Cathy Grant

2011-12-13T16:14:00.001-05:00

No Joy in READING?! Librarians to the Rescue!

Recently, People for Education released a startling report, ”Reading for Joy", that reveals that while reading scores have increased in elementary school, children’s enjoyment of reading has gone down. The percentage of students in grade 3 who report they “like to read” has dropped from 75% in 1998/99 to 50% in 2010/11 and the number of students in grade 6 who “like to read” fell from 65% to 50% during the same period.

While reading enjoyment is not only associated with high school achievement, research shows that "engaged" readers tend to be more socially and civically engaged as well. How do we nuture the joy of reading? Supportive parents and teachers; free choice of reading materials in and out of school; access to a wide and varied choice of wonderful reading materials; and knowledgeable and passionate librarians.

Everyday at my Library, I bear witness to the joy and excitement of children who have received their copy of the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Percy Jackson, or 39 Clues and I am proud to see the work of Library Staff who strive in various ways to encourage a passionate connection with reading in the children of our community.

2011-11-02T10:25:00.000-04:00

2011 Reading and Remembrance

In 2005, Angie Littlefield and Mary Cook of the Durham West Arts Centre developed a youth-based education initiative for Remembrance Day and Veteran’s Week which provided free online ready-to-teach lesson packages focusing on Canada’s heroic veterans and wartime stories. This initiative, called Reading and Remembrance has become an award-winning national program supported by Veterans Canada as well as Ontario Power Generation.

Reading and Remembrance focuses on a different theme each year. The 2011 program – Peacekeeping and Peacemaking, features the changing nature of war, peacekeeping and peacemaking from WWII into the present. It is a complex world with dedicated individuals – well worth investigating.

Imagine thousands school children learning to honour those who served and serve in different countries all over the world and appreciate the many different ways individuals and countries can make a different for the good.

To register as a participating school or to find out more about the program contact ReadingAndRemembrance.ca

The Pickering Public Library supports this excellent program and congratulates Angie Littlefield and Mary Cook for their work!

2011-09-30T15:42:00.000-04:00

How Children Become the Storyteller

Most of us know that reading to children is important. But how we read to children is also important. When most adults share a book with a preschooler, they read and the child listens. However, with dialogic reading, (interactive reading) the adult helps the child become the teller of the story. The adult becomes the listener, the questioner, the audience for the child.

An article by Reading Rockets notes “children who have been read to dialogically are substantially ahead of children who have been read to traditionally on tests of language development. Children can jump ahead by several months in just a few weeks of dialogic reading.”

If book sharing is not intuitive for parents, they would benefit by observing a library story time where library staff demonstrate how books can be used comfortably as a basis for conversation and learning.

2011-08-09T12:28:00.001-04:00

Your Library = Your Community

There has been lots of discussion lately about the role of public libraries in the 21st century and I have re-tweeted quite a few of these discussions (which you will find in the twitter feed on the right).

It is, and has always been, true that people can buy resources on their own rather than go to the public library. In fact, access to these resources, for people who can afford them, has never been easier.

Those of us who can afford this richness in stimulating content available through Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, tend to forget that it can get quite expensive when you add up your ipad, laptop, Rogers account, along with payments for music, books and videos.

One of the founding principles of public libraries is that everyone in a community should have the same access to ideas, culture, information and the same opportunities for personal growth which result from this access. Why?
Because a literate population is decidedly healthier, more community-minded, informed, engaged and employable.

Aside from access to resources, is the role of the library as a physical space open and welcoming to all that nurtures individuality, inclusion and social cohesion, civic identity and pride, democracy and citizenship.

The library isn’t simply a social service in a bricks and mortar shell: it has a wide social impact that can’t possibly be accounted for within the confines of a city budget. Libraries promote and represent everything that’s good for and about a city, if not a country.

Libraries are quite simply --- A Treasured Public Good which we erode at our own peril.

2011-06-23T16:41:00.000-04:00

Summertime and the Reading is Easy!

Many kids and adults are looking forward to long lazy summer days with nothing much to do - except read.

