Library Detective

Sunday January 29th, 2012 Is the end nigh?

2012-01-29T06:11:00.000-05:00

According to the positions of the stars on the morning of the spring equinox, the earth is coming to the end of the Age of Pisces, and the Age of Aquarius is dawning. It is the position of zodiacal constellations that indicates the ‘age’ that we are in. Each age lasts something like 2,150 years. There are 12 signs of the zodiac, which makes one cosmic year about 26,000 earth years.These ages

Sunday January 22nd, 2012 Borrowing Library eBooks

2012-01-22T06:05:00.000-05:00

The most popular questions at your Library this past month have been about eBooks. Chances are you or someone you know received an eBook reader, iPad or iPod touch for a holiday gift. In order to help you learn about borrowing eBooks from the Library we have a wealth of information available on our Web site.Library eBooks are delivered to you from a Web site called OverDrive. OverDrive is

Sunday January 15th, 2012 National Hat Day

2012-01-15T06:41:00.000-05:00

Unofficially, today is National Hat Day, the day dedicated to celebrating hats! Often National Hat Day is celebrated by wearing your favourite hat or by wearing many different hats throughout the day. But along with wearing all of your hats, why not head to the library to help with the festivities?For the crafty knitters, the library has several books dedicated to making hats. Hat Heads: 1 Man +

Sunday January 8th, 2012 Top Graphic Novels of 2011

2012-01-08T06:26:00.006-05:00

My personal journey into the world of graphic novels and comics has continued throughout 2011, and I have discovered new titles and series that further convince me of this genre’s value and wide-ranging scope. Some of my very favourite reads this year have used both words and pictures to tell their funny, interesting, and immersive stories:Hark, a Vagrant! by Kate Beaton can be found on any

Monday January 2nd, 2012 The Best of 2011

2012-01-03T13:54:00.008-05:00

It’s that time when we are overwhelmed by top ten lists of films and music albums produced in the past year. Each year, publications such as ‘Rolling Stone’ or ‘Entertainment Weekly’ magazine give its readers their opinion on the best and worst in movie and music culture. Although no top ten list is absolute, here is a taste of some of the best that can be found at Thunder Bay Public Library.10.

Monday December 26, 2011 Follow all Instructions Carefully!

2011-12-26T06:00:00.003-05:00

Most of us have done this: we get a new toy, gadget or whatever, take it out of the box, and play around with it only to realize we don’t know how it works. By this point, we have already thrown out the box with the instructions still inside. With Christmas only yesterday, hopefully you have avoided this disaster and still have the instructions lying around. At the Thunder Bay Public Library, we

Sunday December 18th, 2011 Holidays

2011-12-18T06:37:00.001-05:00

Holidays are drawing nigh and one of the most precious gifts that comes with them is time spent with family and friends. Trying out new activities for the first time and returning to familiar ones also rank high. The Thunder Bay Public Library (TBPL) County Park and Brodie branches are keeping their doors open throughout the holidays for you to come in and browse whatever strikes your fancy.

Sunday December 11th, 2011 Your Library's Online Catalogue

2011-12-11T06:34:00.002-05:00

Your Library’s Online Catalogue, found at mycatalogue.tbpl.ca, or from links on our Web site (www.tbpl.ca), is a versatile tool you can use to find items in the Library’s collection, manage your Library card account and more. The best thing about our Online Catalogue is that it’s available 24/7 from any computer, tablet, smart phone or other device with internet access and a browser.When you

Sunday Decmeber 4th, 2011 Cookies

2011-12-04T06:00:00.001-05:00

Koekje, keks, biscuits, biscotti, galettas, and wafers, what do all of these words have in common? Whether Dutch, German, English, Italian or Spanish all of these cultures and more have a word to represent the Cookie. Historians suggest that the “cookie” was the result of testing the heat of the oven to see if it was ready for the baking of a cake. Bakers would put a little cake batter on a pan

Sunday November 27th, 2011 Historic Photographs

2011-11-29T14:06:00.003-05:00

When I am not working at the Library I enjoy many activities. One of them in genealogy, and another is researching and writing about the local Slovak community. Ironically, both of these personal passions inevitably take me back to the Library for a busman's holiday. It works like this : I find a few negatives in the basement. I identify them as having been taken by my grandfather Louis Mikita

Sunday November 20th, 2011 Library Books for Diabetes Awareness Month

2011-11-20T06:16:00.007-05:00

When most people think about diabetes, they immediately think about type 2. It’s no wonder: over the last few decades there has been an epidemic of type 2 diabetes, leaving the media focused on that form of the disease. But as someone living with type 1, a lot of what the media reports doesn’t directly apply to people like me. Luckily the public library has resources that can help.Unlike type 2,

Sunday November 13th, 2011 Warm Hearts and Cold Noses

2011-11-13T06:16:00.001-05:00

I’ve always been a believer is synchronicity; so when a library patron came in talking about Kitty Care and a few days later I was asked to foster an abandoned kitten for a few days, I knew a library detective column was born. Anyone who has read my columns knows that I love my cats and find them endlessly fascinating, but in truth I simply love anything furry and four legged. The stacks at the

Sunday November 6th, 2011 Sweet Little Treats

2011-11-06T06:46:00.001-05:00

Good things come in small packages. As far as I can tell, nothing embodies this concept better than a book. Within the pages of books there are all manner of surprises, gifts and inspiration. With the fall season upon us and the descent of winter slowly creeping up, why not take a moment to mellow in the sweet little treats that life (and the Library) has to offer.Over the last couple of years

Sunday October 30th, 2011 Don’t turn out the lights: Horror at the Library

2011-10-30T05:29:00.007-05:00

Tomorrow is Halloween, the perfect night for a horror story. Visit one of your Thunder Bay Public Library branches and pick up some terrifying reads. If you are not sure what to start with try one of these scary, scream out loud suggestions.Let’s start with one of the most chilling stories, The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty, published in 1971. No one can explain 11 year old Regan’s strange

