In Spring 2020, a new collection will be available for you to browse through the Calgary Public Library website. The Newcomer Stories Collection from the Centre for Newcomers is a digital archive of personal stories shared by new Canadians. This collection of videos offers a glimpse into each subject’s immigration experience, and sheds light on the trials and triumphs of moving to a different country.The videos in this collection were created by the Centre for Newcomers with the help of the Audio and Video Recording Studios located at Central Library. The project was part of the Centre’s Legacy Gift to the Community, celebrating their 30th anniversary, and was made possible with the support of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Canadian Heritage, and Alberta Culture and Tourism.The full collection, which includes over 300 personal accounts from new Canadians, will be available to the public in 2020 through Calgary Public Library’s Digital Library, but you can preview a few videos now.
Read more about "Stories Introducing the Newcomer Stories Collection The Centre for Newcomers' 30th Anniversary Legacy Gift to the Community"A few times a month, Giselle Wong brings the Library directly to others. She’s a long time volunteer with Homebound Readers, a program for people of all ages with mobility or health concerns.The Library program is more than just a book delivery service. “It’s about companionship,” Wong says. The Calgarians she helps are delighted to have fresh books to read and a friendly face to talk to.Wong’s responsibilities include picking up holds or choosing materials, delivering those resources to elderly Library members, and returning their borrowed items. Often, she sticks around for a visit over tea. Wong enjoys those conversations; listening to stories from seniors gives her understanding into another generation, she says.The Homebound Readers program started in 1974, and continues to this day because of volunteers like Wong. Over the past 13 years, Wong has volunteered about 500 hours with the program.Wong works as a library assistant at an elementary school, and says volunteering is another way to share her deep love of libraries with others. That passion started when Wong was a youngster who spent extensive time at a public library in Ontario, learning English as a second language. “Libraries have changed me,” Wong says. “They opened my eyes to the world.”If you are interested in volunteering with the Library, please visit the Volunteers page.
Read more about "Stories Meet our Volunteers: Giselle Wong Giselle brings companionship and books to homebound readers"Calgary Public Library is piloting new programs and services at libraries across the city, in anticipation of launching them at the new Central Library. This testing helps ensure all our libraries are imaginative and innovative spaces, while simultaneously giving us an opportunity to prepare for our newest building. Here’s a glimpse at some of the features:FurnitureCentral Library will feature 17 different categories of chairs to sit in, with over 2,000 public seats in total! You’ll find lounge chairs for reading, study seating with access to power, chairs of all sizes for children, café chairs, and more — all chosen with flexibility, durability, and accessibility in mind. Chairs, tables, desks, and shelving units have been tried out in libraries across Calgary, including pods at Saddletowne Library. This type of seating is great for small groups, as it’s sound absorbing and includes power outlets.Library SchoolSince March 2018, elementary school students have been coming to Central Library for Cenovus Campus Calgary Library School. At Cenovus Library School, students, their teacher and parent volunteers use the Library as their classroom for a week of hands-on, inquiry learning. Cenovus Library School launches at the new Central Library in November 2018, for students in Kindergarten to Grade 12. Whether experiencing the hands-on Questionarium, exploring resources in the Calgary’s Story collection, or meeting artists in residence and Library staff experts, students and teachers are sure to be inspired by five floors of story at Central Library.Early Learning CentresCalgary Public Library is excited for our littlest members to explore our newest Early Learning Centre this November. The Library’s 12 Early Learning Centres are vibrant and interactive spaces designed for young children to learn through play. Successful features have been duplicated from one space to the next, while fresh elements are tested at each new centre. At Central Library, the focus will be on full-body play. A full-body play structure was tried out at Crowfoot Library, with the Bird’s Eye View Early Learning Centre. Both centres are designed for kids to climb, crawl, explore, and imagine!Room Booking SoftwareCentral Library features over 30 free bookable meeting rooms for members. They’re perfect for your next book club meeting, study group, or business gathering space. How do you book rooms, you might wonder? In Quarry Park Library, staff and Library members have piloted a new room booking software. The software is simple to use, with a device outside each bookable room. On the device, you can see all upcoming bookings for the day, have the option to complete day-of bookings, and easily unlock the meeting space for your booked time — all with your free Library card.Create SpaceCentral Library will feature a Create Space, a place for community members to collaborate and engage in dialogue with others. The Create Space — tested at Memorial Park and Central libraries — showcases the diversity, originality, and inventiveness of the community. Mad Libs YYC edition, leaving an encouraging coffee sleeve, blackout poetry, and writing on typewriters are a few examples of activities sampled. The Create Space provides members with whimsical and playful experiences, plus community interaction and collaboration. Come create with us at Central Library this fall.
