the youngest of patrons, to make someone smile this holiday season!

Nicole Bannick is the Program Coordinator of the Camrose Public Library. Outside of work, she enjoys time with her family, Christmas baking, teasing her Mum about lutefisk, and fighting with her siblings for the last piece of lefse.

The Plot Matures: A Book Club for 20-Somethings

SUBMITTED BY CAMROSE PUBLIC LIBRARY (KELLY HIGGINS)

Libraries and book clubs go together like mac and cheese. It just makes so much sense that one would go with the other and you would be hard pressed to find a public library that does not offer some form of book club to its community. Book clubs do not just happen in the library, of course, and they can be found in living rooms, pubs, cafes, and parks around the world. They are a way for people to get together, enjoy each other’s company, maybe have a few drinks, and if they get around to it, talk about a book.

There are so many great book club ideas out there, and all you really need is a friend or two to start a successful club. Clubs can have a theme, think Jane Austen, graphic novels, Pulitzer Prize winners, harlequin romances, or you can just wing it and read whatever you feel like that month. There are Cookbook Clubs, where members choose a recipe from the same cookbook and bring their dish to the next meeting (or just a bottle of wine if the recipe does not work out). Silent Book Clubs where introverts and wannabe introverts gather to read their own individual books together, but silently; or article clubs, where the books are scrapped and members just read and discuss an interesting published article. The real beauty of book clubs is how fluid they can be, they can be one thing one month, and then something completely different the next. It is really anything your group wants it to be.

A few summers ago 20-something staff at the Camrose Public Library were looking at different extra-curricular groups and activities to do in Camrose. Besides sports groups, very little was offered in the way of free group activities during the summertime, and fewer aimed at younger adults in their 20’s. Even the library, which offers a plethora of adult programming (which you should check out, obviously) slows things down in the summer and only a small handful of these programs are aimed at young adults. From this somewhat dismal discovery The Plot Matures was born, a book club for people in their 20’s. The first meeting was held on a Tuesday night at the library, a couple chairs were set out, and a single plate of cookies was provided, in the hopes that one or two people would come. Instead, 20 people showed up! A wonderful mix of people from different backgrounds who were looking for a way to connect with like-minded people and read some good books while they were at it.                                                                                                                                                                                        

Fast forward a couple of years to the present day, and with the exception of an assortment of different members, the book club has essentially stayed the same, attracting a lovely variety of people to get together once a month to hang out, chat about books (and movies, podcasts, pop culture etc.), and eat delicious treats. Many club members are new to the city and looking to make connections, some want motivation to read, others come because their friends do, and some may just be coming for the free  fro-yo…but, no judgement 😉

A book for the following month is chosen at the end of each meeting, and copies are put on hold at the library so participants can come pick them up at their convenience. There is no theme in choosing titles, but the group has recently delved in to the likes of non-fiction and science fiction with some favourite titles this year being The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood, Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, and Enders Game by Orson Scott Card.  New members are always welcome to the club and people are encouraged to come to a meeting even if you have not read the book!

This month’s title is The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg. The next meeting is Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 7:00 p.m. at Twisted Frozen Yogurt. If you would like more information you can join the Facebook group ‘The Plot Matures: A Book Club for 20 Somethings’ or e-mail kelly@prl.ab.ca

 

Public Library Not Just for Tangibles: Online Resources Abound

SUBMITTED BY THE CAMROSE PUBLIC LIBRARY (JENNIFER ROZEMA)

Different types of media have made it easier than ever to access material that would otherwise would have been harder to obtain on a day-to-day basis. Ebooks, eaudiobooks, websites dedicated to borrowing music, and movies through your laptop, smart phone, or tablet have changed the many ways that we are able to access different mediums of material. The Camrose Public Library has access to many of these resources, and has made it simple and cost effective for library members to access them!

To access any of our electronic materials, all you need is a valid library card and to visit the Camrose Public Library website. Once there, hover over the “elibrary” tab at the top of the page and select the type of service you would like to access from the drop down menu. Along with each platform, there is an opportunity to learn more about what it offers (click “learn more”) including how to download the app and materials to that app. If you simply want to visit the platform, click on the “visit resource” and get started.

cloudLibrary is an ebook platform with over 3000 titles. It requires an app to be installed on your device to which you will simply transfer anything you borrow from the library. cloudLibrary sorts ebooks into newest items, genres, most popular items in the past month, the best of the year, and more. You can also search the titles if there is a specific title you’re looking for. Ebooks automatically return themselves at the end of three weeks so you never have to worry about overdue fees. Read Alberta eBooks is another collection of ebooks available on the cloudLibrary, which includes over 1,000 Alberta-published books from 24 Alberta Publishers.

RBdigital platform offers magazines (that you never have to return), eaudiobooks, and ebooks. If you download the app to your device, you can skip visiting the platform on your computer and simply search for and download your selections on your device. These items return themselves at the end of three weeks, or you can renew them if someone else does not have a hold on them.

If keeping up with world news is your thing, you can visit either PressReader or Newspaper Source Plus. Between the two platforms, you will have access to millions of newspapers from around the world in hundreds of languages. They allow you to search for specific subjects, images, or read the paper from cover to cover just like a physical newspaper.

CELA and NNELS are formats created specifically for those who are print disabled. The term print disabled means anyone who is unable to read a book, because of failing eyesight, because they have a medical condition that has left them unable to hold a physical book, or any other reason. Contact the library staff to make sure we have noted your print disability on your record so you can borrow seamlessly.

The Alberta Research Portal is your gateway to a world-class collection of primary sources. It allows you to search extensive resources including those related to indigenous peoples, the Associate Press Collections, the Smithsonian Collection online, and more.

Pronunciator is a great tool to use if you are looking to learn another language, or to brush up on some vocab! Simply make an account, and work at your own pace. With flashcards, speech feedback (find out how well you pronounced a said word), videos, and many more resources help you learn at your own space, while meeting your individual learning style needs.

Grant Connect is an online resource that is licensed for in-library use, only, but everyone is allowed to access it. If you work for a charitable organization and are looking for new funding opportunities, search Grant Connect.

Library hours:

The library is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday from 1-5 p.m. The library is closed all weekend days of statutory holidays.

Jenny Rozema is one of the smiling faces you see at the front desk at the library. She is also a 5th year student at Augustana where she is finishing up a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English. She can often be found hiding in the Library with Hutch.