LETTER oF THE LAALetter of the LAA Spring 2007 LETTER oF THE LAA Inside: Storytime Kits at the Strathcona County Library Marigold Welcomes City of Airdrie Grande Prairie Public Library

Letter of the LAA Spring 2007

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Inside:Storytime Kits at the Strathcona County LibraryMarigold Welcomes City of AirdrieGrande Prairie Public Library Partners to Promote French Resources in the CommunityTaleblazers out of Chrysalis: Kids Literary Festival Heats UpThinking Outside the BordersStellar, luminous and awesome: Words are losing their impact in the abused parlance of our times

Hinton Municipal Libraryp.4

Issue 154


80 Baker Cres. NW, Calgary, AB T2L 1R4Phone: 403/284-5818 FAX: 403/282-6646

http://www.laa.ca

People ....................................................................................................................... 1

From the President's Desk ................................................................................................. 2

From the Executive Director ............................................................................................... 3

Hinton Municipal Library Undergoes Renovation and Expansion ........................................ 4

Association NewsIntellectual Freedom Contest - We Have a Winner!! ............................................... 6PNLA is Coming to Alberta! ...................................................................................... 7Alberta Library Conference Update .......................................................................... 8Storytime Kits at the Strathcona County Library ....................................................... 9

Around the ProvinceMarigold Welcomes City of Airdrie ........................................................................... 11Peace Library System Conference Features Noted Media Expert ............................ 15C.O.W. Bus Visits Onoway ....................................................................................... 15MacEwan Director of Learning and Instructional Services

Receives College's Highest Honour ............................................................... 15News from the School .............................................................................................. 16Augustana's Annual Theme ..................................................................................... 17Grande Prairie Public Library Partners to Promote

French Resources in the Community ............................................................. 18Taleblazers out of Chrysalis: Kids Literary Festival Heats Up ................................... 19

Across Canada & BeyondThinking Outside the Borders ................................................................................... 20ARMA Canada Launches Online Registration for Annual Conference ..................... 21Stellar, luminous and awesome

Words are losing their impact in the abused parlance of our times ................ 22The Business of Good Design .................................................................................. 23

What's In An Acronym ........................................................................................................ 24

Forthcoming Events ............................................................................................................ 23

ISSUE NUMBER 154 SPRING 2007 ISSN 0705-4890


PEOPLE

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Louise Reimer has joined the University of Alberta Libraries in the position of Head, Humanities & SocialSciences Library. Louise was previously District Manager – South and Manager, Whitemud Crossing Branch, withEdmonton Public Libraries.

The Concordia University College of Alberta Library is very happy to welcome Erica Hebert, AssociateInformation Services Librarian, back from a one-year maternity leave.

Grant MacEwan College has welcomed some new staff members. Chris Miller has been with the City CentreLRC since January, where he is temporarily replacing Sandy Stift as a reference and instruction librarian. Sandywill be acting Campus Librarian at the Centre for the Arts until December 2007, while Eva Revitt is on a maternityleave. Gordon Bertrand also started working with MacEwan in January. He is manager of the Learning andInformation Systems Department and is responsible for identifying and implementing new technologies for usein the LRC. Virginia Pow joined the City Centre LRC in February as a reference and instruction librarian to coverKaren Herring’s position. Karen has taken on a six month appointment as acting Campus Librarian at MacEwan’sSouth Campus LRC.

Northern Lights Library System has hired Sabina Iseli-Otto as Public Services Librarian. Sabina received herMLIS degree from the University of Western Ontario and is looking forward to coming home to Alberta. She hasprevious experience working in Alberta’s regional library system at Parkland Regional Library.

Northern Lights Library System has hired a Training Librarian, James MacDonald. James is a recent MLISgraduate from the University of Alberta. This position will allow NLLS to provide enhanced services to memberlibraries. James will work on developing and delivering training and professional development programs for thelibrary managers and library staff, as well as programs or workshops for library patrons.

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FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK

22

Anne Carr-Wiggin

Hello LAA members,

This is the time of year that theenergy surrounding the Alberta Li-brary Conference builds, as acrossthe province plans are made totravel to Jasper to learn and toenjoy the company of colleaguesand friends. Thanks to thehardworking ALC conference com-mittee, this year we again have anexciting array of sessions and so-cial events. This year’s theme in-volves the celebration of the cente-nary of the Libraries Act, and is achance to highlight the achievement of libraries in our province.

Next year’s conference theme will be announced at the conference, and I was thinking of it as I sent Christine thepicture for this column. The flying library staff pictured above are Kit Wilson, Sandra Shores, Steve Thornton andme. We are on our way to visit Mary Weasel Fat, Nora Stabs Down and Bedford Wells at Red Crow College, workingon the First Nations Library Initiative. (Come and hear about it at the session at Jasper.)

Over the past while the LAA Board has been working on a variety of initiatives. We have conducted a riskassessment of LAA operations and we have been working with our new auditor. We sent letters of welcome to allcabinet ministers after the new cabinet was announced, and received replies from many of the ministers. Weparticularly welcomed the new minister responsible for libraries, the Hon. Ray Danyluk, Minister of Municipal Affairsand Housing. We know him as a library supporter and are very pleased to have him as our new Minister. We willbe welcoming him to his first Jasper conference. We sent thanks to the former Minister of CommunityDevelopment, Denis Ducharme, for his support of libraries during his tenure. We are also delighted to have beenable to honour libraries and individuals with LAA awards. Rocky Mountain House Public Library was the winnerthis year of the Intellectual Freedom Award in support of their Freedom to Read Week activities. Read more in thisissue. Thanks to Virginia Clevette and the IF Committee for their work on this. At the conference we will beannouncing the winners of the LAA President’s Award and of the LAA Award of Excellence.

The LAA Executive Director and I attended the meeting of The Partnership held at the Ontario Library Associationin January. The network of provincial library associations continues to thrive. Participation from Alberta in theEducation Institute is healthy and we are working with other Alberta membership organizations to bring themmember pricing for EI sessions. The Partnership welcomed Linda Cook, Canadian Library Association President,and Alvin Schrader, Vice President / President Elect, to the meeting to discuss strategies for clarifying andoptimizing the relationship between CLA and The Partnership. A discussion was held regarding principles forbuilding a congenial relationship with the Canadian Library Association while maintaining the benefits for provincialassociations of belonging to The Partnership.

An exciting new initiative for us in the coming months will be the Check Out Writers program. With funding fromthe Alberta Government Centennial Initiatives Program and in collaboration with the Writers’ Guild of Alberta (whichis also providing matching funds), this project will bring writers-in-residence to rural areas through the regionallibraries. Many thanks to Judy Moore for her work on the application for this project.

As I complete my year as LAA President, I’d like to say how fortunate I feel to have been able to work with LAAmembers and the LAA Board, including our wonderful Executive Director Christine Sheppard. I’d also like to thankthe LAA Board members who are completing their terms on the LAA Board: Past President Judy Moore, TreasurerRachel Sarjeant-Jenkins and Director Debbie Feisst and Myra Skaronski. We will be welcoming new Boardmembers at the Annual General Meeting in Jasper, and I look forward to seeing many of you there.


FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

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Christine Sheppard

Here we go again! The 2007 Alberta LibraryConference is right around the corner.

We never know what we're going to get when weget up there, could be just like the photo on theright. We've had years when everyone got asunburn, years of rain and years when the lakewas frozen.

But I remember mostly years of glorious sun,illuminating sessions, motivating keynotespeakers, inspiring authors, and reconnectingwith friends and colleagues.

It always seems to me that our conference heraldsthe real start of spring. I read an article in Bodyand Soul (April/May 2007) that says

"culturally speaking, spring-cleaning is as much about self-renewal as a cleanhouse. In Persian culture, for instance, a ritual called “khaneh takani,” or“shaking the house,” precedes the New Year, which falls on the first day ofspring. Families traditionally banish dust from every corner and crevice andpolish belongings in preparation for returning spirits. Similarly, preparationsfor the Chinese New Year, aka the Spring Festival, involve rigorous housecleaning.Accumulated dirt is swept away along with stagnant energy and bad luck,creating room for good fortune."

