Upcoming Library Closure

Just a reminder to all of our blog-reading patrons that
the Brooks Public Library will be closed on the following days:

• December 24th
  
• December 25th
  
• December 26th
  
• December 31st
  
• January 1st
  

Happy Holidays and a Very Merry New Year
from All of Us at Brooks Public Library!

If You Like Books, You'll Love This...

I was going through my usual batch of websites today when I stumbled across something very cool: LIBRARYTHING!!

Yes, it deserves both exclamation marks. LibraryThing will help you catalog books, search for books, and get book recommendations. The really fun part? Getting book suggestions, or better yet, un-suggestions. What are un-suggestions? Basically, if you give the search engine a title that you enjoy, it will give you a list of titles that you will probably dislike. It sounds odd, but it's fun. Click here to play: SUGGEST/UN-SUGGEST.

If you're serious about finding some good reads, I'd also recommend our databases. Both Novelist and What Do I Read Next? have some awesome search engines to help you find just the right book for you. Just click HERE to go to the database homepage and click on the little house beside Novelist or What Do I Read Next? to search from your home. (If you happen to be in the library, click the other icon!)

Happy Reading!

What rhymes with 'Laureate'?

It was announced on December 4th that Canada’s new Poet Laureate is John Steffler. I had heard about poet laureates before, but I didn’t know too much about what the title meant (I pictured a guy wearing tights and carrying an oversized quill) so I did a bit of research HERE (The Parliamentary Poet Laureate homepage).

The position was first appointed in 2002 to help draw the attention of Canadians to poetry, both spoken word and written. Canada’s Poet Laureate is chosen every two years to write poetry for important Parliamentary occasions, sponsor poetry readings, and advise the Parliamentary Librarian on the Library’s collection.

One of the coolest things that I discovered is that during their tenure, all of Canada’s Poet Laureates have posted one poem a week on the Parliamentary Poet Laureate website. You can read them all HERE.

In honour of our new Poet Laureate, I thought I’d try my hand at writing a poem:

Crouching Reader, Hidden Book

There once was a book on the case
That was decidedly out of its place.
A reader went by,
The book caught his eye,
And the book was finally found.

Okay . . . so I’ll never get a job as Canada’s Poet Laureate, but if you’re interested in reading some of John Steffer’s books, we can help you find them HERE.

All Star Canada Reads

Today CBC Radio announced this year’s Canada Reads titles. For those of you who are not aware, Canada Reads is a Radio program held annually. Five books by Canadian authors are selected, and debated among a panel of celebrities who debate for five days and vote one book out of the competition each day. The final book is crowned the winner of Canada Reads. This year’s competition has the winning panelists from pervious years back to defend more books that they love. You can learn more about the program HERE.

I cannot stress how much I love Canada Reads. I am one of those people who have trouble finding books to read, and I rely heavily on suggestions from other people. Having a list of five Canadian books to read makes me very happy. There have been some cool Canadians on the program too. Sherraine MacKay, Canadian Olympic fencer, author, and former Brooks resident was a panelist in 2005. (Her choice, No Crystal Stair by Mairuth Sarsfield, did not win that year.)

I look forward to this competition every year, and I am always surprised how many other people are into it as well. For a complete list of the Canada Reads books, come by the library. We have most of the titles on our shelves now, so you can start reading the list today!

Canada Reads 2007 – All Star Edition
1) Children of My Heart (Ces Enfants de ma vie) by Gabrielle Roy
2) Natasha and other stories by David Bezmozgis
3) Stanley Park by Timothy Taylor
4) The Song of Kahunsha by Anosh Irani
5)Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill (On Order - Here Soon!)

Fictional and Rich

Forbes Magazine recently released their annual list of the top fifteen richest fictional characters. This article is a hilarious and interesting read. It made me wonder if Scrooge McDuck was third because he liked to stock his vault with coins to swim in, rather than investing his cash in the stock market.

You can read the article HERE. There is also a small article about the fictional characters that did not make this year’s top 15.

You can learn more about these characters’ rich and famous adventures here at the Brooks Public Library. Click on the name of these winners to check them out:

1. Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks - Little Orphan Annie

2. Montgomery Burns - The Simpsons

3. Scrooge McDuck - Duck Tales

4. Richie Rich - Richie Rich

5. Jed Clampett - The Beverly Hillbillies

6. Mr. Monopoly A.K.A Uncle Moneybags - Monopoly

7. Bruce Wayne - Batman

8. Tony Stark - Iron Man

9. Prince Abakaliki of Nigeria - An Internet Scam/Hoax

10. Thurston Howell III - Gilligan’s Island

11. Willy Wonka - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

12. Lucius Malfoy - The Harry Potter Series

13. Tony “Scarface” Montana - Scarface

14. Lara Croft - Tomb Raider

15. Mario - Super Mario Brothers

It's The Season of Giving...

It's coming into the holiday season once again and the search for the perfect gift has begun! Not sure what to get the person who has everything? Why not get them a gift certificate for a library membership? With thousands of books, CDs, and movies, it's the gift that keeps on giving.

The best part? Even if they already have a membership, the gift certificate can be used to renew their membership later on. So, no pesky returns to worry about!

Come on in - pick up one for a friend and get a membership for yourself while you're at it!

REALLY SHORT Short Stories....

WIRED magazine asked thirty-three popular science fiction and fantasy writers to create a story in just six words. Six words? It's true...and the results are actually fairly impressive. If you like Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Gregory Maguire, William Shatner, Orson Scott Card...well, in all honesty there are too many great writers associated with this project to list them all. Anyway, click here to view these amazing stories. Happy reading!

Looking for an Old Children's Book?

You might try The Baldwin Online Children's Literature Project. The site claims to "bring yesterday's classics to today's children" and provides the full text (the whole book) of out-of-print children's classics right online. I found a book that was read to me by my school librarian when I was six!

And hey, if this site doesn't have the book that you're looking for, it's just possible that we'll have it here at Brooks Public! We're pretty good at tracking down those lost classics ourselves...

October is Library Month!

October is Canadian Library Month, a celebration of library and information services in Canada! Libraries play an integral role in the lives of Canadians, supporting universal access to information, ideas, and resources, and providing opportunities for lifelong learning and literacy.

This year's theme is "libraries: the world at your fingertips" and The Brooks Public Library is celebrating by launching this brand new blog, bringing the heart of our library to the fingertips of our community! We will also offer a range of activities and events throughout the month of October. Check the blog later this month to see a full calendar of events, or come on into the library to find out more!

Welcome to the Brooks Public Library Blog!