Valleyview Municipal Library

By Kerri Danner

It’s hard to believe that March is almost half-way over. Spring is in the air and we’ve been doing some spring cleaning at the Library. If you come in to the Library, take a walk around and see some of the changes we have made. We are trying to create more reading areas, moving things around – you may notice that the DVDs and videos in a new area for easier access. The biggest change is at the back door, we have cleaned up the back area and you will notice some new shelving. This shelving holds books which have been removed from the collection or donated to the library which will be freely available for anyone.

There are only 2 sessions left for Rhyme time, but it will return again in the fall. 

The Library has an updated website with an all-new look. We are looking forward to providing Valleyview with up to date information on what’s going on at the Library. Check it out at http://www.valleyviewlibrary.ab.ca/

You can also follow the Library on Facebook. Just search for ‘Valleyview Municipal Library’ then ‘join’ to add it to your groups.

We are testing out two services at the Library, and we invite you to try them out during the month of March.  If there is a good community response to these programs, we may continue to offer this service to our patrons. You can access either of these services from home or at the library for free.

Thinking of planning a vacation to an exotic location, or maybe writing a report for school and want to know more about Thailand? We invite you to try out Global Road Warrior. Global Road Warrior is a massive database of constantly updated proprietary editorial and graphics for 175 countries of the world. It provides in depth content coverage in major topical areas of society and culture, travel, communications, business, trade, marketing, and security. Currently, the database has over 7,000,000+ words of editorial, 1,750+ country maps, and 12,000+ photographs.  For the month of March only, you can test drive Global Road Warrior by visiting the website below and entering the user ID “az” and the password ‘india’

A to Z Maps Online is another site you can try out for March. A to Z Maps Online is the largest subscription-based database of proprietary, royalty-free world, continent, country, and state maps in the world. Included in the 4,000+ maps are: political maps, physical maps, outline maps, population maps, precipitation maps, climate maps, and other thematic maps. New maps are added to the collection every month. If you’d like to try out A to Z maps, visit the link below and enter user ID ‘az’ and password ‘india’.

Donalda Brown is bringing another FREE Stamping Workshop to the Library just in time for Easter. On Saturday, March 27 there will be two separate workshops: one for kids ages 7-9 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. and a second workshop for ages 10-15 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Class size is limited to 10 participants in each age group and kids must be pre-registered, so call early to reserve a spot at (780) 524-3033.

The Library is looking at holding an Arts and Crafts show at the Library this spring. If you like to paint, sculpt, or create other items and would like to display your works for the community, contact Library Co-ordinator, Susanne Tremblay at (780) 524-3033 for more information.

Another new program at the Library is the Books on Wheels program. This program is intended for people who are unable to get to the library on their own. This could include elderly or disabled individuals who are house-bound. We currently visit the Red Willow Lodge every few weeks and take a selection of books for people to choose from. If you or someone you know would like more information on Books on Wheels, please contact Susanne Tremblay at (780) 524-3033.

The Library is trying out a fun little project called Book Crossing. We will have an area set aside at the Library where people can ‘catch or release’ books. People all around the world have been catching and releasing books at locations all around the world. Here’s how it works. Do you have a book that you no longer need? You can visit BookCrossing.com and print off a label with a unique tracking number which you place inside the cover of your book. Then, you release your book into the wild anywhere. It could be at a restaurant, airport, hotel lobby, library, or park bench. Then, you register your book on the BookCrossing.com website so people can see where the book originated. Now, you can track the travels of your book.  You can also hunt for books in the wild by checking the site for newly released books. Imagine you are travelling in Mexico, if you search the BookCrossing.com site you can see if any books have been released in the area you are travelling and go hunt down the book and catch it before somebody else does!

There are still a few weeks left until Easter, but just a reminder that the Library will be CLOSED Good Friday on April 2 and Saturday, April 3. Regular Library hours will resume on Tuesday, April 6.