I think Jasper is like that. We're all rejuvenated by the fresh air and the inspiring speakers. We learn aboutnew technology and new ideas, and we get support from our peers. We make room for new ways of tellingstories, new books to read and recommend, new ways of providing service, new ways to understand cultural

diversity and new ways of communicating.

We learn how to advocate for libraries.We re-ignite our passion when we'resurrounded by 500 other people whoshare our love for libraries. We take ourpassion and ideas back to our librariesand share them with the dedicated peoplewho stayed behind to keep libraries open.

I hope your spring is inspiring andcleansing, and leaves you feeling hopeful.Get rid of those cobwebs and create roomfor good fortune.

And I hope Jasper is like this photo on theleft.


Hetty Wilderdijk, Head LibrarianHinton Municipal Library

The Town of Hinton celebrated its 50th anniversary in2006. One of the highlights of the year was the re-opening of the completely renovated and expandedMunicipal Library.

In 1967, the Town of Hinton had the dubious distinctionof being the largest town in Alberta without a PublicLibrary. Not until a petition by ratepayers to establish apublic library was action taken. It took until December1969 for the Hinton Library to open in the local HighSchool. The collection was 800 books and the budgetwas $7,806.75. The Library, however, did outgrow theschool and in February 1984 moved to its own location,adjacent to the Recreation Center. By 1990, the Library Board realized that there was potential to expand the Libraryto include Archives, a program room and possibly Art Gallery space. This goal stayed, hidden away, in the planningphase until 2002 when the Library Board applied for, and was granted, a CFEP Grant to hire an architect to do afeasibility study. A lot of planning was done with the Town, stakeholders and partners in 2003.

By 2004 the Board decided to become serious about realizing the renovation and expansion. They asked for TownCouncil’s “Approval in Principal”, hired a fundraising coordinator, launched a fundraising campaign and applied fora Centennial Legacies Grant.

The fundraising campaign was a success: $414,613 was raised in the community; the Centennial Legacies Grantamount allocated to the project was $580,000; Yellowhead County made a commitment of support; other grantswere pursued; a partnership with Adult Learning to lease space was finalized. Still, the project faced hurdles andwas delayed due to the Alberta building boom and the huge cost increases. A re-design to bring the cost down wasthe next step. The wing to house an Art Gallery was taken away from the design and an improved mechanicalsystem was included. By late 2005 the project was ready to go for tender. In early March 2006 Town Council gavethe approval for the $2,894.601 project. The cost was almost evenly shared: $1,447,390 from the Library Boardthrough grants, fundraising and partnership agreements and a $1,472,445 contribution from the Town.

The sod turning ceremony was a festive event. It took place on March 24 and construction started the week afterthat. Hinton Library moved its total holdings to the vacated Fire Hall bay in a record 10 days. Even re-wiring forall the computers was accomplished during this time, as were phone line installations. The Library operated from

the Fire Hall location from April 3 until August 25. Basic Libraryservices were maintained during this time. Moving back to therenovated Library was another huge undertaking and took threeweeks of hard work.

On September 18, 2006 the Hinton Municipal Library opened itsdoors for an “Open House” and invited everyone in the Town to dropin to see how their Library had been transformed. On September 19the Library was open for business again. Everyone agreed that theproject was a success.

The official ribbon cutting took place on October 27. The HonourableMinister of Community Services Denis Ducharme and Mayor Glenn

Taylor cut the ribbon and were assisted by MP Rob Merrifield, MLA Ivan Strang and Board Chairman PeterLanosky. A large crowd was present to witness the event.

The Library in Hinton has become an open, bright, modern, and spacious place. The entrance is inviting. The newcirculation desk was custom made and accommodates the staff as well as the customer. The workspace behind

Hinton Municipal Library Undergoes Renovation and Expansion

4


the desk makes library work much more effec-tive and enjoyable. The magazine area hasbecome a customer-favorite place, the couchesand the variety of magazines and newspapersmake this one of the most improved areas in thelibrary. The area for children and youth is invitingand friendly. It even has a built in puppet theater.The Library finally has its own program space.The room can be divided by a folding wall, thuscreating a cozy story telling area and a func-tional Board room, or Adult Learning Centre.Hinton Adult Learning and Literacy were part ofthe project from day one, and their space iscomplemented by the Library’s program space.It is a win-win partnership.

The Library’s program room will be set up as a VideoConferencing room soon. This important addition will im-prove communication capabilities, fulfill the Board’s goal tomake the Library the place for life-long learning, and allowthe Library to take full advantage of the SuperNet.

The program room is booked for such a variety of functionsalready that nobody can imagine how we ever managedwithout it.

The Library has a climate-controlled room for Archives andhas been given a budget to set up Archives for the Town.A long-time goal has been achieved. There is a quite study

space and a corner for magazine exchanges and browsing through the weeded and/or donated books for-sale.

Because the Library changed its main entrance but kept their old one, the book security system would no longerwork. RFID technology was the answer for this dilemma and since it also accommodated self check-out it becamean easy choice. Hinton chose the Checkpoint system. The self check-out works beautifully, and is becoming thepreferred medium for several patrons. To date 17% of the circulation of books is done on the user-friendly selfcheck-out unit. The security system tells which title was not properly checked-out and RFID is going to makeinventory that much more doable.

The surprises of the modernization of the Library and the changed layout are that youth really like hanging out atthe Library these days. Whether just visiting, doing homework, using the Internet, reading magazines or gettingbooks, they seem to enjoy being here. Hinton’s seniors take advantage of the magazine area as well , and in-houseuse of the Library has increased dramatically. Coffee service will be added in the very near future.

Programming, such as story time for pre-schoolers, puppet shows and craft programs, and Armchair Travellers,a unique travel presentation by members of the community, have not changed that much but the audience andparticipation have grown substantially.

Everyone looks forward to the results of the work still to be done this spring and summer. The area around theLibrary will be landscaped, and the parking lot will be enlarged and paved.

The Hinton Library has become more than a “Library” - it is a community place. The effort to make it happen wastremendous but it was definitely worth it. Hetty and staff invite anyone to drop by the Hinton Library on their wayto the Alberta Library Conference or anytime they are in town – no appointment necessary.

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ASSOCIATION NEWS

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Intellectual Freedom Contest - We Have a Winner!!

Virginia ClevetteIntellectual Freedom Committee Chair

The Intellectual Freedom Committee is pleased to have awarded the Intellectual Freedom Contest Award to theRocky Mountain House Public Library in support of their Freedom to Read Week activities.

These activities included a month long celebration with displays of banned or challenged books that recreates ajail setting; participation in the Bookcrossing: Free a Challenged Book event and a public discussion on Freedomto Read - a Global Perspective that will include a group of Chinese students from Canada World Youth who arevolunteering in the Rocky Mountain House community.

These activities “encourage Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom…. toraise awareness of the freedom to read in Canada and the fact that this freedom should never be taken for granted.”The Intellectual Freedom Contest garnered interest from 9 communities.

Each library provided activities for its community that strove to raise public awareness of the need to maintain acommitment to Intellectual Freedom and the right to know. Some of these activities included:

• Placing patron materials in a brown paper bag to signify that no one has the right to judge what others read.• Holding a session for New Canadians on the Freedom of the Written Word.• Free library memberships to various groups in the community.• Cover the library glass doors with slightly torn brown paper to indicate both an obstacle to accessing knowledge

and the struggle of those who must fight for the right to read.• Placing challenged books in glass jars to illustrate the concept of captive books.• Mock closure of the library for 15 minutes.• “Message in a Bottle” program - a look at children’s book banning presented by a local Junior Book Club.• A film series of non-commercial films.• A community contest to find posters of banned and challenged books as displayed by local businesses.

The Intellectual Freedom Committee of the Library Association of Alberta believes that it is the purpose of librariesto support free access to ideas, to promote public information and to foster enlightenment.

A rigorous adherence to the principle of intellectual freedom protects these important rights.

Congratulations to all Alberta libraries that undertook Freedom to Read week activities and displays.