For kids, nobody is pestering them about school work and assignments. Finally they have time to spend as many hours as they want in the Library, combing the shelves for stuff that looks interesting to them.
They can check out books, magazines and other things like DVDs and ebook readers. Then, unless family obligations interfere, they can hole up someplace comfortable and explore the whole world.

Many adults look forward to summer reading with great anticipation. Choosing just the right summer read is a major preoccupation in the weeks before vacation. We ask friends, librarians, colleagues for their recommendations, then place a bunch of books on hold at the Library, stake out a favorite place in the shade or a comfortable chair, open a bag a gummy worms, and get lost .... in the story... Ahhhh!

This summer, I plan to read: A Secret Daughter, A Game of Thrones: A Song of Fire and Ice; and The Art of Racing in the Rain.

2011-05-24T15:29:00.001-04:00

Building Young Minds

What intellectual skills will our children need to help build a better world?

Will they need:

to analyze problems with creativity?
to easily retrieve and interpret information - its authenticity, source, accuracy?
to communicate information and ideas in compelling and clear ways?
to solve problems and gather information collaboratively?
to be able to read?

I believe that every child is entitled to learn the intellectual skills that will help them, and the entire community, thrive, and I believe that libraries support the development of these skills. Libraries support lifelong learning for all - building a healthy, sustainable community!

For communities that want the best for all children - libraries are a treasured public good.

In Pickering, library service costs about $50 per person - a worthwhile investment in our future!

2011-03-14T15:17:00.000-04:00

Pickering Public Library Launches Mobile App!

Like so many others, I love my iphone!

Unlike my previously neglected cell phones, which were never charged and constantly misplaced, I keep my iphone with me, fully charged at all times.

It is surprising how fast it has become my communication and information tool of choice.

Since receiving my iphone in December, I have used it to:

- Answer nagging questions - What was the name of the movie that starred Ricky Gervais? (Googled!);

- Introduce me to some great new artists; What is the name of that song that is playing in the background of the Ford commercial? (Sound Hound);

- Keep my grocery list (Notepad);

- Keep me entertained while waiting in the doctors office (Angry Birds, Youtube, etc.);

- While I am able to read books on it through my Kindle or ibooks APPS, I do not enjoy reading them in a format that small. But, I do love to listen to audiobooks - borrowed from the library through Overdrive of course! At the moment, I am listening to S*it my Dad Says and the reader is hilarious!;

- Follow the latest news;

- Check out whats on TV tonight;

- Review emails (which I know I really shouldn't if I am serious about living a balanced life!);

- Take a video of my dogs strange behaviour to show to the vet;

- Etc., Etc.

And now...... I have more reasons to love my iphone! I can use it to check my library account. Do I have that TV series on hold? Does the library own The Motorcycle Diaries (Movie)? What XBOX 360 games are in?

2011-02-24T18:11:00.000-05:00

Free Expression in Canada

Should a few decide for the rest of us? It’s about choice!
Freedom to Read Week 2011

Toronto, Feb. 16/11 — Canadians assume they have the right to express opinions and choose freely what they read, watch and hear. But consider the following:

· The Canadian Library Association has seen an alarming rise in reported “challenges” to reading material in libraries each year since 2006.

· The books in the Southern Vampire Mystery series, written by Charlaine Harris, received the most challenges in Canadian libraries in 2009.

· The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council decided to have “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits pulled from Canadian airwaves because of just one complaint.

Freedom to Read Week: an opportunity to defend
our freedoms and protect our choices

Recent achievements are cause for celebration:

· In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of Canada recognized the defence of “public interest responsible communication” (PIRC) which grants writers, broadcasters, publishers and bloggers a new legal defence against libel suits.

· The Supreme Court of Canada has unanimously ruled that journalists may protect whistleblowers from public scrutiny as long as journalists can show that maintaining confidentiality is in the public interest.

· Individuals and organizations across Canada have won intellectual freedom awards for their dedication to free expression such as Alan Borovoy, the Citizen Lab, Lawrence Hill and the Calgary Public Library.

This month, dozens of free public events, panel discussions, readings and displays will take place across Canada in support of Freedom to Read Week 2011 (February 20 to 26). These events are designed to provide Canadians with the opportunity to learn more about freedom of expression and its challenges in Canada and offer people a forum to share their views about censorship and the right to free speech and opinion.

