Most Libraries have community meeting rooms that you can book with your library card. Visit Book a Meeting Space for more information.
As a little kid in the 1980s, I had assumed public libraries only existed on television — that they were part of a dream world that was totally unattainable in my own life as a child of Chinese immigrants. But when I was eight-years-old, a friend’s mother suggested we go get some books at the Library. In Calgary? Really? We had more than just school libraries here?Roaming among shelf after shelf of books, I was hooked. I memorized the location of the Thorncliffe Library (now called Judith Umbach Library) and asked my mother to bring me back for my own Library card the following week. For a shy bookish girl, it was a dream come true.I read almost everything, but my favourite books were by Beverly Cleary, Roald Dahl, and Judy Blume. As I got older I enjoyed reading The Baby-Sitters Club, Sweet Valley High, and other series. It was a treat to find them at the Library, since $3.95 for a book was pretty much an impossible sum of money to me as a kid.Now as a mother of three, I have become a regular Library user again. At first, I signed up for a card so I could attend a baby class at Country Hills Library with my eldest, but then I got the Library app on my phone and everything changed.It’s so easy to put books on hold through the app, and it has revitalized my reading. Last year I read 64 books, and most of those books were from the Library. I bring my kids to Country Hills Library at least every other week — sometimes more! — and they love to pick out all sorts of reading material. We take out about 20 books at a time. My girls, ages eight and seven, are big readers, and my three-year-old also loves to be read to. The Library has always represented limitless possibility to me — so many books waiting to be read — and all that reading has inspired me to write my own book manuscript, a graphic memoir on postpartum depression. While working on the book, I borrowed a lot of graphic novels and memoirs from the Library so I could get a good sense of other books in the genre. And I just want to say that whoever is responsible for acquiring graphic novels for the Library is doing an excellent job. The Library has been an invaluable resource for me both personally and professionally.Follow Teresa and view her drawings on Instagram at @by_teresawong.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 Read Almost Everything" Discovering the Library was a dream come true in Teresa Wong's Library Story"Eleven-year-old Esandi Babaranda loves Calgary’s libraries. She has been visiting libraries weekly for the past four years, ever since her family moved to Calgary from Vancouver.Esandi goes to Crowfoot Library, in the city’s northwest, most often. “It’s beautiful here,” she says.It’s hard for Esandi to pick her favourite thing about Crowfoot Library, because there is so much she likes to do.She enjoys reading, especially the Magic Tree House and Dragon Masters series. Her preferred reading nook at Crowfoot Library reminds her of the comfy leather couch she likes to read on at home.“I like that you can read quietly in those little cubicles,” Esandi says. “It’s my little secret hideout.” She also loves to play at the Library. “The best thing here is the family zone. I spend time with my brother, dad, and mom, making puzzles, playing on the play structures, and participating in Library activities,” she says. Esandi’s six-year-old brother Warun likes playing games on the play structure, joining Library programs, and reading books. Their father Lanka is also a big fan of libraries. Originally from Sri Lanka, he appreciates that Calgary’s libraries are about much more than books.“There’s tremendous opportunities here, for connecting with people, for joining programs,” he says. He has joined a Toastmasters club that meets at Crowfoot Library and taken online classes with Gale Courses.Esandi also gets weekly visits from the Library to her elementary school, thanks to the Book Truck. Esandi likes that she can return books she checked out from Crowfoot Library to the Book Truck, or sign out new books inside the mobile Library.Crowfoot Library is also a good place to study for school, Esandi says. Sometimes she studies at home using Solaro, an online Library resource that has course lessons, reviews, and practice tests. “It’s helped me lots,” she says.For Esandi, the Library is like a good friend. “I’m proud to be a friend of the Library,” she says.We want to know how the Library has made a difference in your life. Submit your own Library Story online.
Read more about "Stories ‘A Friend of the Library’ Esandi Babaranda explores everything a library can offer in her Library Story"Mug of cocoa? Check! Fuzzy blankets? Check! Feel-good book? Look no further — we've got you covered!
Read more about "The Snuggle is Real"2021 gave us some excellent books for youngsters under five. Check out our top picks!
Read more about "Top 10 Titles for Little Readers"Longer nights means ample time for moon gazing! Share the wonder of the night sky with these beautiful picture books.
Read more about "Harvest Moon"This website offers a convenient location to organize, plan, and track your book club’s meetings, reading progress, and more.
Read more about "Bookclubs.com"Get excited about this snowy season by cuddling close and diving into these delightful picture books.
Read more about "Wonderful Winter!"Get excited about this snowy season by cuddling close and diving into these delightful picture books.
Read more about "Wonderful Winter"Materials can be returned inside when the Library is open. Exterior book return chutes also remain open during and after open hours at most Library locations.
Read more about "Returns, Holds, and Fines"Wordfest presents best-selling author Jody Wilson-Raybould & her timely new book, True Reconciliation: How to Be a Force for Change. For those who want to be genuine allies & join...
Read more about "Wordfest presents Jody Wilson-Raybould"We were a large and connected community. We turned to books and read a lot. We found new ways to connect safely. The Digital Library became even more important. We gathered to learn and interact online.
Read more about "Stories A Look Back at the Past Year at Calgary Public Library Over the past year, we've altered and innovated our services, adapted to a new normal, and come together as a community."We were a large and connected community. We turned to books and read a lot. We found new ways to connect safely. The Digital Library became even more important. We gathered to learn and interact online.
Read more about "Stories A Look Back at the Past Year at Calgary Public Library Over the past year, we've altered and innovated our services, adapted to a new normal, and come together as a community."Here’s your invitation to spend an entire evening with the 2020 Booker Prize-winning author. Wordfest’s Opening Night Showcase, which includes an audience Q&A and book signing...
Read more about "IMAGINARIUM by wordfest: An Evening with Douglas Stuart"Suzy is an editor, writing coach, and the author of “The Fountain” series. She is very involved in the Calgary writing community, and founded the Wicked Good Fiction Bootcamp, a virtual program for writers completing their first book.
Read more about "Suzy Vadori"Aboard Calgary Public Library’s Story Truck, you’ll find storytime, song and rhymes, play time, and of course books — all for children from 0 to five years of age.
Read more about "Library on wheels"