Letter of the LAA Spring 2007 7

The 2007 Pacific Northwest Library Association AnnualConference is coming to Edmonton this August and wewould love to have you join us! This year’s conferencetheme “The Boom to the Echo: The MultigenerationalImpact on Libraries” promises to bring speakers fromall across the Pacific Northwest to Edmonton fromAugust 8-11.Make plans to attend the conference at the DeltaEdmonton South Hotel and Conference Centre andmeet colleagues from Alaska, Montana, Oregon, Wash-ington, Idaho, and British Columbia. Keynote speakerMarty Chan (www.martychan.com) will kick off theconference on Wednesday night.

Session topics will include topics of interest to those in public, school, special, and academic settings. The dialoguewill be sure to enlight, stimulate, and encourage conversations about issues in libraries from both sides of theborder.

Hotel reservations can be made online at http://www.deltaedmontonsouth.com/PNLA or by calling 1.800.268.1133.Check out our conference website at www.pnla.org for information about the conference session programs,special events, lodging and travel information and more. Questions can also be directed to Connie Forst,Conference Chair, at [email protected]. See you in Edmonton this August!

PNLA is coming to Alberta!

The tenth PNLA conference met August 28-30, 1919 in Vancouver, B.C., and one of the most colorful andeloquent librarians of the Northwest was president—UBC’s John Ridington.

Mr. Ridington came to British Columbia in 1915 to take charge of the library of the then infant University with alegacy of 700 books from McGill College and a staff of one assistant. He immediately became a member of PNLAand took an enthusiastic interest in its activities.

His presidential address, “The Challenge of the Present Days” was a vigorous appeal to the 105 attendinglibrarians, who came from Utah, Montana, Alberta, and Idaho, as well as Washington and Oregon.

The war had ended; times were changing:

"Books set up ideals, they create sympathies, they disseminate knowledge. Are not these three of the things ofwhich the world today stands in direct need? Will men undertake long, laborious, thankless tasks unless inspiredand sustained by a vision of the better things their struggle will accomplish and achieve? Will they sacrifice bodilyease and personal comfort unless impelled thereto by a fellow feeling for those they aim to serve? And will nottheir efforts be foredoomed to failure unless directed by intelligence and accurate knowledge? In all these things,books, libraries, and librarians can help mightily."

Excerpt from PNLA 1909-1959 : a chronological summary of fifty eventful years by Ruth Hale Gershevsky

Tenth Annual PNLA Conference Held in 1919Colourful President John Ridington Gives Presidential Address

"The Challenge of the Present Days"


Jasper Park LodgeApril 26 to 29, 2007Conference website: http://albertalibraryconference.com/2007/

Marianne GraffALC 07 LAA Co-Chair

We have what we believe is an exciting conference planned!

What’s new:

• We have added a session about the Rural Development Fund Initiative on Friday, April 27, from 1:15 p.m. to2:30 p.m.

• Nicholas Basbanes, acclaimed author of Every Book Its Reader, A Splendor of Letters, A Gentle Madness,Patience and Fortitude and Among the Gently Mad has been added as an author talk option on Friday night.He will replace Joseph Boyden on the conference programme.

Conference Highlights:

• 2 pre-conference sessions: Copyright and Storytelling (Thursday, April 26, 2007, 1:00–4:00 p.m.)

• 51 conference sessions to choose among

• 2 keynote presentations: Silken Laumann, Olympic athlete (Friday morning), and Tod Maffin, Technologyfuturist and CBC broadcaster (Saturday morning)

• 9 official social events: First Timer’s Get Together (at 8:00 p.m. Thursday); Opening Reception (at 9:00 p.m.Thursday); Break out the Bubbly wine tasting (at 8:00 Saturday); Celebrating Libraries Banquet (at 6:00 p.m.on Saturday); dance (at 9:00 on Saturday); author talks by Catherine Ford (7:30 p.m. Thursday), NicholasBasbanes (7:30 p.m. on Friday), and John McLay ( 8:00 p.m. on Saturday); and a documentary film Is ThereA Doc In The House (9:00 p.m. on Saturday).

• 60+ exhibitors booked for the Exhibits Hall, including 14 new companies

Tips:

• Free internet in your room: remember to register more than at least a few days ahead of your arrival at theLodge with the Fairmont President’s Club if you would like to enjoy free wireless high speed internet in yourroom. Membership in the President’s Club is free of charge. Check out membership benefits and how to joinat http://www.fairmont.com/fpc/MembershipBenefits/MembershipBenefits.htm

• Don’t forget you will need a Park Pass - You will need to have a valid Park Pass from Parks Canada to enterJasper National Park (AMA members: check the AMA website for details about reduced prices)

• For late breaking news – keep checking the Alberta Library Conference Website and in the print publicationsConference at a Glance & Info to Go available on-site during the conference to keep up to date on conferenceevents and news to enhance your conference experience.

• Say cheese! Photos will be posted to the ALC website during the conference and afterward using Flikr.

ALC 2007 - “A Class Act: Celebrating Alberta’s Libraries”


Emily SpringerEarly Literacy & Outreach Librarian, Strathcona County LibraryLAA Children's and Teen Services Interest Group

Background: The Children’s Services department of the Strathcona County Library often receives requests fromdaycares, dayhomes and preschools to attend our registered or drop-in preschool storytimes. Unfortunately, wecan rarely accommodate these groups because their numbers are too large - most groups have between 10-30children and our preschool programs are already very well attended. While we do provide special one-time tours,programs or puppet shows, we are unable to provide specialized programming services to such large preschoolgroups on a regular basis.

This is where the idea of Storytime Kits was born. We had heard about otherlibraries creating kits that contained everything one needed to conduct apreschool storytime. We quickly saw that Storytime Kits had the potentialto address the programming requests that we were receiving from largepreschool groups. Our Storytime Kits service would provide the necessarytools and training for early childhood staff to provide quality storytimes attheir own locations. We began work on this collection in early 2005.

Funding: Through the support of Children’s Services Supervisor, MaryCard, and Strathcona County Library Director, Sharon Siga, money was set asidefor a start-up collection of Storytime Kits. Two local groups, Parent Link and Job’s Daughters, also provideddonations towards the project. This pool of funding allowed for a start-up collection of 30 Storytime Kits.

What’s in a kit? Each Kit contains 4 or 5 books in hardcover, paperback and board book formats. The Kits alsocontain a set of finger puppets or a large glove puppet. Print support materials, which include a selection offingerplays, songs, rhymes, reproducible activity sheets, and tips on reading aloud, are also included in the Kits.Kit contents are housed in sturdy Rubbermaid bins. A typical Storytime Kit contains $75 worth of materials. At thistime, we have approximately 80 kits. There are 40 unique themes that correspond to Children’s Services favouritestorytime themes.

Promotion: The Storytime Kits collection was a restricted, special collection for the early childhood groups thatwe identified as “needing” them the most — daycares, dayhomes and preschools.We wanted the Kits to beavailable to children who do not normally visit the Library or experience a Library storytime. We sent a mail-out toarea daycares, dayhomes and preschools inviting them to borrow the Kits. The mail-out also explained that theEarly Literacy & Outreach Librarian was available to visit their site and model how to use Storytime Kits byconducting a storytime program.

Challenges: The kits are not as well-used by daycares, dayhomes and preschools as we had hoped because:• Most daycares, dayhomes, and preschools want “Cadillac service” that we are unable to provide: they want

us to provide Storytime Kit delivery and pick-up. We are considering using volunteers to provide suchservice in the future, but at this time are not able to provide delivery services.

• There is reluctance on the part of daycares, dayhomes and preschools to get either institutional or personallibrary memberships. Staff seem very concerned about overdue fines or the potential for fees relating tolost or damaged Kit items. We discovered that these concerns are often related to the high staff turnoverthat these groups experience.

• What our daycares, dayhomes and preschools still really want is for trained library staff to come on siteand do what we do best – provide engaging and quality preschool programs. The early childhood groupsthat are located close to the Library will come to the Library – but they also want us to provide theprogramming. This has been a pat on the back, but we are still not able to accommodate all the requeststhat we receive.

• There are a variety of circulation service challenges. For example, it can be time-consuming for staff tocheck Kit contents upon check-in. Also, Kits are too large for our after-hours return chute, so they can onlybe returned during opening hours. The Kits also take up a lot of space on the holds shelving.