“We need to be vigilant if we are to keep books, magazines and newspapers free to express opinions and present stories without fear of reprisals, whether we agree with the point of view or not,” said Marg Anne Morrison, Chair of the Freedom of Expression Committee. “Our libraries, in particular, need the freedom to provide a wide variety of reading materials that address the controversial topics facing our modern world.”

Freedom to Read Week is organized by the Book and Periodical Council’s Freedom of Expression Committee, a group committed to promoting intellectual freedom in Canada. Since 1978, the Freedom of Expression Committee has worked with educators, librarians and the community at large to provide information that addresses censorship and book and magazine challenges in Canada.

To learn more about Freedom to Read Week and get details on all events, please visit www.freedomtoread.ca.

2011-01-07T13:15:00.000-05:00

"When you are growing up there are two institutional places that affect you most powerfully: the church, which belongs to God, and the public library, which belongs to you."
— Keith Richards

Great Lives / Great Biographies

I love to read biographies, particularly autobiographies. If they are open and authentic, I can find myself in the minds of great and interesting people - seeing the world through their eyes, sometimes experiencing major historical events or cultural changes with them.

Over the holidays, I was enthralled with Keith Richards' autobiography Life I have been doing a lot of thinking about the future of reading and books, and reading this biography emphasized the impact of focus and immersion in a book. The experience and the words from the book resonated and endured in ways that it would not have through a biographical movie or a scan of biographical content online.

Here are five reasons choosing to read a biography will be a choice that will benefit you in many ways.

They allow you to stand on the shoulders of giants.

In the 1670`s Sir Isaac Newton wrote in a letter to his friend Robert Hooke, "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." That is exactly what reading biographies can do for you - allow you to see further because of what these people have achieved.

They remind you that history repeats itself.

Reading about the real experiences of others gives context for the decisions and consequences that we all will face. History (recent or distant) will repeat itself because those who are making history were, and are, human beings.

They promote self discovery.

A good self help or professional development book will outline specific steps, tools, techniques and approaches to try. These can be valuable and successful shortcuts to help you make improvements and get results in most any area of your life. A biography, on the other hand, won`t be as direct. You will discover ideas and approaches on your own through the stories and experiences of others. This discovery learning process is often far more satisfying, and most always more lasting, than reading a list of steps.

They allow you to see the world in new ways.

Rather than being completely focused on your professional discipline, looking at the way you and your colleagues always look at things, reading about someone from a different era, a different background or a totally different set of life experiences will give you new perspective. In truth, most great innovations come from taking an idea from one situation, discipline or industry and adapting it to another. Reading biographies is one great way to do this.

They give you mentors at a distance.

If you have read about the life of Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Churchill or anyone else you select, you have had a glimpse into their mind and now have the advantage or "knowing" them. These people can become your mentors at a distance, if you allow yourself the chance to think about what advice they might give you, or what they might do in a the situation or choice you are facing.

2010-12-20T08:55:00.000-05:00

2010-10-29T12:20:00.001-04:00

UPDATE: Pickering iHelp Service wins Provincial Award

We are pleased to announce that Pickering Public Library has won the Minister's Award for Innovation for our new iHelp Service!

iHelp is the Pickering Public Library's new digital services and media centre. The iHelp centre provides access to Apple iMac computers fully stocked with state-of-the-art media creation software and two photo printing and scanning kiosks. Specifically, library clients are able to:

Print digital photos from many makes of digital cameras as well as from digital photo media

Scan and convert old print photos and print documents to digital format

Edit images using Photoshop and Illustrator

Create images, books, pamphlets and flyers using InDesign

Create music using Garage Band (synthesizer for input is available)

Create video using Final Cut Express

Borrow and download content for your portable devices (ipods, etc.)

Watch video podcasts and tutorials

Attend free seminars focusing on digital devices and software

Obtain one-on-one free assistance and advice from dedicated library staff

iHelp is a service designed to improve digital literacy skills in the community.

Established and internationally accepted definitions of digital literacy are generally built on three principles: the skills and knowledge to use a variety of digital media software applications and hardware devices, mobile devices, and Internet applications the ability to critically understand digital media content and applications; and the knowledge and capacity to create with digital technology.