Read more about "Stories 5 new Central Library Features You Can See In Your Local Library"Our channels are a space for positive discussions. Obscenity, adult content/photos, defamation, hate speech (speech targeted towards people or groups based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other protected status), threats, commercial advertisements, or solicitation of funds, endorsement of illegal activities, off-topic posts, spam, sharing of personal information (not limited to email addresses, telephone numbers, mailing or personal addresses, or identification numbers) is prohibited.
Read more about "Our channels are a space for positive discussions."When Calgary mom Mirna Khaled’s young daughter Julia felt she could not relate to picture books because none of the characters were in a wheelchair like her, Mirna helped write Julia her own book.Julia is an eight-year-old who has cerebral palsy. Her mother Mirna wanted people to "see her, not the wheelchair," so she and Julia’s aunt, Rawan Khaled, wrote and illustrated a book about Julia and her cousin Annabella, called Julia and Bella.The story is about Julia getting bullied at school and her headband being stolen. Annabella helps Julia feel better, including buying her a new headband.Mirna hopes the story will educate other kids about why Julia is in a wheelchair, and teach them that a wheelchair is "not something to be ashamed of.""I wanted her to see someone like her," Mirna said.Julia and Bella is on the shelves at libraries throughout Calgary, including Forest Lawn Library, where the Khaled family frequently visits. Julia personally put copies on the shelves at Forest Lawn Library last fall."I couldn’t believe it," Mirna said when she learned that Julia’s book would be on Library shelves.Mirna, Julia, and Jalal, Julia’s twin brother, moved to Calgary in June 2015 from Lebanon. Mirna, a single mother, wanted a better education and more opportunities for her children.In Lebanon, Julia was not allowed to go to school because the school didn’t have the resources to support her, even though Mirna was an assistant principal. Mirna said people in Lebanon would look at Julia with pity, but in Canada they smile at her and encourage her.The mother and daughter have a close bond, and Jalal loves to help his mother take care of Julia. "My brother is strong, nice, and he helps," Julia said.Julia’s personality changed drastically after the family moved to Canada. Before moving to Canada, Julia was non-verbal. Mirna said she will never forget the day that Julia started speaking to strangers and having a conversation with them.Now Julia initiates conversation with people and always has a smile on her face. She can string together full sentences, in both Arabic and English, and she loves to read books. "Education is her weapon to face the problems in life," Mirna said.The Forest Lawn Library was a big part of Julia’s advancement in reading and learning, Mirna said. Since they moved to Calgary, Julia and her family regularly visit the Library."[The Library] is a safe place to educate and play with your kids," Mirna said. "The Library is the perfect place to meet your neighbours and friends. It’s easy to come here, it’s accessible."Moving to Canada, Mirna had a dream to raise awareness about cerebral palsy. She wants people to know that Julia "can do everything that you do but in her own special way."Mirna created a Facebook page to get the word out about Julia. She is now selling the book, Julia and Bella, and handmade headbands at markets around the city to raise money for a future surgery to enable Julia to walk.Mirna has always had faith in Julia advancing. "I know that she is a smart girl," she said. "I know she can do it. I know she can learn."We want to know how the Library has made a difference in your life. Submit your own Library Story online.
Read more about "Stories ‘The Perfect Place to Meet Your Neighbours’ Julia Khaled is breaking down barriers with her Library Story"If your club loved a book, find read-alikes or other titles by the same author using this free resource.
Read more about "NoveList"From sloped walkways and street-level entry on the west side, to an elevator on the east side, the Library is accessible for all. The outside east elevator is staffed by intercom and available 24 hours a day, allowing for easy passage through the archway, connecting people between East Village and City Hall. On the west side, there is an intercom at the doors near the Patricia A. Whelan Performance Hall. Visitors with mobility challenges can use this intercom to contact security in order to use these doors. Or, continue up the sloped walkway to reach the main entrance. Once inside, there are elevators, sloped walkways, and stairways for visitors to move throughout the building. Elevators have braille buttons and an audible elevator signal, and stairs have tactile indicators on the railings, and on the floor at the top of the flight.
Read more about "From sloped walkways and street-level entry on the west side, to an elevator on the east side, the Library is accessible for all."Richard Scrimger is the award-winning author of nine novels for young readers, three picture books, and three books for adults. His works have been translated into eight languages, and have been critically acclaimed around the world.
Read more about "Richard Scrimger"Sophie Torro began writing at the age of eleven and published her first novel at fifteen years old. Since then, she has published more than three series and a dozen novels, with many more in production. She has also written five travel articles for TraveL
Read more about "Sophie Torro"