Storytime Kits at the Strathcona County Library


Positive Outcomes: Those early childhood groups that use the Kits really appreciate the Kits and are loyal usersof the collection. We have about 15 groups that are regular Storytime Kit users.

• Some groups that are reluctant to use the Storytime Kits collection have asked if we could provide trainingon how to create Storytime Kits.

• The Kits are a useful tool for new Library programmers and handy for Library programming “on the fly.”• Through “word of mouth” advertising, we received many requests from parents and other caregivers who

heard about the Kits and wanted to borrow them for their families.

The current situation: Our Storytime Kits are now available to both early childhood groups and our “regular”patrons who are interested in using them for their families. They are circulating very well, due to the interest ofparents, grandparents and other caregivers!

We are focusing more on providing workshops and in-services to groups who are interested in creating their ownstorytime materials and early literacy collections of books, puppets, story props and more. The workshops andin-services that we are providing range from brief introductions on easy-to-make storytime props to registeredprograms at our Library on reading aloud and storytelling. We are still providing occasional storytime programs topreschool groups both at their own locations and at the Library. However, we can only accommodate eachinterested site once or twice per year.

I highly recommend creating a Storytime Kit collection for your Library. However, it is prudent to begin with a smallstart-up collection to test the waters. Be prepared to change anything and everything along the way from Kitcontents, policies and expectations. Also, be aware that creating the Kits can be quite time-consuming. From theanecdotal evidence and feedback that we have received, our Storytime Kits are valuable and much appreciatedearly literacy tools to both families and preschool educators. One preschool instructor stated that she had to hidethe Monkeys Kit because she was tired of singing “Go Bananas!” all the time. Mission accomplished!

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AROUND THE PROVINCE

11

On January 15th, through a recom-mendation from Airdrie Public Li-brary Board, Airdrie City Councilpassed a resolution to join MarigoldLibrary System. The city will be the39th member of Marigold and thelargest in terms of population.

Lisa Harriman, Airdrie Public Li-brary Board Chair, commented thatthe Airdrie Library Board and staffare very excited about the opportu-nities this membership brings tothe community. With their TRAC/TAL card in hand, residents ofAirdrie (population 29,035), willhave access to all Marigold serv-ices and to the resources in partici-pating TAL libraries, including col-lege, university and special librar-ies throughout Alberta, CalgaryPublic and its branches, SAIT, andMount Royal College. The cardwill also give Airdrie residents re-mote access to Marigold’s e-re-sources and to TRACpac, a librarycatalogue containing nearly 3 millionitems, where cardholders can place holds on items or renew borrowed items—from home or anywhere else withInternet. Marigold headquarters staff will work closely with Airdrie library staff to integrate Airdrie Public Library’sholdings with the TRAC database—a process that could take the better part of this year.

Sheila Macklin, Marigold Board Chair, stated that, “We commend the Airdrie Board for effectively demonstratingthe value of enhanced library service and the power of membership in Marigold to Airdrie City Council. Marigoldwill also benefit from the unique aspects of a new community and creative ideas of a new member library.”

Marigold Library System provides leadership and library resources to the interdependent network of its members,which serve 149,525 residents of south central Alberta through 33 libraries, 14 paperbacks deposits and apaperbacks-by-mail service.

Macklin went on to say that, “Marigold provides a means for independent libraries to work together to maximizevalue and minimize costs. We ensure that resources and partnerships are in place to make resource sharing moreefficient and cost-effective. The concept of a regional library system makes economic sense to municipalities. Thecost-effective enhanced library service that comes with belonging to a System—including that of being connectedto a wider world of resources and information—gives Airdrie residents a distinct information advantage over thoseliving in a municipality that does not provide public library service.”

Libraries within Regional Systems remain autonomous; an Airdrie Public Library Board Member has beenappointed to the Marigold Board by the City and will serve in a governance capacity to the Marigold system.

Marigold Welcomes City of Airdrie

(L-R) Linda Bruce, Mayor of Airdrie, Lisa Harriman, Chair, Airdrie Library Board, SheliaMacklin, Chair, Marigold Board, Linda Long, witness to the Agreement, Janine Jevne,Director, Airdrie Public Library


Signing the Agreement(L-R) Rowena Lunn,Director, Marigold LibrarySystem, Linda Bruce,Mayor of Airdrie, LisaHarriman, Chair, AirdrieLibrary Board, SheliaMacklin, Chair, MarigoldBoard

Airdrie


Thanks to funding from the Public Library Service grant, the Peace Library System’s Rural LibrariesConference will feature a keynote speech from nationally recognized media expert Shari Graydon.Ms Graydon has written a regular newspaper column, produced a television series, and performedcommentary for CBC radio and TV. She taught media analysis and communication skills at the post-secondary level and served for eight years as the president of MediaWatch. Currently she providesa range of communication services to non-profit organizations and serves as the president of theWomen’s Future Fund.

Ms Graydon is the author of two books for young people, Made You Look: How Advertising Works and Why YouShould Know and In Your Face: the Culture of Beauty and You. In her keynote speech, Ms Graydon will discussthe topic, Creating Critically Thinking Kids: 7 Habits of Savvy Media Watchers. Her presentation will provideinsights and strategies to help parents, teachers and librarians cultivate the critical thinking skills that young peopleneed in order to evaluate the media sites they use.

Other workshops planned for the conference, which takes place September 27 and 28 in Grande Prairie, includeGet Them Hooked on the School Library, Good Boards Lead to Good Managers, Customer Service, Wired Adults,EBSCO NoveList training and Blogging.

The Rural Libraries conference welcomes over 120 school and public librarians and library trustees from aroundnorthwestern Alberta, northern B.C. and parts of the Northwest Territories. A major feature of the conference isa trade show which includes library service vendors from around Canada showing the latest in books, technologyand software.

Registration packages for the Rural Libraries Conference will be sent out in April and will also be available on thePeace Library System web site at www.peacelibrarysystem.ab.ca. For more information about the Rural LibrariesConference, please call Mary-Ann Thurber, Conference Coordinator at (780) 538-4656 or 1-800-422-6875.

Peace Library System Conference Features Noted Media Expert

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Yvonne Slemko

The uniquely painted bus – Holstein black and white –was back! Throughout the day, dozens of young childrenwith their parents or caregivers boarded the bus parked in front of the Onoway Community Hall to take part in hands-on activities that encourage language development. Parents talked with their children as they worked throughpuzzles, read stories, played games – all with the goal of exploring the wonders of words.

This was the second visit in 15 months of the C.O.W. (Classroom On Wheels) bus hosted by Onoway PublicLibrary. The first visit had been so well received by parents, children and the community as a whole that we leaptat the opportunity to host the bus again.

Why at the community hall, you ask? OPL simply does not have the space for all that was happening. (Our secrethope was that the number of library users and supporters would increase and eventually a bigger facility will beinevitable.) In addition to the focus on family literacy, the C.O.W. presents an excellent opportunity for the libraryto partner with other community groups – the pre-school group, the health unit, local businesses (one of whichdonated a marvellous riding toy as a draw prize), youth groups, FCSS, the fire department. A seniors group setup and manned a lunch counter and provided free coffee throughout the day.

In a brief ceremony prior to the bus opening, OPL Board member Vivian McDonald welcomed Darrell Giraldeau,C.O.W. coordinator. Darrell emphasized that parents and caregivers talking to children from birth is the beginningof literacy and a major predictor of success. Infants may not be able to answer but hearing the words lays the basisfor spoken and written language later on. Darrell gave the example of a mom and tot walking down the aisles ofa grocery store. This could be a silent let’s-get-the-job-done walk or it could be a conversation about what they areshopping for. The language interaction between child and adult has long term results.

The gift of a Legacy Library of high quality books to be housed at OPL was accepted by strong supporters of thelibrary, Onoway Mayor Patrick Yuill and Derril Butler, Reeve of the County of Lac Ste. Anne.

Storyteller Mary Ann Lippiatt had the children and adults completely enthralled with her tales. Whether it waschirping like chickadees or watching as a story unfolded in paper, the children joined in or listened with raptattention.