Pickering Public Library makes the skills and equipment necessary for digital literacy freely available to all members of the community. Our aim is to leave no Pickering resident on the wrong side of the digital divide.

2010-09-08T17:20:00.001-04:00

ADULTS NEED STRONG LITERACY SKILLS

…to raise children who have strong literacy skills.

Learning to read begins long before a child enters school. It begins when parents read to their children, buy their children books, and encourage their children to read. The research is clear: parents who are poor readers don’t read as often to their children as do parents who are strong readers; children who are not read to enter school less prepared for learning to read than other children.

…to be good employees.

The employees most in demand have at least a two-year college degree. Workers must be able to read safety regulations and warnings so they and their co-workers can stay safe on the job. And working in a team means that employees must be able to communicate clearly with one another.

…to keep themselves and their families healthy.

Understanding a doctor’s orders, calculating how much medicine to take, reading disease-prevention pamphlets—all are ways adults can keep themselves and their families healthy. But millions of adults lack these essential “health literacy” skills, which adds to our heathcare costs.

…to be active in their communities.

Political campaigns often stress the need for “informed voters.” But how can an individual be well informed if he or she cannot access written campaign literature or read newspaper coverage of the issues and candidates?

…to advocate for themselves and avoid human rights abuse.

People must be aware of their rights in order to assert them. Literacy gives people access to that information.

…to avoid crime.

There is a clear correlation between adult illiteracy and crime. In the US, more than 45 percent of all inmates in local jails, 40 percent in state facilities, and 27 percent in federal corrections institutions did not graduate from high school. Inmates age 24 and younger are less educated.

2010-08-23T16:21:00.001-04:00

Your Brain on Music

One of the most important goals of libraries is to inspire the mind, and one of the most powerful tools of inspiration is Music!

Research shows that music has great power to inspire creativity, sharpen the mind and soothe the soul. Early childhood educators and childrens librarians will attest the the importance of music on language development.

Surrounding yourself and your family with music doesn't have to be expensive. The Library has a great collection of music CDs for all ages. If you prefer DVDs, Pickering Library also have some great music videos with everything from Eric Clapton Unplugged to the Wiggles.

The Library also subscribes to an online music library, called Naxos which contains over 45,000 music CDs which you can access from our website. I listen to music constantly - while I cook and do household chores, at work, and frequently I have music on in the background while I read. Often I choose music based on my mood and energy level. I frequently select books this way, too!

At the moment, I tend to like upbeat, positive music - my current favorite - Jack Johnson.

2010-08-11T21:52:00.001-04:00

The Joy of Meeting an Old Friend

In 2007, I saw a boy of about 11 years old exiting the library with the latest and last of the Harry Potter books. He was grinning ear to ear and hugging the book to his chest. I imagined his anticipation - waiting until he reached home, finding a comfortable spot to open the book to discover the latest adventures awaiting a character that he had grown to know and love.

As an adult I still feel that anticipation of meeting an old friend - a new season of Mad Men with a divorced Don Draper; a new Sookie Stackhouse book (will she ever get back with Vampire Bill?); or the latest Ladies #1 Detective Agency. As a grown up, and CEO, I try for a little decorum when a new book or season of my favourite series arrives, but inside ---- I'm grinning ear to ear!

2010-08-09T19:22:00.002-04:00

Library Kiosk at the Pickering GO station?

The Toronto Public Library is considering installing an automated book dispensing kiosk at Union Station:

City library considering book-dispensing kiosk at Union Station - thestar.com

Pickering Library staff have been considering this service for a number of years. The start-up cost has always presented an issue - $200,000 K according to Toronto Public Library, although this could be done in a small community for about $110,000.

I would be interested in any feedback from our clients - Would you use this service while travelling the GO?

Please let me know your thoughts.

Cathy

2010-08-04T14:48:00.001-04:00

How the Internet is Making us Stupid

Nicholas Carr's book, The Shallows, outlines the implications of using the Internet as an intellectual tool.

According to Carr, the history of human progress is one in which each new technology results in a significant reorganization of human activity and thought to fit the technology as well as a loss of other human technological skills. Think of the changes that have arisen in response to the development of clocks. We mechanized our daily routines - we eat at a certain time rather than when we are hungry. We wake up and go to bed to a clock rather than in response to our bodily needs.

