Category Archives: Library

Travel Planning, Coincidence and (Another) Once In A Lifetime Experience

Recently, at my library, I delivered a program called “Trip Planning 2.0: How To Research Your Vacation Online” where I gave registrants a “guided tour” of some the most useful sites for trip planning, both well-known (Google, TripAdvisor) and lesser-known (Reddit, FourSquare). (The program was basically an expanded version of a blog post I did […]

Throwback Thursday – #tbt – 1987 RPL Newsletter

A co-worker retired this week and brought a copy of the internal staff newsletter that featured her on its cover back in 1987!

Some Resonant, Relevant Quotes on Free Speech and the Charlie Hebdo Massacre From The #MetaFilter Thread #jesuischarlie

So I wrote about the Charlie Hebdo massacre in a rather rambling manner the other day. I’m still thinking about what happened a lot – the conflict between unrestrained freedom of speech defenders (here!) and a sort of “Can’t we all get along/be kind and non-offensive to everyone” reaction which I have some sympathy to but […]

Music Monday – Honoring Our Parents: The Legacy of Residential Schools

There’s a popular story making the rounds on social media to help people in positions of privilege understand exactly what the concept means and what it affords them. The essence of the story is that a high school teacher sets a recycling bin at the front of the room then gives his students wads of paper […]

Christmas Eve Closing Hours for Canadian Public Libraries

Earlier this fall, I had occasion to do some research on the Christmas Eve closing hours of various Canadian public libraries. (Not all libraries post their Christmas Eve hours since it’s not a full “Closed Day” in most places, only a partial day so I was thankful for those that did provide this information.   […]

Why Librarians Defend The Right To Watch Porn at the Library

This is a great article on an important topic but my short answer is this: “Beyond limits set by the existing laws of the land, no one should have right to tell anyone else what they can read/watch/listen to.  Period.” To expand on this a bit… I’ve seen patrons watching things that are a lot […]

Throwback Thursday – #tbt – @OfficialRPL Christmas Party (December 2009)

Hard to believe that this weekend will be the seventh RPL Christmas Party I’ve attended. Here’s some pics from one of the first ones I attended back in 2009… Pace and his daddy in one of my favourite ever pictures of the two of us…   The assembled kids and parents watching a magician perform […]

“Management By Blurt”

I’m always developing personal theories to explain the world as I experience it.  One of my latest is the concept of “Management By Blurt”. What I mean by this is that I’ve increasingly noticed how many people have a very human tendency to “blurt” out an answer when questioned or pressed on an issue, whether our answer […]

What Book Publishers Can Learn From Luxury Brands

Here’s an interesting argument from the Globe & Mail that book publishers hurt themselves right out of the gate by allowing retailers to set the terms (discounts, merchandising, etc.) by which their books – even the high-demand latest releases – are sold. It goes on to say that publishers should act like luxury good brands […]

Friday Fun Link – Book With No Pictures

One of those “Why didn’t I think of that ?” ideas. So clever…