Throughout the day, children who were waiting to go on the bus were kept busy at a craft corner, face painting,story corner and even a yoga session. A pre-school fair for parents with displays by community agencies, groupsand businesses provided information to parents.

Yes – hosting the C.O.W. bus is demanding of time and resources but the benefits are many: new library members,high visibility, partnerships with community groups. Each child who visited the bus received a voucher for a freelibrary membership at Onoway, Rich Valley, Darwell, or Alberta Beach public libraries. The bus also visited theAlexis First Nation one day, which was a wonderful experience that included drumming and singing in addition tothe other activities.

Perhaps most rewarding though are the special moments: the pre-schooler who, of her own volition, went up tothe storyteller to say thank you because she had enjoyed the stories so much; the grandma who came backbecause her granddaughter had enjoyed the visit so much last time; the dad and his son on the bus totally intriguedby a word puzzle. Thank you to the Alberta Prairie C.O.W. Project for providing this exceptional literacy experienceto our community!

Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?- Henry Ward Beecher

C.O.W. Bus visits Onoway


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Chris Miller , Reference Librarian

Grant MacEwan College bestowed its highest honor, the MacEwan Medallion, on Joanne Kemp, director ofLearning and Instructional Services, for professionalism and dedication to the college that has spanned more thana quarter century. Joanne has lead numerous library and technology initiatives during her tenure with MacEwan.Since joining the college in 1980, she has taken on leadership roles in major projects, such as helping plan theLearning Resources Centre (LRC) for the City Centre Campus. She is currently leading plans for a renovation andexpansion to the same facility over the coming two years. The MacEwan Medallion is conferred each year by theBoard of Governors on a MacEwan employee who demonstrates excellence, initiative and dedication in his or herservice to the college. Joanne received her award during a ceremony at the City Centre Campus on MacEwan Day,the college’s annual salute to its namesake, held this year on February 12.

Facility Changes: Over the summer months, the LRC will undergo the first phase of renovations that will expandthe facility, remodel the Borrower Services and Learning Technology desks, and change some entrances and exitsto adjust traffic flow. Renovations are expected to be done by the time students return to classes in the fall.Additional renovations will be carried out in the summer of 2008. Some services will be offered at a temporary deskover the summer, and staff will relocate to other offices if construction noise in the staff offices area grows too loud.

LibQUAL Comes to MacEwan: As part of the degree-granting accreditation process at MacEwan, the LRC hasundertaken a college-wide survey of faculty, staff and students. The February 26 to March 19 LibQUAL survey isa way to gauge user opinions of the LRC’s facilities, services and collection. Information gathered from this surveywill be used to set service goals for the LRC in years to come, and to better serve user needs. This year, 55academic institutions across Canada will participate in LibQUAL, which was first administered in the United Statesin 2001 by the Association of Research Libraries. This is the first time that MacEwan LRCs have participated ina LibQUAL survey.

MacEwan Director of Learning & Instructional ServicesReceives College's Highest Honour


News from the SchoolHeidi Julien, SLIS

Welcome to our news from the School of Library & Information Studies (SLIS), University of Alberta. We encouragefeedback from the community, and invite you to learn more about us by visiting our web page (www.slis.ualberta.ca).

This month we’re highlighting the experiences of two special students – our first graduates of the combined Masterof Library and Information Studies and Master of Arts in Humanities Computing (HuCo). This is a thesis-baseddegree program, which typically extends over three years of full-time study. Markus Wust successfully defendedhis thesis in December 2006, and Heather Simpson is expected to defend her thesis in early April 2007.

Writing about his experiences in this combined program, Markus Wust says,

Ever since I had first heard about the HuCo program at the University of Alberta during its planning stage,I thought that it was something I wanted to do, but I wasn’t sure about what would be the best field to combineit with. I found out about a new dual degree program in HuCo and Library and Information Studies, I talkedwith librarians as well as instructors in the HuCo and at SLIS and realized that this would be a perfectcombination to match my interests.

I truly enjoyed my time in the program and I think that most of this was due to the people (be it faculty, staff,or students) I met, both in HuCo and at SLIS who were always very welcoming and supportive. Also, Iappreciated the additional perspective added through my HuCo courses to the already varied SLISschedule. For my Master’s thesis, I investigated the attitudes of education researchers at the University ofAlberta towards open access publishing and, in particular, towards institutional repositories.

One factor which proved invaluable to me was the relative flexibility of the program as I was allowed to finishthe program in a shorter than originally planned time span and also take my last required course at anAmerican library school so that I could finish in time to take up a two year library fellowship at North CarolinaState University. I think that the dual degree was one of the factors that helped me get this position.

Reflecting on her experiences, Heather writes,

There are certainly a few things that I think are specific and special about being a part of the combined HuCo/SLIS program. Generally I think that the way that the courses are set up and taught are a nice compliment. HuCotends to be seminar style, with a great deal of time for discussion (and sometimes getting off topic, which haslead to some interesting conversations!). SLIS is focused more on practical issues and courses are morestructured. We get things done at SLIS... and I like the order and the guidelines. What I like about the differencesbetween the programs is that they are a compliment to each other, and I appreciate different things about bothof them. I feel lucky to have had both styles of learning! It was a little hard at first in terms of socialization, asthe MLIS students are quite a tight knit group, and I felt that because I not in all the same classes with all ofthem at the same time, that I didn’t quite fit in. I liked that SLIS students looked to us for the answers involvingtechnology, but it was also a little intimidating at times!

I really love how my thesis work is so involved with both LIS and HuCo related topics. I think that doing a studyof academic library use and being able to use technology (GIS) to see issues and visualize what is going onis a great topic. I was fortunate enough to work with some great profs on both the SLIS and HuCo side, andwas able to focus my topic from taking my experiences working with them.

I feel like my job opportunities are really very strong, especially because I have the added technicalunderstanding. I feel confident in understanding technology in general, and I am not afraid to teach myself ortry new concepts or software. I think that this why I love having both the degrees as opposed to just one or theother - the information management concepts are invaluable, and I also have a comfort and confidence indealing with and understanding new technologies.

Three years is a bit of a slog though... thank goodness I am almost done!


Nancy GoebelHead Librarian/Human Rights AdvisorAugustana Campus, University of Alberta

The start of the academic year at the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta brought not only a wave ofnew students, but also the launch of a unique community-building initiative. In 2006, Augustana voted to adopt anAnnual Theme for each academic year as a way of fostering and celebrating scholarship and teaching on campus.The theme, it was decided, should be not only topical but also of enduring significance to the campus and itssurrounding community. After much discussion, a committee of faculty and students selected “Pandemics,Plagues and Viruses” as the inaugural theme.

Since the launch of the Annual Theme, the campus has been a hotbed of activity. Augustana students mounteda performance of Unity 1918, Kevin Kerr’s Governor General’s Award-winning play about a prairie town dealingwith the Spanish Flu epidemic. The playwright and the Mayor of Unity, Saskatchewan, were both in attendance.Guest speakers have included Andrew Nikiforuk, journalist and author of Pandemonium (2006) and Dr. PaulEwald, evolutionary biologist and author of Plague Time: The New Germ Theory of Disease (2000). Augustana’sfaculty have also risen to the occasion, tailoring public lectures in biology, music, computer science, history,mathematics and Scandinavian studies to the theme. Recent entries have included “Music and the Black Plague”and “War Time Epidemic: Bigamy in Canada during the First and Second World Wars”. Attendance at these eventshas suggested that enthusiasm for the theme has spread to the larger community, with members of the public oftenjoining in.

Throughout it all, Augustana Library has played a key role in supporting theme-related scholarship and inquiry. Inaddition to featuring the Annual Theme reading list on the library website, the Library created two prominentdisplays in the front entryway of the library to highlight the AnnualTheme.

The “Pandemics, Plagues, and Viruses in Print” display features newbooks added to the collection to support the research and readinginterests of the Augustana students, faculty, and staff on a topic thathits newspaper headlines every day. The theme has been interpretedby the librarians and library staff to include such topics as Mad Cowdisease, sick-building syndrome, deforestation, climate change, andgenetically altered food. This permanent display sees frequent brows-ers all looking for the latest books on topics about Augustana’s annualtheme.