There are many such examples in the Shallows supporting the premise that while these changes have resulted in significant improvements and significant changes in support of the new technologies, there is always a corresponding loss.

The Internet has become a ubiquitous intellectual technology and more and more human activities have been transferred to this medium and optimized to this medium. We now use the Internet to keep in touch with friends and family, watch movies and television, search for information, organize our activities, etc. But at what price?

The price, according to Carr, is a loss of deep contemplative thought and the corresponding brain connections that support deep introspective reading and contemplative thought. Reading online, is not the type of reading that allows for analysis and thought, but rather online reading has proven to be primarily a problem solving activity - quick decision making rather than integrating the ideas and words into our minds. The Internet is a medium of distraction which does not support information retention. The result, says Carr, will be a lack of human wisdom, long term perspectives and perhaps even cultural richness.

2010-07-16T15:45:00.001-04:00

LearnOntario: Supporting Digital Literacy

Learn Ontario is a great site for how-to videos on a wide variety of topics - popular software applications, internet applications, design software, etc.

Learn Ontario is part of the Knowledge Ontario portfolio of services, developed with the following goals:

Bridge the digital divide by providing equitable and seamless access to high quality digital content and services to people at every stage of life and reflective of Ontario’s diverse communities
Strengthen libraries as community hubs of learning and literacy by adopting and delivering new technologies and innovative services
Enable the creation of informed, engaged and digitally literate citizens
Build Ontario’s digital literacy and critical thinking skills through creation of innovative, collaborative, web-based learning tools
Support life-long learning and close the gap experienced by students and adult learners in Ontario’s remote and rural communities by delivering quality electronic databases, virtual reference services and digital learning tools
Enable communities to create and manage sustainable digital content about Ontario history and culture and make it discoverable to a wider audience

This visionary program is facing severe funding challenges. Please go to Knowledge Ontario to take a look at the full suite of services while we have them!

2010-06-14T12:39:00.000-04:00

Summer Learning Loss

Under the current calendar, the summer vacation creates a gap in the learning cycle during which students forget some of that they have learned, requiring teachers to devote significant instructional time to review when students return to school. The summer break also contributes to an achievement gap between students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds and their less-advantaged classmates.[1]

What can be done to counteract this loss? Aside from a modified school year, Summer Reading Programs are one way to improve achievement scores and help reduce the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students.

Help sustain learning and encourage a lifelong love of reading by getting your child involved in the Pickering Public Library's Summer Reading Program. It is a very flexible program letting children select their own reading goals and reading materials. If your child is not a big reader or if you have difficulty in coming up with next books to read - please speak with our children's staff! They can recommend great books, magazines, and other storytelling media that will be sure to capture your child's imagination and build language skills, which are the foundation for school success.

2010-05-20T16:44:00.002-04:00

The Future is So Bright …..

In the national bestseller, Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam described a North American society that was losing the bonds of community and trust - a society that was characterized by isolation of individuals and families. One major symptom of this pattern was the loss of community organizations and social groups – bowling leagues, fraternal organizations, and block parents. The picture painted was bleak and left many asking “how can we improve this?” How can we create a engaged community characterized by civic vitality?

Seeking an answer to this question, Putnam, a professor of public policy at Harvard, visited places across the country where individuals and groups are engaged in unusual forms of social activism and civic renewal. These are people who are renewing their communities and investing in new forms of “social capital.” His follow up book, Better Together describes a dozen innovative organizations that are re-weaving the social fabric of our society and brings the hopeful news that our civic institutions are taking new forms to adapt to new times and new needs.

One of the innovative organizations highlighted in Better Together is the innovative Chicago public library system which has addressed this social problem by redefining itself and rethinking the very core of what defines a library to become a community development powerhouse taking a lead role to become an agent of social engagement and change.

As the Pickering Public Library approaches the development of its next strategic plan, libraries such as Chicago and Aarhus provide examples of responsiveness and innovation lighting the way to a bright future for public libraries.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change”. Charles Darwin

2010-05-03T14:02:00.000-04:00

Online Reading Vs. Print

E-books are very popular right now given with the release of the Apple iPad.Some libraries have tentatively begun loaning content and/or readers to the community.

