Minister Payne at Fish Creek Library

​Minister Payne at Fish Creek Library

Janet Hutchinson, Library Board Chair, and Sharon Wirzba, Manager, Fish Creek,

welcome Minister Brandy Payne and her family to Fish Creek Library’s Early Learning Centre

Minister Brandy Payne is the Associate Minister of Health for Alberta and an avid reader. She recently brought her young family to Fish Creek Library, where she was welcomed by Board Chair Janet Hutchinson and Sharon Wirzba, the Manager of Fish Creek. “Fish Creek Library’s got a really special place in my heart,” Payne said. “It’s the library for the community I grew up in, and my mom also worked here for a number of years.”

Her family, including her five-year-old daughter Zoe and her newborn daughter Cassidy, live nearby, and spend as much time as they can at Fish Creek Library exploring both the collections and the Early Learning Centre. “Learning to read and being exposed to literature from a really young age is so important,” Payne insisted. “With both of our girls, we’ve started basically reading [to them] from birth. One of Zoe’s favourite parts of her day is getting to read two stories as part of her bedtime, and for us, an important role of the Library is being able to have access to different kinds of books and having that variety.” In fact, Cassidy received her very own Library card as part of her visit.

That doesn’t mean that Minister Payne’s kids are the only reason for visiting Fish Creek. “My favourite parts about the Library are the magazine collection, but also the eBooks,” she said, citing her job at the Legislature Building in Edmonton. “As a mom who works out of town a lot and spends a lot of time transporting myself between cities, it’s nice and easy to read an eBook on my device.”

Zoe and newborn sister Cassidy enjoy time in the reading nook with mommy and daddy

Service Design Lead

Indigenous Communities Liaison

For the first time in its 113-year history, the Library has been given a bold new mandate to serve on-reserve and on-settlement Indigenous communities. This development is partially in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Summary Report, released in 2015, which prompted the Alberta government to make funds available to libraries to support this expansion of public library service.

In anticipation of this new mandate, a team of Library staff—including Rosemary Griebel, Leslie Adams, Jennifer Mason, Jean Ludlam, Claire Kang, and Tomas Jonsson—came together to begin exploring opportunities to engage with Indigenous communities both in Calgary and on the Tsuut’ina Nation. Through conversations and meetings with Indigenous leaders and elders, it became clear that to really make significant progress in fostering deep connections and an understanding of the Library service and program needs of First Nations people, it required a staff member with an expertise and in-depth knowledge of the diverse cultures, traditions, and protocol. To this end, the Library has posted a two-year, full-time temporary position for a Service Design Lead with a focus on Indigenous Communities.

The focus of this role will be on engaging and fostering connections with local urban Indigenous people and Treaty 7 First Nations communities; working within Service Design to develop, package, and adapt current services to meet identified needs, as well as strategic plan goals; and, to act as a resource for Library managers and staff to develop a better understanding of local Indigenous communities’ needs and protocols.

The Service Design Lead–Indigenous Communities Liaison position is a game changer for our organization. It will influence how we deliver service and welcome our diverse communities to the Library over the next century. Through it, we will strengthen our roles as knowledge keepers and knowledge sharers.

Foundation Library Tours

Library Tours are part of the Calgary Public Library Foundation’s strategy to engage potential donors, introduce them to the many services the Library has to offer, and get them excited about future plans.

The one-hour tours include a patron who gives a short speech on how their life has been positively changed by the Library, a Library representative who outlines growth and inspires guests to become passionate about the Library’s vision, and a tour led by Library staff (including Bill Ptacek) that highlights special features at each community library.

“The purpose of the tours is to cultivate individuals for future giving,” explains Paul McIntyre-Royston, President & CEO of the Foundation. “They are not asked to make a donation that night, but we certainly accept donations when individuals are inspired to give!”

To date, the Foundation has held two tours, and feedback has been very positive. The first was an exclusive tour of Memorial Park Library for family and friends of the Foundation that had 26 attendees. Quarry Park was the first library to host a public tour, with 30 patrons attending. Many patrons shared that they learned new things about the Calgary Public Library; the excitement at the end of the tour was palpable.

If you know anyone who might be interested in attending one of the tours, or if you have any questions, please contact Denise Da Costa, the Foundation’s new Leadership Giving Coordinator, at denise@addin.ca or 403.260.2631.

Storytime Flags

Hoist high your flags and lead kids to your pop-up storytimes! Library volunteers have hand made “Storytime” flags for all locations. This project was truly a team effort, involving many hands for cutting the material and the letters—which was the most intricate, time-consuming part of assembling the flag. Facilities painted the poles and drilled the holes. If your community library doesn’t have its flag yet, don’t worry: yours will arrive in the very near future. Send us photos of your storytime flag in action!

Learning Connection

The September–December issue of Learning Connection: Calgary Public Library Employee Learning Calendar is out. Inside, you’ll find a wealth of free training and development opportunities, covering everything from health and safety to program orientation.

Here are just some of the great training development opportunities you’ll find in the latest Learning Connection:

First Aid

More first aid classes will be offered this fall, as Occupational Health and Safety requires that we have staff with Standard or Emergency first aid at each Library location and when working in the Book Trucks. If you are interested in this category, please talk with your manager.

Online Reference Centre: Learning Toolbox

Led by Jamie Davis (The Alberta Library), this session will introduce you to ORC digital resources designed to support the curriculum in Alberta’s K-12 classrooms at no cost. Participants are welcome to bring their own devices to follow along.

Intended audience: LA4 and above.

October 6, 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Central Library, Basement Meeting Room 2

You can find the newest Learning Connection in your staff room!

Bill’s Book Café

It’s the creation of a literary landmark. Join us for the launch of Bill’s Book Café with Bill Ptacek, CEO, Calgary Public Library, and a local luminary. Participants are encouraged to read the featured book and come prepared for a rich and lively conversation. South East Calgary Communities Local Luminary: Tom Huffaker, VP Public & Government Affairs, Imperial Oil & President, Imperial Oil Foundation, selects the first featured book: A River Runs Through It, and Other Stories by Norman Maclean.

Quarry Park Library

Friday, October 28 | 7:00 pm

Library Pride

Special Library lanyards for Calgary Pride will be in community libraries during the week of August 22, in time for Pride Festival, which takes place August 26–September 5, 2016. If your library requires additional lanyards, please contact marcom@calgarylibrary.ca. Surplus lanyards can be returned through internal mail to MarCom at Central Library.

Contest!

Tell us what Pride means to you, or about a staff member who demonstrates “Library Pride” and if your submission is chosen, we’ll outfit the staff at your community library with special edition Library Proud t-shirts!

• Two entries will be chosen at random.

• All entries must be received by midnight August 24

• Email your entries to marcom@calgarylibrary.ca

The remaining t-shirts will be given out to Calgarians by the Foundation during Pride Week.

School Begins

Calgary Catholic School District First Day of School: September 1

Calgary Board of Education First Day of School: September 6

Library Internet: Unfiltered

Reminder: starting September 1, the Library will offer two options for internet access: All Access or No Access.

To read the staff FAQ document, please see Sharepoint > Service Delivery > Filtering > Key Messages about filtering for CPL staff