A temporary display, “Censorship is a Plague!” was set up fromFebruary 25-March 10th in recognition of Freedom to Read Week.The colourful display featured censorship issues, censored andchallenged works, and authors past and present who fell under the“plague” of censorship in Canada and abroad. The display was agreat springboard to discussion about censorship in Canada be-tween the students, faculty, and staff at Augustana and the librariansand library staff. We were very pleased that it gathered so manyonlookers and started so many new conversations.

The staff and librarians at Augustana Library are already looking forward to how we will support the 2007-2008Augustana Theme: Boom or Bust: Prosperity, Crisis, Change.

For more information about the Augustana Annual Theme and the next Annual Theme event, go towww.augustana.ca/theme/ or view the reading list at www.library.augustana.ca.

Augustana’s Annual Theme


Michelle RempelCommunications & Fund DevelopmentCoordinatorGrande Prairie Public Library

The Grande Prairie Public Library has joinedwith eight other organizations to providetheir community with ongoing resources forFrench as a second language. Togetherwith Association canadienne-française del’Alberta, Canadian Parents for French,Grande Prairie Public School District #2357,Grande Prairie RCSSD #28, Grande Prai-rie Regional College, NorthwestFrancophone Education Region #1, PeaceWapiti School Division #76 and the PeaceLibrary System, the library will support thenewly established French Language Re-source Centre.

The Grande Prairie Public Library will bethe storehouse for an impressive collectionof French materials. In addition to materials funded by the French Language Resource Centre, the library will beincreasing the size of their own French collection. By the end of 2007, the Library will have spent over $25,000 onthe new French adult fiction collection including $10,000 in matching funds from the Centre. Currently, the GrandePrairie Public Library has over 780 fiction and non-fiction French titles available.

There are also 400 titles in the French resource collection which willcontinue to grow. This collection will support curriculum based Frenchas a second language instruction. The Peace Wapiti School Divisionhas made it mandatory for students between grades 4 and 9 to takea French second language course and Grande Prairie RegionalCollege will be providing training to teachers including a specialcertificate in French Second Language. These resources will supportthese efforts. “This is the first such educational partnership in Alberta,”says Brian Shields, Assistant Superintendent Peace Wapiti SchoolDivision. “We are delighted to be working across jurisdictions to bringFrench Language instruction to the people of the Peace region. Wehope to not only improve access to French Language resources, butalso to serve as a model of community cooperation.”

The library will be the home for the monthly Café Francais offered bythe French Language Resource Centre. The library collaboration notonly gives the opportunity to showcase the new French collection, butother services for teachers and the Francophone community. “We’regrateful for the opportunity to showcase the services we offer,” says

Pam Chislett, Deputy Library Director. “We have a strong Francophone community in Grande Prairie already, butthere are many people moving here for employment. We offer books, magazines and audiovisual materials thatmight make Grande Prairie feel a little closer to home.”

Grande Prairie Public Library Partners to PromoteFrench Resources in the Community

18


For twenty five years, the Young Al-berta Book Society has been touringAlbertan authors and illustrators toschools and libraries across the prov-ince.

This year, it is doing so under a newname: Taleblazers.

Formerly called Chrysalis, Taleblazersis a provincial literary arts festival foryoung people which connects students

in kindergarten to grade twelve with authors, illustrators and storytellers. In 2006, nearly fifty artists worked withover 55 000 Albertan children in 115 communities from Rainbow Lake to Milk River. Wherever your library, apresenter can come to you!

The festival takes place every October and provides a terrific opportunity to celebrate Read-In week as well as toencourage use of the library and appreciation of Albertan literature. Meeting an author or illustrator in person canturn a reluctant reader into an avid bookworm or aspiring writer.

Teachers and librarians have reported that author visits and workshops have a lasting impact on participants; eventhe most reluctant readers are often hooked on the author’s books afterward.

So how can you get involved with Taleblazers? It’s easy. Bookings open May 1 and registration forms are availableon our website at www.yabs.ab.ca. Information on all of the participating artists is also on the website and makesit easy for you to choose who you would like to invite to your school or library.

The festival is operated on a by-request system and a cost-sharing basis. YABS covers all of the travel andaccommodation costs for the artist while the hosting venue covers the artist’s presentation fee ($200-$450 / halfday), one meal and a society membership.

Wherever you are in the province, YABS makes all of the logistical arrangements so this is an easy and affordableway to encourage literacy and a love of literature.

Watch for our poster brochure in your mail at the end of April! For more information, please contact the YoungAlberta Book Society at 780-422-8232 or [email protected], or check out our website at www.yabs.ab.ca.

Taleblazers out of Chrysalis: Kids Literary Festival Heats Up

Technology adds nothing to art. Two thousand years ago, I could tell you a story, and atany point during the story I could stop, and ask, Now do you want the hero to be kidnapped,or not? But that would, of course, have ruined the story. Part of the experience of beingentertained is sitting back and plugging into someone else’s vision.- Penn Jillette

A poem is never finished, only abandoned.- Paul Valery

19


ACROSS CANADA & BEYOND

20

Thinking Outside the BordersConnie Forst

If you want to go fast, go alone.If you want to go far, go together.~African proverb

Thirty-two librarians from around the world came together near Champaign, Illinois, from November 7-10, 2006,to participate in a unique international leadership institute focused on meaningful cross-cultural communicationabout libraries and leadership. In its second year, Thinking Outside the Borders: Library Leadership in a WorldCommunity was sponsored by the Illinois State Library and the Mortenson Center for International LibraryPrograms at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and funded by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museumand Library Services (IMLS).

I consider myself very fortunate to have been one of theCanadian librarians to attend. Librarians from Argentina,Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru,South Africa and the United States, who represented entry-level to senior management positions in their respectiveinstitutions, spent the course of the Institute learning fromeach other. Our time together was spent at the AllertonHouse and Conference Centre, located west of Urbana-Champaign near Monticello, Illinois, where its’ regal gardensand peaceful setting provided a stunning backdrop to ourdiscussions.

Thinking Outside the Borders was a chance for me tochallenge my thoughts about leadership, not only within my own borders, but to examine cultural biases as well.I learned so much about other libraries and librarians from around the world. The line-up of speakers reflected theinternational focus of the program. The speakers included: Mary Ann Mavrinac, Chief Librarian, University ofToronto Mississauga, who spoke of the Campbell Leadership Descriptors; and Carol Brey-Casiano, Director ofthe El Paso Public Library in Texas and past ALA President , and Ujala Satgoor, from the University of Pretoriain South Africa, spoke on what it means to lead in an international library world. Professor Harry Triandis, from theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, increased our awareness of strategies and skills for cross-culturalcommunication and Tom Clareson, Program Director for New Initiatives (PALINET) from Pennsylvania, broughtour focus to thoughts of disaster preparedness. Barbara Ford, Director of the Mortenson Center and Carol Brey-Casiano both spoke on issues surrounding library advocacy. Ms. Brey-Casiano’s top ten steps in being a goodleader include: find a good mentor, learn to follow, be visionary, be a good servant, take risks, take care of yourself,maintain a positive attitude, never turn down a leadership opportunity, learn to motivate people effectively, and keepyour sense of humour.

While listening to Ujala Satgoor speak I had goose bumps. Her perspective from South Africa was riveting. Herpresentation along with Sandra Rios Balderrama, a consultant from Arizona, brought to awareness the need andrecognition for diversity and multiculturalism in libraries and in our communities. Participants were asked to listbehaviours that annoyed us that may be culturally related, and then to list which behaviours made us feel betterin dealing with those situations. These exercises allowed us to create a list of desirable leadership traits thatcrossed cultural boundaries. A few of the common traits that our group came up with were: integrity, honesty, takingrisks, being fair, strong values, emotional intelligence, flexibility and diplomacy.

We also used a role-playing game called Pamoja to understand different cultural values and how that influencesinteractions. This lively game allowed participants to interact, share information in different ways, and to see thingsfrom another perspective. One of the responsibilities among participants was also to create a international


partnership project with one other library. The idea behindthis was that the two institutions involved it would serve tomaintain some long term ideas and continue the institutebeyond the time being in Illinois. The projects were vast andranged from exchanging information and expertise, to ex-changing staff and creating sister libraries.