At Pickering, staff are testing out Sony e-readers, Kindles and even the Apple iPad (acquired by our ihelp specialist via eBay). Staff have given them the "beach and bed" test, but not the third "b" - bath. Most of them have tested quite well in terms of useability, comfort, power, etc. which was quite surprising to most of us boomer booklovers.

As with any new technology that will be widely adopted, we must approach it with a consciously critical perspective and there have been a number of studies which have looked at the difference between online reading vs print. According to Anne Mangen, an associate prof of literacy studies at Norway's University of Stavanger, reading online may not be as rewarding – or effective – as the printed word. The reasons: The process involves so much physical manipulation of the computer that it interferes with our ability to focus on and appreciate what we're reading; online text moves up and down the screen and lacks physical dimension, robbing us of a feeling of completeness; and multimedia features, such as links to videos and animations, leave little room for imagination, limiting our ability to form our own mental pictures to illustrate what we're reading.

Richard Long of the International Reading Association, a nonprofit organization of literacy professionals in Newark, Del., says more research needs to be done to study the effects of online reading on different users. For instance, he says, many older people may absorb more or learn faster by flipping through pages, because their brains have been trained to read hard copy, whereas younger readers may learn faster digitally, because they're accustomed to working online. "Previous experience has a tremendous impact on rate and thoroughness of learning," he says. "The actual learning phenomenon is the same at the end of the day."

2010-04-26T16:01:00.003-04:00

Library of the Future

Pickering is considering its future in preparation for our new service plan.
Unlike our previous plans, we are taking a longer term perspective and trying to imagine the future role of the library in 2025.

Some aspects of our future are quite easy to imagine - the future community of Pickering will be more diverse, greener, and will reflect the boom and echo demographics - more seniors, their thirty something kids with their children.

Some aspects of future libraries are harder to predict: Will Kindle and iPad replace print books? Will connectivity and hardware be affordable for all? Will the majority of digital content remain largely free of cost? What will power our technology?

While many things will change in future libraries, I believe that the fundamental values of libraries will endure. We exist to enrich and inspire the lives of ALL of our residents, bridging people, ideas and cultures with openness and respect.

Take a look at these videos from Aarhus Public Library to see a public library that enriches, inspires, and connects the community in ways that moves beyond books and incorporates new technologies. Is this a model for the future Pickering Library?

2010-04-21T14:54:00.003-04:00

The Enduring Importance of Books!

According to a recent article*, children growing up in homes with many books get 3 years more schooling than children from bookless homes, independent of their parents' education, occupation, and class. This is as great an advantage as having university educated rather than unschooled parents, and twice the advantage of having a professional rather than an unskilled father.

"A book-oriented home environment endows children with tools that are directly useful in learning at school; vocabulary, information, comprehension skills, imagination, broad horizons of history and geography, familiarity with good writing, understanding of the importance of evidence in argument, and many others."

Public Libraries provide a constant supply of books and other enriching materials into the homes of all children regardless of income. If you know of a family who are not taking advantage of the wonderful resources available in the Library please share this information.

*Evans, M.D.R. et al. Family scholarly culture and education success. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility (2010)

2010-04-12T13:55:00.001-04:00

Audiobooks: Not just for commuters!

I have developed a real fondness for audiobooks over the last year.

Doubtless, they are great for commuters, but they are also wonderful to listen to while doing crafts, household chores, or just doing nothing. Last summer, I spent many a happy hour in my backyard lounge chair listening to "The Help" isolated from the sounds of lawn mowers and central vacuum motors.

I am impressed by the quality of the readings - the voices and accents can be quite compelling. The peppy Southern waitress Sookie Stackhouse and the rich Botswana accent of Mma Ramotswe add an interesting texture to the story. Malcolm Gladwell's popular books, Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers are even more engaging when read by the author.

Until the Library started subscribing to online audiobook services (Overdrive and iTunes) , I was spending quite a lot of money on this new habit. Occasionally, I will have to place a hold and wait for a bestselling audiobook (I am 16th in line for Dear John on Overdrive!), but the overall savings is substantial.

Happy Listening!