Memorable Libraries Around the World: Ikawi City, Japan
October 1 2021Ikawi City’s Picture Book Library (aka the Museum of Picture Books) features about 1,300 picture books by authors from around the world. The picture books are all geared toward very young children, as the library serves three local preschools Mondays to Thursdays (Fridays…
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If You Liked Outlander You Might Like...
September 24 2021What about Outlander did you like the most? I liked it because it’s a time travel romance The Scribe of Siena by Melodie Winawer When neurosurgeon Beatrice Trovato travels to Siena to get her late brother’s affairs in order she didn’t expect to find information about…
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All You Need to Know for the 2021 Federal Election
September 16 20211. If you haven’t registered to vote No problem! You don’t need to have registered in order to be able to vote! All you need to do is find out where your polling station is by visiting the Elections Canada site and putting in your postal code into the purple voter information…
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The Most Famous Game You’ve Never Heard Of
September 10 2021Once upon not-so-long-ago, in the mid-1800s and early 1900s, there was a housing crisis in the United States and around the world. The rich minority would buy undeveloped land and housing and lease land and living spaces for exorbitant prices, becoming richer simply by…
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The History of Games In Libraries
August 29 2021There is a perception among the public (and even among librarians!) that games are a fairly recent advent to public libraries, first appearing perhaps sometime around the early aughts give or take by way of video games. While games are fairly new additions to libraries…
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What Kind of Bear Is Baloo?
August 21 2021Rudyard Kipling never said what kind of bear Baloo is meant to be. However, due to the descriptions found in the series, his behaviour, feeding habits, and the location of where the story takes place (Seoni, Madhya, India) greatly narrow down the list of possibilities.…
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Little Red Riding Hood: A History
August 13 2021Revised, reworked, or simply reprinted, folktales are a huge part of our lives. It’s practucally a rite of passage of childhood to learn to memorize the core folktales from one’s culture. In modern times we often tend to think of folktales as relatively static, with…
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Is (Mythological) Loki Good or Evil?
August 6 2021If you follow Marvel’s Cinematic Universe or read their Thor comics, you likely think of Loki as being unquestionably one of the bad guys (and occasionally an antihero). And you would be correct about Marvel-Loki. But how did the Norse view the God of Mischief? Was Loki…
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That’s the Oldest Story in the World!
July 30 2021Do you know what’s the oldest story in the world (that we know of)? If counting oral tradition, the oldest would probably be the Dreamtime tales told by Australian Aborigine peoples, which accurately chronicle information regarding the change in sea levels as far back…
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Judging a Book By Its Cover
July 24 2021Whoever came up with the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” didn’t know much about book publishing. Judging a book by its cover is exactly what you’re supposed to do. The entire job of a book cover is to give you a general idea of what kind of book you would…
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Book Art: Giving Old Books a Second Life
July 16 2021Books, like living things, have life cycles. Some cycles are short, some long, but inevitably, there comes a day when every book reaches the end of the line of its bookish life. Book lovers dread that day, especially when the book in question has reached its end due to…
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Indigenous Books for Kids & Teens
July 10 2021This week's book suggestion list is quite the eclectic mix of genres and types to fit all ages and tastes. As always, all the titles can be found in our catalogue. Picture Books Elisapee and Her Baby Seagull by Nancy Mike When Elisapee’s dad brings home a baby seagull,…
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A Book By Any Other Name: Part 2/?
July 2 2021Papyrus Origin: Modern-Day Egypt (3,000 BCE) Papyrus is probably one of (if not the) most famous ancient writing media ever used. This isn’t surprising considering that it was in use for longer than any other writing medium in the history of writing. It was very similar…
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How are Ramses II, the Koran, Books, & Psychiatry Connected?
June 18 2021While perusing our online catalogue, you may have come across our bibliotherapy kits and wondered what the heck those are. What is bibliotherapy? Bibliotherapy (aka therapeutic storytelling) is, as its name suggests, a form of therapy where you use reading materials to…
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Summer Reading Activities for All Ages
June 12 2021Summer is just around the corner, and with it come summer reading programs. Typically, we think of such programs as being for children, but they don't have to be! This year, no matter your age, we have some summer reading fun you can take part in. For Children The Summer…
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Creeptastic Stories for Mini Horror Fans
June 6 2021Children like being spooked just like adults. So we've gathered some fun scary stories beyond the usual Haunted Canada and Goosebumps recommendations to keep your kiddos entertained. As usual, all of our suggestions can be found in our catalogue. For Beginner Readers…
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The Oldest Library Classification System in the World
May 28 2021We know you’re probably thinking something along the lines of “Ugh that sounds like such a dry subject. Hard pass, thanks.”. But before you scroll away, consider this: classification systems don’t just tell us where materials should be stored; they give us glimpses…
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Charlotte, Anansi, and Odin, Oh My! (Part 3 of 3)
May 22 2021We have talked about the power of the written word as well as of oral knowledge-sharing. When it comes to Odin’s story, the power of the two converge. Compared to other literate cultures of the time, the Norse left very little in the way of written work behind. This was…
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Charlotte, Anansi, and Odin, Oh My! (Part 2 of 3)
May 14 2021In the three posts in this series, we will be looking at the power of words and the importance of knowledge-sharing by looking at tales featuring three famous knowledge-sharers: Charlotte from E.B. White's Charlotte's Web, Anansi the Spider-Man from West African folklore,…
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