You can make up to five suggestions for titles using the suggest for purchase link on our website.
Learn about reading levels and tips for picking out books with our staff.
Read more about "How to Choose the Right Book for Your Child"Learn about reading levels and tips for picking out books with our staff.
Read more about "How to Choose the Right Book for Your Child"November is Picture Book Month. How many books from this list have you read with your little one?
Read more about "A Picture Book Celebration"Kelly Hendrickson Only recently becoming a fan of jazz, Kelly began performing after participating in a few vocal workshops at the suggestion of a friend. This lead to...
Read more about "International Jazz Day: Kelly Hendrickson Duo"Two years ago, Michelle Robinson started an Indigenous-focused book club called Chapters & Chat, inspired by the federal government's #IndigenousReads initiative. The book club continues to meet monthly at Forest Lawn Library, where free meeting space is available, to share coffee, snacks, and great conversation. "This book club has changed my life," Michelle says. "It shows me with each session the willingness and desire for reconciliation."We want to know how the Library has made a difference in your life. Submit your own Library Story online.
Read more about "Stories ‘Inclusive as we can to all people’ Michelle Robinson inspires reconciliation with her Library Story"Decodable and dyslexia-friendly books that use phonics for young readers.
Read more about "Dyslexia friendly books for kids"When Susan Calder’s husband was transferred to Calgary for work in 1996, she was happy to make the move with her young family. But, unfamiliar with her new city, she struggled to find reasons to get out of the house.“I wasn’t working when we first moved here — I was just writing, and spending time with the kids. So I really needed something to keep me active, keep me social,” she says.Her solution came during a trip to Fish Creek Library, when she picked up a copy of the Library’s program guide and noticed a listing for a book club. “I’d never been in a book club before, but I’d always been interested in the concept. It seemed the logical thing to do as a book lover,” she says.Susan fell in love with the club immediately. Not only did it give her a way to make new friends in Calgary, but she discovered that the group was full of people who shared her interest in and love of stories. They offered her a different way of looking at the written word, which helped her to improve her craft as an aspiring author.“It’s been incredibly useful to me as a writer,” she says, “because it’s a look at writing from the reader’s perspective. I can see how almost no book is loved by everybody — no matter how well written. You start to understand that it's really all a matter of taste, and you feel a lot better when people don’t like your work.”At 23 years, Susan is one of the longest-attending members of the book club. While her book club has since become too popular to accept new members, the Library offers other book discussion groups. “What’s really nice about the group is that we often disagree heartily, but there’s never any ill-will about it,” she says of her tight-knit reading community. “We respect each other, and the divergence of opinions is quite lovely. People come away with a bit more of an appreciation for the book, and each other's point of view. You feel like you’ve stretched a bit, and grown, for having read outside of your comfort zone."A New Book Club MemberLittle did Susan realize that her passion for the club wasn’t going unnoticed. Although her husband was an avid reader, she never would have imagined him wanting to join a book club. It came as a total shock when, shortly after he retired in 2007, he asked her if he could tag along to a meeting. “I’d go out on book club day, come home and tell him about some of the discussions — the people, what they had to say. I didn’t really realize that all these years I had basically been selling the book club to him.” Unsure if her husband, who mostly read murder-mystery novels, would be on the same page as her literary-loving friends, Susan was hesitant to allow him to join her, but eventually, she gave in. Luckily for both Susan and her husband, her fears never materialized. Her husband has been a member of the club for over a decade now, even volunteering to lead discussions on the occasion that the group pursues a murder-mystery.“We don’t often talk about the books before the club meets, because we don’t want to influence each other’s opinions,” she says, “We’re able to approach it as individuals. But we do sometimes like to talk about them after, and it’s a social event as well, so it gives us something extra in common that we can do together.”More PossibilitiesThe Library is about much more than books for Susan and her family. “When we moved to Calgary, the opportunities just opened up. There were more possibilities for me to engage with the Library. There was more offered to me,” she says.Aside from attending her monthly book club, she also sharpens her writing skills with workshops and writing programs, attending several each month. She and her husband frequently borrow DVDs and CDs to watch movies and listen to music, and once attended Tech Mentors for three weeks in a row to get help fixing their computer.“Right now, we’re planning a trip to Italy,” she says, “so I’ve just taken out a series of audiobooks and things to try to learn a few essential words of Italian before we go.”Susan also likes to give back to the Library, and frequently shares her talents through panel discussions and readings of her work. Now an accomplished local author, Susan discussed her latest book, To Catch a Fox, in May at the Writing as Medicine program, and will discuss her contributions to the literary art exhibit Print(ed) Word: The Salon Series, which is displayed in the Central Library's TD Great Reading Room, in August.We want to know how the Library has made a difference in your life. Submit your own Library Story online.
Read more about "Stories 'The Opportunities Just Opened Up' A book club at the Library was the beginning of Susan Calder's Library Story"Listen to authors talk about their books and listen to discussions about art, politics, Indigenous affairs and more.
Read more about "Books and Ideas "Family Reading Kits are now available at six Library locations. Featuring four different titles for school-age children and one picture book, the kits include discussion questions to spark lively conversation, related activities, and more staff-recommended titles to keep reading as a family.
Read more about "Start a family book club"Have you ever wondered how a book gets added to our collection? Learn more about our Selectors as we show you just how a book gets on our shelves.
Read more about "How are our books selected?"10 Ideas for Kids to Learn More about Treaty 7 and Métis Culture This Summer
Read more about "Diverse and Inclusive Books"Family Reading Kits are now available at six Library locations. Featuring four different titles for school-age children and one picture book, the kits include discussion questions to spark lively conversation, related activities, and more staff-recommended titles to keep reading as a family.
Read more about "Start a family book club"Fast-paced fiction, graphic novels, updated classics, and even a cookbook are on this recommended list of 25 books to get kids excited to read.
Read more about "Books to Hook Middle Grade Readers"Blackfoot authors share their stories that come from legend and from their personal experiences, with many of the stories translated into English from Blackfoot. The book is...
Read more about "Book Launch for Siksikaitsitapi - Stories of the Blackfoot"Listen and read-along to animated story books for young children. Play games and watch videos from National Geographic. You will even find a selection of French picture books.Not sure how to start? Watch the tutorial on Niche Academy: TumbleBook Library tutorial.
Read more about "Practice your reading with fun stories for kids."