libraries

Normally during the school year I got caught up in essays, going on tangents in research. I collected all sorts of articles that seemed potentially relevant, but that I never ended up reading. The one day I actually went to a party and socialized, my friend Jennie told me about an awesome project she’d been working on for over a year: Building a children’s library for a local community center to support their after-school program as well as their literacy summer camp.

Books are collected mainly through donations and organized by 4 or 5 library volunteers. Jennie invited me to join and I spent a few weeks helping catalogue the items in LibraryThing, though I did squeeze in some reading when I could (how could I not?). It’s breaktime for the summer now, but if I’m still in Montreal in fall I’ll definitely be going back. It’s awesome to be part of a building a library from scratch!

The CLA Conference hit Montreal the week I graduated so I enjoyed it at the discount student rate. Here’s a list of the sessions I attended for my future reference (unfortunately forgot my camera daily so never did get a photo of the pink tree sculpture things in the lobby):

Local Libraries, Universal Libraries: – Heard a history of public libraries in Montreal and plans for future development as library officials and strategic planners grapple with the question ‘What is a 21st century library?’.
Libraries Across Cultures: Post-Tsunami Library Projects in Sri Lanka and Indonesia: – Four panelists discussed Canadian involvement in post-disaster library projects. Key points that I took home were how strongly these communities wanted and needed their libraries to be part of their reconstruction efforts and how much both parties learned through an exchange of ideas. It’s easy to think of libraries in Canada as primarily for leisure, forgetting that some people use them to rebuild their lives. Read more at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities‘ international section (see “Rethinking and Rebuilding Community Spaces: A Pilot Project with the Pidie Public Library”). Also check out the blog “Building a Library in Indonesia“.
Creating an Online Research Tool: From Idea to Reality: – The creator of the Canadian Women Film Director’s Database, Margaret Fulford, explained the project from the planning and research phases all the way through to database design, coding, and launch. Super cool. (Maybe I will finish my short story index some day!)
SACO (The Subject Authority Component of the PCC): An Introduction and Discussion of McGill’s Experience: – People complain that LCSH is outdated, but librarians have to get in there and propose new headings and terms. This presentation showed how through the Program for Cooperative Cataloging.
Replacing Dewey for Better Customer Service: – The why’s and how’s of Markham Public Library’s Customer Centred Classification (C3), which says No more! to Dewey’s inefficient, long, and complicated call numbers. C3 is part of Markham’s vision of the Library of the Future.
Enhancing Engagment: Aboriginal Boys and Reading: – One of the most inspirational and passionate sessions, led by Barbara McNeil of the University of Regina. She is the first person in the library world I have heard speak about libraries and social justice, critical educators, “enabling” vs. “disabling” texts, multiple literacies, serving the under-served, love and caring, and the values we bring to our role as librarians. She read stories to us and gave out a reading list which included My Name is Yoon by Helen Recorvits, Bang by Norah McClintock, You Hear Me?: Poems and Writing by Teenage Boys, and a couple dozen other books to inspire reading and discussion with boys.
Bringing Your Library’s “Cool” to the Information Community: – Six or seven panelists had 12 minutes each to present the cool stuff going on at their libraries. Most memorable?
- Graphic novels in school and public libraries (one of which had a student review club to examine grade restrictions on items in their collection) and how to deconstruct the narrative of graphic novel. Reminder to self: read Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud.
- Oshawa Public Library‘s amazing Teen Services Librarian presented an overview of their programs, planned in conjunction with their Teen Advisory Service Board: Zombie Attack, a special effects makeup workshop; Wii tournaments; improv workshops; Twilighters Anonymous; chocolate-making sessions; CSI/forensics guest speaker and workshop; Gocks: gothic sock puppet crafts, etc. etc. etc.
- Nova Scotia’s South Shore Public Libraries “Small Communities – Big Ideas” , a discussion series bringing knowledgable speakers in to initiate talks. “Don’t shy away from sophisticated programs” advised the speaker. This program was so successful it regularly filled the house and generated a spin-off book club entitled “Big Books”, the first title selected by members being War & Peace.
- The Living Library project at the Calgary Public Library recruited 61 people to become “living books” for the day.
Library 2.0 Process Toolkit: – Red Deer librarian Dean Frey offers his CLA prezi presentation online so you can discover for yourself how this innovative library is achieving interactivity with technology and in the Face-to-Face world by partnering with local non-profits.
The Impact of Social Cataloguing Sites on the Public Catalogue: Patrons, Social Tagging and the New Face of the Catalogue: – Louise Spiteri and Laurel Tarulli presented on how social cataloguing is influencing what library users want from their online catalogues and gave an evaluation of different non-library websites. Reminder to self: check out AquaBrowser and Syndetic Solutions.