Sunday October 23rd, 2011 Witches and Families

2011-10-23T06:23:00.002-05:00

Why do we celebrate Halloween? One reason is that it’s a Celtic pagan holdover of celebrating the change in seasons. Raymond Buckland (The Witch Book: the Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca and Neo-Paganism, 2002) writes, “Samhain...is the name for the Witchcraft Greater Sabbat that falls on November Eve. It is popularly known by non-Witches as Hallowe’en.” According to Buckland this is “the start

Sunday October 16th, 2011 Clutter

2011-10-16T05:49:00.009-05:00

I hate clutter – it’s chaotic and it makes me feel claustrophobic and downright irritable. Trouble is, I’m also not too keen on cleaning it up. And no, it is not because I am lazy. It’s just that cleaning and tidying is the original never-ending story: you clean, it gets messy; you clean, it gets messy, you clean, it ... well, you get the idea. I shudder when I think of the amount of precious

Sunday October 9th, 2011 For the Children

2011-10-09T06:01:00.006-05:00

When I discovered that I would be writing an article for October I decided to do my research and find out what is pertinent to the autumnal month. I discovered that October third is Child Health Day, October eighth is National Children’s Day and October second to the eighth is national School Lunch Week. October tenth is Thanksgiving and the ever popular children’s holiday All Hallows Eve is on

Sunday October 2nd, 2011 International Festival of Authors

2011-10-02T06:33:00.007-05:00

Hopefully you have heard about an exciting event coming up October 16th here in Thunder Bay. The International Festival of Authors Thunder Bay is presented in partnership with Authors at the Harbourfront Centre, International Festival of Authors Ontario, Sleeping Giant Writers Festival, Northern Woman’s Bookstore, Lakehead University, and the Thunder Bay Public Library. We are beyond excited to

Sunday September 25th, 2011 Databases for Young Researchers

2011-09-25T06:21:00.003-05:00

Crisp sunny Fall mornings are upon us, school has started and children everywhere are settling into new grades at school, renewing last year’s friendships and making new ones. Projects and missions of discovery on engaging and intriguing subjects are a big part of the new school year. Why not take a trip to the library and sign your children up for library cards, assuming they don’t already have

Sunday September 18th, 2011 Sharing the Library

2011-09-18T06:38:00.004-05:00

This fall, the Thunder Bay Public Library wants you to share the Library with your friends and family. Every time you bring someone in to apply for a library card or renew their expired card, you will each receive a ballot to win a new Kobo Touch ebook reader (draw to be held Dec. 16). Not only is this a great way to spread the word about our Library, it’s also a great way to get talking about

Sunday September 11th, 2011 Honouring September 11th

2011-09-11T06:01:00.001-05:00

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the first terrorist attack targeting the United States. While we all remember where we were during that historic day, only a few experienced it firsthand. The rest of us watched from a distance, keeping vigil by our televisions; we empathized with the families and the victims, but it is difficult for us to really imagine what it was like for those directly

Sunday, September 4th TBPL has an App for That!

2011-09-04T06:34:00.002-05:00

“There’s an app for that” has become a catch phrase. There are Apps to help you do just about anything, from playing games to remembering the milk. Apps are programs that work with smart phones (cell phones with internet access) and other portable devices like iPods and iPads. Your Library has a few Apps which can help you connect with some of our online resources. Imagine you’re tinkering

Sunday, August 28th A Traditional and Scientific Look at Fasting

2011-08-28T06:30:00.004-05:00

In Anishnaabeg culture, fall is traditionally a time of a special fast. In other cultures and spiritual traditions, too, fasting is used as a means of making people spiritually strong. The following is a brief overview of some of the information the Thunder Bay Public Library has available related to fasting. According to Basil Johnston, an Ojibway Elder and writer, fasting was a means of

Sunday, August 21, Paddle-to-the-Sea

2011-08-21T06:30:00.013-05:00

Some books have a strong impact on a child’s imagination. Of those, there are a few that continue to resonate throughout one’s life. Those are the ones which one remembers most fondly, and which surprise us as adults when we see them again. Suddenly we are awash in memories of how excited we were during the reading, and how much it meant to us at that time. One such classic book, and the classic

Sunday August 14, 2011 Play Away with Playaways

2011-08-14T11:20:00.005-05:00

I’ve never been shy about sharing my love of audiobooks and I have a particular love of Playaways. Playaways are portable audiobooks; all you need is a battery and a set of headphones. In my opinion, the best thing is that there’s no disc to be scratched, so you’re guaranteed to get to listen to the whole story. What can you do with a Playaway? You can listen to a book while weeding the

Sunday August 7th, 2011 Novels from the Land of Spices

2011-08-07T05:35:00.002-05:00

Everyone has a bucket list of things they’d like to do before they pass away. While some of the items on my list have been dropped and others added, there are a few constants; like a hot air balloon journey, a ride in a gondola in Venice and a trip to India. I first became fascinated by the land of spices when I was about eight, reading the novels of Rudyard Kipling. Trekking through the jungle

Sunday July 31st, 2011 Neil Young and Company

2011-07-31T06:17:00.008-05:00

When it comes to the music scene, Canada has always been well regarded as a country full of talented musicians. Whether your taste lays in rock, pop, folk, indie or any combination of the above, you can be sure there is a Canadian musician that will more than just pique your interest. And where better than to start your hunt for your new muse than at the Thunder Bay Public Library. Let us start

Sunday July 24th, 2011 Exercise Caution when Researching Medical Information Online

2011-07-24T06:45:00.001-05:00