test blog #10

An Antidote to COVID Boredom: Virtual Book Clubs As winter settles in on the North Island, and we continue social distancing to lessen the risks of contracting COVID-19, life can sometimes get a little monotonous. Boredom is bad for our mental health. Plus, it's boring! If reading is one of your pleasures, perhaps now is the time to try reading with a group – a book club. The Vancouver Island Regional Library (VIRL) is offering three virtual (online) book clubs with three different themes. Like all library programs, you can join in for free. All you need is a device and an internet connection. All the selections for these virtual book club titles will be available as eBooks and eAudiobooks with no waiting. " Our Shared Shelf " Book Club is focused on children's chapter books that the whole family can enjoy. November's title was Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu, an adventure story about a brave 11-year-old girl on a supernatural mission to save her best friend Jack from m...

Homeschooling? Your Library Can Help One of the many ways COVID has changed our lives is an increased interest in homeschooling. Of course no parents want their children to be exposed to the virus. But many families face health challenges that make the possibility of exposure much more dangerous. Parents may have many reasons for preferring homeschooling, and the pandemic has brought them front of mind. If you're a homeschool family, you already know that the public library is an invaluable resource. But the Vancouver Island Regional Library (VIRL) can support your efforts in many ways that you might not be aware of. One of VIRL's most popular resources for homeschool families are our Tinker Totes . Tinker Totes help you bring STEAM learning to life in your own home. STEAM – which stands for Science Technology Engineering Arts Math – activities encourage creative thinking and build problem-solving skills. With STEAM learning, children learn through hands-on experience, rather t...

New E-Resources – and New Hours at the Port Hardy Library The Vancouver Island Regional Library (VIRL) has added some terrific new e-resources to our catalogue. If you read this column, you've read a lot about e-resources. VIRL gives you access to digital tools that focus and it's all free. All you need is a library card. Our newest e-resource is Clicklaw . Clicklaw provides legal information and education, specifically for people in BC. The law affects our lives in countless ways, and Clicklaw can help you understand your rights and your options. It's kept updated with the most current laws, and can connect you to expert knowledge and advice. Some of the categories of information in Clicklaw are money (debt, pensions, benefits), families (divorce, abuse, wills), housing (landlords, tenants, neighbours), consumer (contractors, warranties, lending, credit), and employment (hiring and firing, harassment, benefits). These are just a few examples. Clicklaw is also a great resou...

 Catching up on my "At Your Library" column in one of our free local newspapers. September Is Literacy Month When you hear the word "literacy", you might think of reading and writing. That is the traditional definition of literacy, but did you know there are many different kinds of literacy? Numerical literacy is the ability to do the basic math that is needed in every day life – to make change, add up a budget, or read a graph. Digital literacy means having basic computer skills, being able to use technology to access information, solve problems, and make your life easier. Contrary to what many people think, young people aren't necessarily digitally literate. Health literacy means being able to communicate with health-care providers, follow instructions for medications, find health information, for some examples. Financial Literacy means the ability to understand and manage your finances. Media Literacy means sorting through and understanding the messages we ge...

Taming the Tiger , 1998 Taming the Tiger is markedly different than Joni's previous album, Turbulent Indigo . Where Turbulent Indigo is dark, intense, and enigmatic, and the lyrics largely topical, this one has a light, lyrical feel, the music shimmering and weightless, the lyrics more personal. Many critics regard it as Joni's best "latter day" album, perhaps because it's more accessible. I wouldn't go that far -- Turbulent Indigo and Night Ride Home are both better, in my view -- but Taming the Tiger is a solid album. To me, the name of the album and the title track are self-referential -- Joni, the fierce and dangerous tiger is now a domestic house cat. But in every cat there lurks some tiger; after all, this is "taming", a process, not past tense.  The title song's refrain see-saws us from the house cat to the tiger and back, using bits from the William Blake poem to a new purpose. Tiger tiger burning brightly (You can't tame the ti...

Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor by Steven Greenhouse is exactly what the subtitle says: a history and analysis of the rise, decline, and re-emergence of the labour movement in the United States. Although the context is American, the lessons in the stories easily apply to Canada, and perhaps globally, to labour movements everywhere.  Greenhouse covered labour issues for The New York Times for more than 30 years. It's obvious that the research for Beaten Down, Worked Up was vast and meticulous, but the book is never bogged down by too much detail. The writing is clear and accessible. Greenhouse is unapologetically pro-labour, but not a cheerleader for unions.  I found the book easy to read and compelling, and I recommend it highly both to readers of nonfiction with an interest in history and to labour activists. It should be required reading for all workers who are union skeptics! I really appreciated how this book was organized. Gre...

When we were in Salt Spring Island , we went to the Saturday Market, and I instantly fell in love with this man's work.  Salt Spring artist Lorne Tippett uses wine-barrel stays to create a hanging frame, and carves the designs from reclaimed wood. We splurged and bought one. It's not like we're spending money on anything else this year! It's now hanging on our covered deck. We hung it where you can also see it from inside the house. I love the shape of the wooden base; it echoes the mountains we see all around us. The fish are carved from Pacific yew, spalted yellow cedar, black walnut, and gory oak.  Shortly after this, something amazing happened.  Our favourite restaurant here is Cluxewe Waterfront Bistro . It is open only from May through the end of September, and has far and away the best food and most creative menu in our region. The food is not just great for our area, it's just great food. This year we tried to go as often as possible. Cluxewe hosts Chris and...