Immerse yourself in the emotional depth and scenic beauty that inspired the Romantic Music Era.
Read more about "Between the Notes: Understanding Romantic Music"CALGARY, AB – Today, Linda and Mike Shaikh, local philanthropists and community-builders, announced a gift to support school-aged children during the COVID-19 pandemic and over the summer months when school is out.“When schools closed mid-March, thousands of parents in our city found themselves home-schooling. Education is deeply important to our family, and we want to ensure Calgary’s children have the tools they need to continue their life-long learning journey, whether they’re learning remotely or out of school during the summer,” says Mike Shaikh.Summer Slide refers to the annual challenge for school-aged children to retain learning achievements from the previous school year over the summer months. Summer Slide can disproportionately affect students from lower-income households, creating gaps amongst peers and a harder return to school in September.“Summer Slide is something the Library addresses every year through our Ultimate Summer Challenge, but this year due to COVID-19, the program had to move to a virtual environment,” says Kate Schutz, Service Design Lead for school-age programming at the Calgary Public Library. “This funding allows us to create more online engagement opportunities and provide students with fun, curriculum-connected resources to prepare them for school success and help families navigate this challenging time.”The Shaikh’s gift will support programs and resources for school-aged children at the Library, including: Collections; Beanstack, a free app that encourages children to read with customized reading lists and challenges; and the Ultimate Summer Challenge, the Library’s popular annual summer kids program. Last year, Calgary kids and teens recorded nearly 300,000 hours of reading over the summer.Ultimate Summer Challenge registration is free and can be completed online or at any reopened Library location. In addition to tracking reading hours with a printable Challenge Map, kids can now earn digital badges through Beanstack by completing reading goals and learn at home activities.Teens can complete online challenges and creative projects to earn more chances at winning a prize. Everyone who registers for the Ultimate Summer Challenge is entered into the grand prize draw for amazing items, including iPads, Chromebooks, or customized picture books.The Ultimate Summer Challenge is part of the TD Summer Reading Club, which is a national program for kids in Canadian public libraries. The Ultimate Summer Challenge is also supported by J K L MacLachlan Family Fund. Visit calgarylibrary.ca/summer for more information and to register.In 2015, Linda and Mike Shaikh made a $1 million leadership donation to the Calgary Public Library Foundation, which was recognized with the naming of the Shaikh Family Welcome Gallery in Central Library.- 30 -Calgary Public LibraryCalgary Public Library, with 740,000 members and 21 locations, has been inspiring the life stories of Calgarians for more than 100 years. It is currently the second largest library system in Canada and the sixth largest municipal library system in North America, with Calgarians borrowing more than 15 million physical and digital items and with over 7 million in-person visits last year.Calgary Public Library FoundationThe Calgary Public Library Foundation empowers people to make a difference in their community. All donations received through the Library Foundation cultivate innovation and bring the Library to those who need it most. Our 21,500 donors are helping to build a stronger Calgary.Media Contacts:Nina RehillAccount ExecutiveEdelman403.630.6055Nina.Rehill@edelman.comRachael TernerCommunications ManagerCalgary Public Library Foundation403.774.2543rachael@libraryfoundation.ca
Read more about "Stories Gift from Local Philanthropists Help Calgary Students Learn Over the Summer Funds support Calgary Public Library programs to address learning challenges during COVID-19"For years, a gold framed photograph lay in a drawer in Central Library’s Local History workroom.The black and white photograph shows Chief and Artist Sitting Wind holding his painting, looking at his work with a proud yet reflective gaze. In the painting, people converge outside four teepees that stand tall beneath a mountain backdrop.Aside from the five-line caption, little is known about the piece and how Calgary Public Library came to hold it.