Our days were full. As we shared meals together and oursessions together in the evenings we told stories, learnedabout each other’s countries and libraries, and, in somecases, talked well into the night. The institute was a way forus to network with librarians from other countries and to see

how we can help each other as we face similar issues across borders. When we looked at the question of whatelements, characteristics and values are necessary for a leader to be effective in a global, multicultural and cross-cultural environment, there was no simple or easy answer. Our own leadership, as leaders within our institutionsand communities, evolves and continues to grow over time. I came back from the Institute with enthusiasm,questions, and optimism. While my day to day focus may be local, my experience from attending the Institutedefinitely stretches beyond and causes me to think outside of those borders. Thinking Outside the Borders wasan amazing experience and it is one that will guide my leadership path for many years to come.

ARMA Canada Launches Online Registration forAnnual Conference and Vendor Exhibition

Bernita Cogswell, Chair of ARMA Canada’s June 2007 Annual Conference inWinnipeg announced the official opening of online registration for Canada’s mostimportant Records and Information Management conference. “Registration hasnever been easier” said Cogswell “go to www.armacanada.org and follow the linksto conference registration. You can register in less than five minutes and your creditcard and other registration information is completely safe and secure”

“This year’s conference is going to be our best ever” said Rick Weinholdt, LocalConference Committee Chair. “We have a beautiful host city in Winnipeg, a centrallocation easily accessible from all parts of Canada and the United States, great localpeople and an exciting conference program featuring more than thirty educational

events as well as Canada’s largest records and information management vendor expo”.

Cogswell says that this year’s conference theme “Bridging the Paperless Divide” should be of interest to allinformation professionals. “All of us Archivists, Librarians, IT professionals, Imaging Specialists and RecordsManagers have important roles to play in creating, organizing, maintaining and preserving electronic information.To help solve the challenges of the digital era we need to talk with one another, to share our experiences and tolook for opportunities for collaboration. To that end I am issuing a special invitation to our friends the archival, library,IT and imaging communities to come join us in Winnipeg from June 3rd to 6th to begin working on joint solutions”.

Members of the Association of Canadian Archivists, the Canadian Library Association, AIIM the Enterprise ContentManagement Association and the Canadian Information Processing Society are entitled to register for ARMAevents at the same rate as ARMA members

ARMA Canada is a Region within ARMA International, a not-for-profit professional association and authority onmanaging records and information. Formed in 1955, ARMA International is the oldest and largest association forthe records and information management profession with a current international membership of more than 10,000members. It provides education, publications, and information on the efficient maintenance, retrieval andpreservation of vital information created in public and private organizations in all sectors of the economy. It alsopublishes the award-winning Information Management Journal.


astonishing

awesome

luminous

Stellar

Stellar, luminous & awesomeWords are losing their impact in the abused parlance of our times

brilliant

amazing

22

Susan SchwartzCanWest News Service, Feb 23, 2007

On the telephone not long ago with the box office of a London theatre, I was asked for a credit card number toconfirm a reservation.

“Brilliant,” the ticket agent said when I had produced it. Hardly. There was nothing brilliant about reading off 16 digits— just as The OC was never “amazing,” even in its heyday. And the mutual acquaintance a colleague told me ofencountering the other night at a reception is smart, sassy and funny, but she is not “awesome.”

What is it with us lately? It’s as if the outsized proportions of the super-size lattes and triple-decker cheeseburgersin our lives, of laundry detergent in containers so unwieldy I can barely lift them, have migrated to our vocabularies.As words like riveting, remarkable, staggering and stunning make their way into everyday parlance, their meaningis trivialized, devalued.

When Joe Queenan, the writer and humorist, observed in the New York Times Book Review last month that hehas decided to buy only books that have been described as “astonishing” by at least one reputable reviewer, hewas having us on.

“If nobody describes a book as astonishing, it probably isn’t astonishing, and if it isn’t astonishing, who needs it?”But think how often you see or hear the word in reviews, how frequently it is used to describe stories, as well ascharacter or behaviour. Astonishing is a strong word; not that much is astonishing.

“Previously, I had limited my purchases to merchandise deemed luminous or incandescent,” Queenan wrote, “butthis meant I ended up with an awful lot of novels about bees, Provence or Vermeer.”

In Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books , Maureen Corrigan observed that “luminous”is one of the most overused adjectives in favourable book reviews. Corrigan, the book reviewer for National PublicRadio’s fine program Fresh Air and a reverential reader, explained that she believes we read to get closer to theheart of things in a world in which much seems false and trivial. And so readers “are alert to passages in a bookthat illuminate what was previously shadowy and formless.” Hence the reviewer’s tendency to use the wordluminous so often.

Still. A word that’s overused, like a knife, loses its edge. In using “awesome” when we mean “nice” or saying“astonishing” when we want to say is “absorbing,” we’re shifting the ground under the meaning of words. And sowe find ourselves at a juncture when “good” seems almost a disparagement, a slight. Good can come out soundinglike bad. It shouldn’t.

“This soup is amazing,” I heard myself say to my hostess at a lovely dinner party this month. It was a warming andsatisfying soup, full of the delicate, mingled flavours of peanut and coconut — and it was good enough that I wantedthe recipe. But I don’t know that it was amazing. Not everything can be amazing. Not everything should be amazing.And I wonder whether praise dispensed too freely, too effusively, is not somehow devalued.

The standing ovation, an audience’s most powerful expression of appreciation, is intended for performances sospectacular, so moving and, yes, brilliant that they, literally, move people to their feet. A fine, even accomplished,performance by musicians, actors or dancers is not such an occasion, it seems to me.

If everyone gets a standing ovation then, arguably, there is no distinction between a good performance and a greatone. If people always leap to their feet, how meaningful is the gesture?

And if you’re still in your seat, not because you’re lazy, but because you truly don’t believe the standing ovation ismerited, you feel kind of sheepish — or worse, like a lout. The peer pressure is amazing. Totally amazing.

© The Calgary Herald 2007


Hank BrzezinskiSahuri Hutchinson Brzezinski Architects Inc.

A well designed space, whether an office building or a library, contributessignificantly to the success of that operation. Creating a space that encour-ages learning, increases staff productivity and work efficiencies, and spacesthat create a strong sense of place and community are crucial to the successof any business. The design of a new public library is no exception.

Public libraries have evolved extensively over the last decade from the quiet‘warehouses’ of books contained in row-upon-row of tall book stacks, tomodern, vibrant, bright and lively spaces which, upon first sight, resemble high end bookstores rather than a library.Popular ‘best-sellers’ are boldly displayed in plain view of the entry along with hundreds of music CDs and videos.Patrons of the modern library are now considered ‘customers’ as they sit in overstuffed lounge chairs by a fireplace,browsing through any one of a dozen magazines or newspapers while sipping coffee, within sight of a brightlycoloured children’s area, designed specifically to captivate young. In this age of instant communication and high

tech resources, libraries have evolved into ‘community’ facilities that celebratethe coming together of a community of people, whether to experience a goodbook or research the Internet. The design of a library must integrate aspectsof the traditional library with elements of contemporary design - the perma-nence and security of the traditional library with the flexibility and diversity ofthe contemporary library.

To be truly successful, the design of any space, in particular a library, mustaddress several key issues including a solid understanding of business

operations and processes, ergonomics, and occupational health and safety issues. Healthy work environmentsincrease productivity and contribute to positive workplace cultures. Equally important is the physical design of thespace. Good space planning and interior design contributes to the overall positive special experience whichencourages people to return or stay a little longer. It’s a concept that the retailindustry has employed successfully for many years. Functional design consid-erations such as appropriate finishes for maintenance and acoustics are justas important as spacial character, imagery, colours and clear circulationpaths. In the end, interior design is the interface between people and buildings.They can touch it, experience it, and feel good in it.

Sustainable design considerations have also become important in today’smodern libraries, contributing to healthy workplaces and environmental qual-ity. Design considerations such as the use of low volatile organic compounds(VOCs) to reduce material off-gassing, establishing areas for recycling bins, specifying water conserving fixtures,increasing the use of natural light within the space or using full spectrum lighting, more individual control of heatingand ventilating systems and ‘managing’ the acoustics of a space all contribute to environmental quality.

