News from New Brunswick / Nouvelles du Nouveau-Brunswick
Submitted by Nadine Goguen
PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Fundy Library Region
The 10 libraries in the Fundy Library Region offered a variety of programs and contests during this year’s Canadian Library Month.
Author Melynda Jarratt launched and read from her new book Captured Hearts: New Brunswick’s War Brides at the St. Croix Public Library in October.
The East Branch Library in Saint John held a special celebration on October 15th with its 40th anniversary event. Mayor Ivan Court and MLA Roly McIntyre paid tribute to the library’s years of valuable service to the community. Regional Director Ian Wilson said those present were moved when “a longstanding patron presented a heartfelt tribute to staff and the services provided, emphasizing the important role the East Branch has played in her life.”
At the Saint John Free Public Library, Cape Breton author Brian Tucker, recent nominee for the 2008 Amazon.com First Novel Award, read from his work Big White Knuckles. Accompaniment of live Cape Breton music added extra atmosphere to the program. Sci-fi and fantasy author K.V. Johansen also read from her works, as well as offered a writing workshop for teens, as part of the Canadian Library month activities.
New signage on the library’s brick façade overlooking the Atrium at Market Square is now catching the eyes of Saint John residents. Huge bold letters indicate it is the public library, while the book shelves framing the windows are enhanced with bright graphics of giant library books. The goal of the Library Board, said Director Joann Hamilton-Barry is to have “everyone in the greater Saint John area know that there is a public library in Market Square.“ The addition of new street signs offering directions to the City’s three public libraries will also aid in reaching this goal.
Albert-Westmorland-Kent Library Region
The Moncton Public Library held its successful annual fundraiser on October 26th, Magnum Opus. The event included the very popular author and forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, a silent auction and a local artists’ art auction which all raised over 20,000$ to help the library buy new books.
All staff in the region participated in the annual Regional Training Day on November 28th. Strategic planning was the main theme of the day. All libraries are presently working on developing their 5 year plans. This is fostered by a New Brunswick Public Library Service initiative and its five library regions.
A-W-K said goodbye to Thérèse Arseneault, the Head of Reference Services at the Moncton Public Library who retired on November 29th. Thérèse began work in our region in 1974, fresh out of McGill Library School and her name became synonymous with reference services in New Brunswick. We also said farewell to Yolande Thivierge, a well-loved library assistant at the Shediac Public Library since 1992.
We welcomed new employees: Nicole Bourque at the Shediac Public Library and Marianne LeBlanc at the Dieppe Public Library, both library assistants.
Haut-Saint-Jean Library Region
This fall has been busy with training, Canadian Libraries Month activities and celebrating important milestones.
Staff in the region attended training sessions on Microsoft Excel, Outlook and Publisher and picked up some great new tips and tricks to make their work easier. Pierre Van Eeckhout, Head of Reference Services, trained staff on the new information literacy toolkit for New Brunswick Public Library Service, called Info Savvy. This toolkit is customizable for different ages, group sizes and topics of interest.
La Bibliothèque publique Mgr-Plourde à Saint-François a fêté son 25e anniversaire le 3 octobre. La communauté a participé en grand nombre.
Libraries celebrated Canadian Libraries Month by launching the new Adult Literacy Collection, offering special family activities, information sessions and workshops based on the theme “Your Library, Your World”. More than 1725 people attended activities in the region throughout the month!
Nous avons dit au revoir à Lucille Pineault, aide-bibliothécaire à la Bibliothèque Dr-Lorne-J.-Violette de Saint-Léonard qui a pris sa retraite le 31 octobre après 30 ans de services. Nous lui souhaitons nos meilleurs vœux pour le futur.
Avec le départ de Lucille, nous sommes contents d’accueillir Lore-Anne Carroll comme aide-bibliothécaire à Saint-Léonard. Bienvenue dans la région !
York Library Region
The York Library Region enjoyed a very successful Canadian Libraries Month. Our central resource library, Fredericton Public Library, celebrated with a focus on the 100th anniversary of the publication of Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. Authors Budge Wilson and Elizabeth Epperly introduced their new books, Before Green Gables and Imagining Anne, at a special book launch and afternoon tea. As well, an adult puppet show entitled Anne and Gilbert Remember When was performed. Five of the library’s active book clubs also read and discussed the work. Most importantly, there was plenty of raspberry cordial for everyone!
The official opening of the newly renovated McAdam Public Library was held on November 4th. The event was a true community celebration: a choir from the McAdam Elementary School performed, the Rev. Kevin Cross officiated and volunteers from the Legion provided refreshments and snacks. The opening was well attended by McAdam residents with every seat in the audience full. Special guests included Senator Marilyn Trenholme Counsell, Carl Urquhart, MLA, York South and Sylvie Nadeau, Executive Director, New Brunswick Public Library Service.
The York Library Region and the Fredericton Public Library participated in the Literacy Fair held at Old Government House on November 6th. The event was a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Literacy Coalition of New Brunswick. We enjoyed the opportunity to promote the new provincial Adult Literacy Collection and public library services available to all New Brunswickers.
NBPLS - SBPNB
The New Brunswick Public Library Service Provincial Office (NBPLS) has had a busy fall and we are happy to report that some major initiatives are well underway!
Public libraries throughout the province are launching their comprehensive computer literacy tool, Compy Savvy. Compu Savvy is a toolkit focusing on computer-based training sessions including basic keyboarding and mouse skills, email, the internet, and Microsoft Office Word and Power Point. The toolkit consists of a series of modules that facilitate self-instruction, one-on-one tutorials, and group learning seminars. Compu Savvy is available to the public through workshops offered by reference librarians.
A training session was recently held for Regional Staff on using LibPAS, a statistics gathering tool developed by Counting Opinions. The new tool will allow NBPLS to automate the collection and publication of statistics.
In November, the integrated library system was upgraded to the most recent version, Symphony 3.2.1. The Director’s Station module, a reporting tool, was implemented this year, and we are currently engaged in piloting and rolling out additional modules, including Inventory, Selection Lists, and the Outreach module.
Also on the technology front, NBPLS Provincial Office was pleased to enhance its online catalogue, Vision, with cover art and other content enrichment via Google’s free tool, the Google Book Search Viewability API. Now, when patrons view the details of a book that is included in Google Books, they also see the cover art of the book and a link to more information.
NBPLS Provincial Office is in the midst of a special project to catalogue Canadian content in Project Gutenberg. By linking to these free e-books from cataloguing records in Vision, we hope to enhance patrons’ awareness of these resources.
ACADEMIC LIBRARIES
Université de Moncton
Publication d’un article du bibliothécaire Joë Bouchard sur l’imaginaire du Nord
Un article de Joë Bouchard, bibliothécaire à la Bibliothèque Champlain, a récemment été publié dans l’ouvrage Les Nord(s) imaginaire(s) (Presses de l’Université du Québec, 2008). Amorcé dans le cadre d’une maîtrise en études littéraires, l’article analyse la déconstruction de l’imaginaire nordique à l’œuvre dans une série de courtes fictions de l’auteur danois Jørn Riel, intitulée les Racontars arctiques.
Le collectif Les Nord(s) imaginaire(s) regroupe les articles de plus de vingt universitaires originaires notamment du Canada, d’Espagne, de Finlande, de France, d’Israël et de Suède. Il témoigne de l’émergence de la nordicité comme domaine de recherche en littérature, mais aussi en arts visuels et en études cinématographiques.