“Bowness Public Library” and “1962” are mentioned in the caption. Bowness was a separate town in 1962, and the town’s library was not yet part of the Calgary Public Library system. The photograph’s journey from Bowness Library to Central Library’s Local History workroom is also vague. But it fell into the spotlight recently, as Local History Librarian Carolyn Ryder began examining the Library’s collection in preparation for the upcoming move to the new Central Library.“We’re looking at a handful of items in our collection that haven’t been processed; we don’t have provenance on them,” Ryder says. “We’re asking if we are the most appropriate place for these items.”Such questions have not always been asked — within libraries and other collections-based institutions.Inside museums, for example, many Indigenous collections contain artifacts that were gathered or confiscated in the late 1800s and early 1900s.Later, more efforts were made to deny Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing, including residential schools and the Sixties Scoop.In recent years, as Canadians have started to acknowledge this disastrous colonial past, the return of cultural property to Indigenous nations has become more common. Such repatriation is one step toward reconciliation.In the case of the Sitting Wind photograph at the Library, the piece’s journey home began in late 2017. Librarian Carolyn Ryder told Teneya Gwin, Indigenous Service Design Lead, about the item.Gwin reached out to Joanne Schmidt, Acting Curator of Indigenous Studies at the Glenbow Museum. Through a cultural organization, Schmidt connected with a friend of the late Sitting Wind who said she could deliver the photograph back to his family.“It’s gone home,” Gwin says. “I think this should be a very proud moment for the Library. Not all organizations realize the cultural significance of some of the items they have in their collection.”Sitting Wind, born Frank Morin on February 28,1925, was given the name Sitting Wind from a Medicine Man when he was a baby.When Sitting Wind’s mother died when he was four, his grandmother and step-grandfather adopted him (and renamed him Frank Kaquitts). He moved from the central Alberta community of Hobbema (now known as Maskwacis) to Morley, a reserve northwest of Calgary, where he later went to residential school. Born a Cree, he was raised a Stoney.Sitting Wind was a soldier, a boxer, a landscape artist who attended the Banff School of Fine Arts, and an actor, known for his role in the 1976 film Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson starring Paul Newman.He was also a politician, first elected to serve on the Bearspaw Band Council in 1957, then elected Chief in 1961. When the Stoney Nakoda people voted in favour of merging the Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Wesley First Nations in 1974, Sitting Wind was the first-ever grand Chief of the briefly united Stoney Tribe. Following the return to the three-band system, Sitting Wind served as Chief of the Chiniki Band.Sitting Wind died in 2002, at age 77. His friend — tasked with returning his photo to his family — remembers him as an informed leader, accomplished artist, and jovial human.While the Chief Sitting Wind photograph has gone home, the Library’s work in this area is not over. The Library has a headdress in its Local History collection, also with an unknown story.“The significance of a headdress is enormous,” Gwin says. “For the Library to have one, we need to honour it in an appropriate way or give it back to who it belongs to. We’re working on that.”For Joanne Schmidt, with the Glenbow Museum, helping people with the repatriation process is a growing part of her job. “More and more, I’m having people contact me and say they want to return something to its rightful place, to the community where it came from,” she says.Sometimes that homecoming is straightforward, like it was with the Chief Sitting Wind photo. The roots of other belongings can be harder to trace, such as the headdress the Library has. Returning sacred and ceremonial items can come with further challenges.But cultural property does not help museums, libraries, or individual collectors in the same way it helps the communities where it came from, Schmidt says.“If you can send it back to the community, they can learn new skills, they get a sense of cultural pride, a reconnection to their ancestors, a way to teach their youth,” she says. “All kinds of things can happen that will never come out of it sitting on a desk or hanging on a wall.”Read more about Chief Sitting Wind’s life in The Song and the Silence: Sitting Wind, an award-winning biography by Peter Jonker.