The interaction between people and their environment is important to the success of any operation and good designgood business.

The Business of Good Design

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.- AA Milne

The older I grow, the less important the comma becomes. Let the reader catch his own breath.- Elizabeth Clarkson Zwart

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AACL Alberta Association of College LibrariansAALT Alberta Association of Library TechniciansALC Alberta Library ConferenceALTA Alberta Library Trustees AssociationAPLEN Alberta Public Library Electronic NetworkARMA Association of Records Managers and AdministratorsASLC Alberta School Libraries Council (formerly LRC, Learning

Resources Council)BCLA British Columbia Library AssociationCACUL Canadian Association of College and University LibrariesCFEP Community Facility Enhancement ProgramCLA Canadian Library AssociationC.O.W. Classroom on WheelsCPL Calgary Public LibraryEPL Edmonton Public LibraryFLA Foothills Library AssociationGELA Greater Edmonton Library AssociationGMC Grant MacEwan CollegeIART Is anyone reading this?IFLA International Federation of Library AssociationsJPL Jasper Park LodgeLAA Library Association of AlbertaLRC Learning Resources CouncilNAIT Northern Alberta Institute of TechnologyOPL Onoway Public LibraryPNLA Pacific Northwest Library AssociationRFJ Ready for JasperRFID Radio Frequency IdentificationSAIT Southern Alberta Institute of TechnologySLA Saskatchewan Library AssociationSLIS School of Library and Information Studies (U of A)TAL The Alberta LibraryTRAC The Regional Automation ConsortiumU of A University of AlbertaU of C University of CalgaryU of T University of TorontoYABS Young Alberta Book SocietyYRCA Young Reader's Choice AwardsYRL Yellowhead Regional Library

The following acronyms appear in this issue or are commonly used in the library community.

WHAT'S IN AN ACRONYM

President: Anne Carr-Wiggin [email protected] President: Judy Moore [email protected] VP: Della Paradis [email protected] VP: Marianne Graff [email protected]: Rachel Sarjeant-Jenkins [email protected]

Directors:Virginia Clevette [email protected] Feisst [email protected]

Contact Us at LAATim Janewski [email protected] Skaronski [email protected]

Executive Director/Newsletter Editor:Christine Sheppard [email protected] full contact information, visit www.laa.ca

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2007

April 19-21 British Columbia Library Association Annual Conference. "Beyond 20/20: Envisioning theFuture". Burnaby, BC. For information, visit www.bcla.bc.ca/conference

April 25-26 The 14th Annual Fast Forward Educational Media Showcase. North Vancouver, BC.For information, visit www.langara.bc.ca/ffwd/

April 26-29 Alberta Library Conference. "A Class Act: Celebrating Alberta's Libraries". Jasper, AB. Forinformation, visit www.albertalibraryconference.com

May 3-5 Saskatchewan Libraries Annual Conference. "Literacy". Saskatoon, SK. For information,visit www.lib.sk.ca/sla/

May 7-9 Manitoba Libraries Conference. "Trends and Traditions". Winnipeg, MB. For information,visit www.manitobalibrariesconference.ca.

May 13-17 International Reading Association's 52nd Annual Convention. "Literacy Without Boundaries".Toronto, ON. For information, visit www.reading.org.

May 23-26 CLA Annual Conference. "Retain - Recruit - Restructure: Regenerating the Library Community."St. John's, Newfoundland. For information, visit www.cla.ca/conference/2007/index.html

May 24-27 Alberta Association of Library Technicians Annual Conference. "Innovative Vision for theFuture". Delta Edmonton South, Edmonton, AB. For information, visit aalt.org.

June 3-6 ARMA Annual Conference. “Bridging the Paperless Divide”. Winnipeg, MB. For information,visit www.armacanada.org

Aug. 8-11 PNLA Annual Conference. Delta Edmonton South, Edmonton, AB. For information, visitwww.pnla.org

2008April 24-27 Alberta Library Conference. Jasper, AB.

May 21-24 CLA Annual Conference. Vancouver, BC.

Aug. 10-15 74th IFLA Conference. World Library and Information Congress. "Libraries without Borders:Navigating Towards Global Understanding". Quebec City. For information, visit www.ifla.org

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

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"I gotta work out. I keep saying it all the time. I keep saying I gotta start working out. It’sbeen about two months since I’ve worked out. And I just don’t have the time. Which uh...isodd. Because I have the time to go out to dinner. And uh... and watch tv. And get a bonedensity test. And uh...try to figure out what my phone number spells in words."- Ellen DeGeneres


LETTER OF THE LLETTER OF THE LLETTER OF THE LLETTER OF THE LLETTER OF THE LAAAAAAAAAAAdAdAdAdAdvvvvvererererertising Rtising Rtising Rtising Rtising Raaaaates Eftes Eftes Eftes Eftes Effffffectivectivectivectivective Jane Jane Jane Jane January 1, 2007uary 1, 2007uary 1, 2007uary 1, 2007uary 1, 2007

Advertising rates are as follows, based on four issues per year:

Full page ad 7" by 10" $195 per issue or $702/yearHalf page ad 7" by 5" or 3 1/4" by 10" $105 per issue or $378/yearQuarter page ad 3 1/4" by 5" $ 60 per issue or $216/yearBusiness card standard size $ 40 per issue or $144/year

First measurement is width. GST will be added to the above rates.Ads that are other sizes are charged at the rate for the next larger ad.LAA members (personal, commercial or institutional) receive a 10%discount on single issue advertisements. Business card ads andannual rates are not discounted.Advertising copy deadlines: March 15, June 15, September 15 andDecember 15Electronic ads accepted. The newsletter is in full colour.

The newsletter is distributed to members in electronic format.Conference exhibitors may, with their exhibit application, have abusiness card ad in the January or April issue for $25.

The editor gratefully acknowledges the following proofreaders forLetter of the LAA: Linda Cook, Edmonton Public Library;

Della Paradis, NAIT; Karen Labuik, Marigold Library System;and Pam Ryan, University of Alberta Libraries.

The Letter of the LAA is the official newsletter of the Library Association of Alberta and is distributed by the 15thof January, April, July and October. Its purpose is to serve as a publicity and informational tool; as a forum forprovincial library issues; as an information link between associations and types of libraries; and to report on theactivities of the Board of Directors.

Submissions to the Letter of the LAA are solicited from the LAA Board and its Committees, affiliated associationsand LAA members. The Editor reserves the right to edit any submission for grammatical and spelling errors andlength. The Editor also reserves the right not to include a submission for reasons of accuracy, appropriateness orcurrency. Items such as bibliographies or articles containing thinly-disguised product advertising will not normallybe included. Submissions are due by the 15th of March, June, September and December.

Please make submissions electronically to [email protected]. The Letter of the LAA is published in ArialFont, size 10. Please use a single space after a period and do not include boxes or other special formatting. Featurearticles of 1,000-2,500 words on any topic in librarianship or a related field are welcome. We are always lookingfor short 400-500 word descriptions of great ideas in libraries.

The complete editorial policy is available by request from the Editor or the Executive Director of LAA.

The opinions expressed by the contributors to Letter of the LAA do not necessarily reflect the position or policy ofthe Library Association of Alberta.

LETTER OF THE LAALETTER OF THE LAALETTER OF THE LAALETTER OF THE LAALETTER OF THE LAAEDITORIAL POLICY EXCERPTSEDITORIAL POLICY EXCERPTSEDITORIAL POLICY EXCERPTSEDITORIAL POLICY EXCERPTSEDITORIAL POLICY EXCERPTS

Next deadline fornewsletter submissions

is June 15, 2007.

The editor welcomesarticles and letters

as well as yourcomments andsuggestions.

Please mail, faxor email to:

Christine SheppardNewsletter Editor

80 Baker Cres. NWCalgary, AB T2L 1R4Phone 403/284-5818FAX 403/282-6646

[email protected]

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Documents

LETTER oF THE LAALetter of the LAA Spring 2007 LETTER oF THE LAA Inside: Storytime Kits at the Strathcona County Library Marigold Welcomes City of Airdrie Grande Prairie Public Library