Read more about "Stories Reconciliation at the Library: A Photograph's Journey Home"Library Named for Pioneering Calgarian Judith Umbach MEDIA RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEApril 26, 2015Calgary, AB — Judith Umbach is an unassuming Calgarian who has done a truly extraordinary thing.By making a seven-figure gift in her will to the Calgary Public Library Foundation, Umbach is paving the way for other Calgarians to give to the Library in a meaningful way.“It’s difficult for many of us who may not have cash on hand to say, ‘I’m giving something right now,’” said Umbach. “For many people this makes it possible to leave a legacy now.”“We call Judith a best friend of the Library,” said Paul McIntyre Royston, President & CEO, Calgary Public Library Foundation. “Calgary and the Library are part of her DNA – she grew up in Calgary, spending her free time at the Library. As an adult, Judith has taken up the Foundation’s bold, audacious vision to transform Calgary Public Library into the best library in the world for Calgarians.”Umbach chaired the Calgary Public Library Board for 8 years of her 12-year tenure and now sits on the Board of Directors of the Calgary Library Foundation and chairs its Council of Champions. She was honoured today with the Library’s announcement of the renaming of the Thorn-Hill Library to the Judith Umbach Library.The naming announcement was part of a grand re-opening celebration. Patrons from throughout the community, along with Mayor Naheed Nenshi, were on hand to witness the official ribbon cutting and tour the completely renovated library.Highlights of the renovation include: a lighter, more open interior; a colourful and inviting children's area, as well as a themed collection and display; shelving complete with dedicated lighting and new easier-to-navigate end panels; and, a new laptop loan program that will, at first augment and then replace, the fixed work stations – allowing patrons to be truly connected and comfortable during their visit.As patrons enter the Judith Umbach Library, they are welcomed by a distinctive wall that honours Judith, her gift, her Calgary-focused photography, and, of course, her favourite book, Jane Eyre.The 7,697-square-foot Judith Umbach Library is located in a multi-service building along a major transportation route and serves the 80,000+ Calgarians living in the communities of Beddington, Huntington Hills, and Thornhill.Judith Umbach is a Founding Partner for Add In, the Campaign for Calgary’s Library, a bold, audacious vision to take a great library system and transform it into the best in the world for Calgarians. The city-wide campaign will build capacity for each and every community library and will include projects with a strong impact for Library customers. For more information, visit www.addin.ca.The Calgary Public Library Foundation was created in 1999 to provide an opportunity for all Calgarians to participate in building a library system for today and future generations. Its vision is to enable the citizens of Calgary to have the best public library in the world.-30-
Read more about "Stories"Norma High, a volunteer who joined the Library in 1974, is so passionate about bringing books to people who can not otherwise access them that she got her whole family involved in the cause.For nearly 44 years, Norma has volunteered with the Libraries in Residence program, delivering books to people in a continuing care facility. Norma, 85, is one of the Library’s longest-serving volunteers.“I have always had a love for books,” Norma said. She loves visiting and bringing books to residents at Carewest Glenmore Park, an Alberta Health Services facility in southwest Calgary. With her background in nursing, Norma is a perfect fit for delivering books to the hospital’s residents.“Volunteering is giving, giving back to the community, giving back because I can,” she said. “We want to put a little bit of sunshine into people’s lives.”Norma’s husband, Bob High, started volunteering with Libraries in Residence in 1985.“Besides delivering books, it was an opportunity to talk about local history and events with the residents,” said Bob, 88. He would sometimes go in place of Norma and went on to build his own relationships with the long-term care residents.“It gives you a lot of satisfaction,” Bob said.Hearing stories from residents and discussing books with them led Norma to share her experiences with her children, and later her grandchildren. Norma started to bring her son and daughter to volunteer with her when they were 13 and 11.During their days off from school and over summer break, Alan High and Glenna High Bagley started to love volunteering. Norma saw her children learn how to share, and in Glenna’s case, she came out of her shell.“I absolutely loved it,” Glenna said. She remembers being initially nervous around elderly people as a child, but she soon came to love delivering books and visiting with people. She said her son, Matthew, was as shy as she was when he started volunteering at the age of eight with his sister Taylor, age ten.“I am so proud of my children and grandchildren,” Norma said.Norma, who is called the “book lady” by hospital residents, found that residents rely on her book delivery every two weeks. One resident said books were more important than her bath, because books were what kept her at peace while in the hospital.Norma and Bob, who have lived in Calgary for 48 years, keep a private collection of every genre of book you can think of. They enjoy travelling and have visited many places in Canada and around the world. On their travels, they pick up books to add to their catalogued collection — the oldest one being from the 1850s.That extensive home library is popular with Norma’s children and grandchildren, who regularly borrow books from it. When they find a book they like and want to “inherit”, they mark it with their own coloured dot.Norma continues to share her love of reading with hospital residents, and plans to for as long as she can — “until I fall over, or until I can’t push the cart anymore,” she said.The High and Bagley families are leaving their three-generation legacy in another way, too. They are commemorating their love of reading and dedication to volunteering with two windows at the new Central Library.We want to know how the Library has made a difference in your life. Submit your own Library Story online.
Read more about "Stories ‘I Give Back Because I Can’ Norma High delivers the joy of reading to others in her Library Story"Back in grade 3, Matthew Tse signed up for the Computer Buddies program through Calgary Public Library and the experience altered the course of his young life.“I remember when I was one of those small buddies, not knowing anything about computers,” says Matthew. “My big buddy taught me everything I wanted to know and more. It was probably one of the best things that had happened in those dreary elementary school days. And so, I like to share with all my 'little buddies' this awesome feeling that I had felt when I was their age.”Soon to start Grade 10 at Western Canada High School, Matthew has been volunteering with the library for three years in the Computer Buddies program.Along with his early positive foray into volunteer supported programs at the Library, his two older siblings spoke highly of their own experience as Library Volunteers. With his mom’s encouragement, Matthew filled out the Volunteer Application.“It’s fun. I meet new people, and I learn new things through coaching,” shares Matthew. “Kids are used to using iPhones, not computers, so it’s great to see their typing improve and to see them having fun learning.”With a love of math and science, Matthew feels that being able to volunteer in a program that matches his interests is more like an extension of his hobbies. While it can be a balancing act to make his schedule work, he believes that it’s not about finding time; it’s about planning ahead and enjoying what he does with every moment of his time.Matthew is not alone. Forty-five per cent of Library Volunteers are between the ages of 12-17. Together with their adult counterparts, they contribute 53,000+ volunteer hours annually and so much more. “I want to demonstrate values like love, patience, commitment, and determination. I show these by patiently coaching my little buddies, and helping them with any challenges they face."
Read more about "Stories Meet our Volunteers: Matthew Tse From little buddy to big buddy, Matthew has a long history with the Computer Buddies program"Find fiction and non-fiction from Alberta publishers, including the Prairie Indigenous ebook Collection.
Read more about "Read Alberta eBooks"Three beginner camps in Blackfoot, Cree, and Michif, the language of the Métis people, are being offered this fall in partnership with the Aboriginal Friendship Centre of Calgary.Language is a crucial part of a culture, and these sessions are intended to help revitalize language within city limits. Teneya Gwin, Indigenous Service Design Lead at the Calgary Public Library, says she hopes people will see it as an opportunity to build community.“The Library is a place where all people are welcome,” Gwin says. “Indigenous people have the chance to reconnect to their language, and non-Indigenous people are introduced to the language.”The camps were full within a few weeks of registration opening, and having a wait list speaks volumes, Gwin says. They had heard from the community that opportunities like this were wanted, and the Library was fortunate to partner with the Aboriginal Friendship Centre on this initiative.“Language is so connected to culture,” Gwin says. “Language is a huge component of who you are as an Indigenous person, and a lot of Indigenous people are at risk of losing their language.”There’s plans to offer intermediate-level gatherings starting in January for Blackfoot, Cree, and Michif, and Gwin says she hopes to be able to offer more Treaty 7 languages in the future.Register for camps like these or view more Library programming at calgarylibrary.ca/programs, accessible with your free Library card.
Read more about "Stories"Marje continues a 35-year involvement with the Library by volunteering
Read more about "Meet our Volunteers: Marje Wing"Explore the joys of reading together
Read more about "10 Tips for Reading with Your Family"A website that helps Albertans better understand the effects of media on their lives.
Read more about "Alberta Association for Media Awareness "When Mona the mouse loses her home in a storm, she finds home and belonging inside a majestic tree in the heart of Fernwood Forest.
Read more about "Heartwood Hotel"Many children struggle with learning how to read. Some kids can read well but choose not to read. For others, learning disabilities can make reading more challenging.In today's world, kids have the option of many other activities that may keep them busy and distracted from reading. From after school activities and sports to the pull of devices, TV, and video games, reading for fun is often forgotten or avoided. Older kids might think reading is boring since they associate it with technical reading, like worksheets and textbooks in school.There are plenty of things to try that can make reading more interesting and exciting to kids. Here are ten tips to try that might help motivate your infrequent reader:1. Reconsider what counts as reading.There are lots of ways to read, including listening! Audiobooks, radio shows, podcasts, oral stories — including sharing stories of your family and family history — are all great ways to explore literacy outside of written materials.2. Let them choose what they want to read.All reading is good reading. Be open to comics, manga, blogs, graphic novels, short stories, magazines, screenplays, picture books (even for big kids), song lyrics, books of world records and fun facts, profiles of musicians, artists and sports heroes, or gross-out science books. Visit your public library in person and online for a huge selection of reading material. Our expert staff would also be happy to help make recommendations based on your child’s reading preferences.3. Avoid banning what they love to read.From comic books with adult themes to serial tween romances, it’s natural for caregivers to be concerned about the content of their child’s books. But banning what they love can discourage reading. Instead, talk about why you think certain books are offensive and invite them to ask questions. Let your child recommend a book to you so you can read it and discuss the book together. Everyone has different tastes, which is part of the joy of being a reader.Concerned about age-appropriate content? Look for an online booklist curated for your child’s age or interests. You can use the “advanced search” function in your library’s online catalogue to search by collection (i.e. Hindi, Biography), format (i.e. Graphic Novel) and Audience (i.e. teen).4. Let your kids see you enjoy reading.Nearly 60% of kids who are frequent readers have parents who read five to seven days per week, compared to only 15% of kids who are infrequent readers (Kids and Family Reading Report – Scholastic, 2017).5. Read together as a family.Make reading a memorable family event. Set aside regular time for reading, whether as a family or each person reading independently near each other. Children whose parents are involved with them in family literacy activities score ten points higher on standardized reading tests.6. Read in your home language. Children who learn to read in their first language have an easier time learning to read in a second language because they better understand the process of reading.7. Try reading something funny!Read dramatically, use costumes and accents, or read joke books to each other. Have fun when reading aloud together! Try not to focus on their mistakes and simply enjoy the book. These staff-recommended books will help you get your giggle on.8. Relax.When we enjoy something, we want to keep doing it — the same applies to reading. Try to make reading as relaxing as possible at home, especially if reading at school is stressful. Have a special snack or read in a special spot. If there’s a movie adaptation of the book, watch the movie together after you’ve finished the book and decide which you liked better.9. Keep reading sessions short and simple.Research shows that when students believe they can achieve a task, they are much more likely to persevere and overcome challenges. Parents can help build their child’s reading confidence by praising their effort rather than their outcomes. Use affirming language throughout the process to show that you enjoy seeing their efforts. Another strategy is to break reading into smaller parts, even just one paragraph at a time, so that success comes quickly and can be celebrated.10. Find a role model for your reader.Research shows that older boys read less than their female peers. Men that model reading to boys can have a positive influence, especially around a shared interest. Sports statistics, LEGO instructions, musician biographies, etc., all count as reading too!
Read more about "Stories 10 Tips for Motivating Your Infrequent Reader The Kitchen Table Classroom: A Series to Support Learning from Home"Looking at art is a personal experience. When looking at art with children, it is important to emphasize that there is no wrong way to interpret it. Everyone sees art differently based on their individual preferences and worldview.Asking thoughtful questions about the art we’re looking at helps us find answers for ourselves, creating a meaningful relationship to the artwork. Inquiry (asking open-ended questions) uses our natural curiosity to help us learn more about the art or object from our unique point of view. This process invites both the caregiver and child to slow down and look more closely. As you look at art together, encourage children to share what they know, sense, and feel. Allowing children to express their thoughts about art helps validate their perspectives and enhances our own experience with the artwork.Here are some examples of questions to ask children when you’re looking at art together. Describe: What do you see? Describe the lines, shapes, colours, textures, objects, people, nature, etc. What materials did the artist use? How did the artist use those materials? Analyze: How is everything put together? Where is your eye drawn to in this image? How did the artist make the image balanced? How does the artist show movement? Is anything repeated? How does the artist show space in the image? Examine: What is the painting about? If you were inside this artwork, what sounds, smells, textures, or tastes would you experience?How does this artwork make you feel? Does it remind you of anything? What is the overall mood of this artwork? Conclude: What do you think? Do you think this is a good work of art, and why? What do you like most? What would you change? Read the recommended titles on our booklist Looking at Art with Children. The collection of non-fiction and fiction titles to get your creative juices flowing.
Read more about "Stories Looking at Art with Children"Join other immigrant women to practice English, make friends and learn about life in Canada. Children are welcome to join their mothers.
Read more about "New Friends & Neighbourhood Groups for Women"