Endangered Language

Distribution of language families and isolates north of Mexico at first contact. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Most of us probably never think about the language we speak, unless we’re visiting another country and find it difficult to communicate.  But what if you spoke a language that had slowly died out with all of the people who ever knew it, until you were the only person who could still speak it?

 

Even worse…what if there was someone else who also knew the language, but refused to speak to you?

 

This isn’t such an improbable scenario.  In Mexico, for example,  there are many indigenous languages that are slowly fading away as the population ages.  One such language is called Ayapaneco—spoken in the town of Apaya, Mexico for generations. Unfortunately, the language is about to disappear as only two men still speak it…and they refuse to talk to each other.  Linguists have stepped in and are trying to convince the men to converse with each other so that the vocabulary, diction and accent may be recorded and studied, in hopes of preserving it. But the men just don’t seem to get along.

 

It’s not clear why the men refuse to talk to each other…maybe a feud or maybe they just don’t have a lot in common…but if no one is able to get them chatting, Ayapaneco is just one of many languages that will probably disappear in this generation. There are probably similar languages in the area, as is common with indigenous peoples, and linguists might be able to piece together some aspects in order to preserve parts of it. But it would be much easier if they had a little help, of course.

 

One might argue that the English language has evolved and changed so much through generations (and is still changing), that it might be hardly recognizable to someone who spoke it 500 years ago, let’s say. The advent of computers and the use of spell check and short forms and the like has certainly changed the written form. Could massive changes to the spoken word be far behind? Could it be that someday, someone will be lamenting over the loss of English?  It seems unlikely, I know, but it makes you stop and think about communication and language in a new way when you hear stories like this.  You can read more on the story of the Mexican village and the men who are willing to let their language die out, right here.

 

Would YOU refuse to talk to someone if you were the only two people who knew a language?

 

World Book Night 2013

Tonight is World Book Night in the US and the UK. It’s a wonderful idea where people go into the community on the night of April 23rd, and give out free paperbacks to people who might not be big readers.  The organizers hope to forge community spirit, make ties between people and also promote literacy.  Books are donated by libraries, bookstores, through financial donations and personal donations.

There are selected books, so it’s not just about giving away those worn out Harlequins your Aunt Madge has sitting on her bookshelves. This year, some of the books include Tracy Chevalier’s THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING, Ray Bradbury’s FARENHEIT 451, John Green’s LOOKING FOR ALASKA and Nora Roberts’ MONTANA SKY. Book givers sign up early, and then pick up a stack of books from a designated post on the night of the 23rd.

You can read a great blog post about ways to get ready for this fun evening right here.  There are library events, author readings and even events online (check out the Facebook pages).

Right now, there are no official planned events for Canadian cities, but maybe next year. This event seems to be growing (in the US, there were only 2 events last year compared with 28 official events this year). It’s a wonderful idea and certainly something to get a community excited, while promoting literacy and books at the same time. Will you follow it online or attend one of the events? Let us know!

We’re Back!

After an exciting and hectic four days in Toronto, we’re back from the Ontario Library Association’s Super Conference 2013!

After starting out on a foggy and slightly icy morning, we made it to the train station in Smiths Falls and headed out on our journey.

If you haven’t taken the train before, it’s always a comfortable way to travel, with free wi-fi and frequent snack cart visits to get you through the journey. We passed through snow and rain and fog and sunshine, and got to our destination in great time.

I’ll have to admit, the train ride was the easiest part of the trip that day. After checking into our hotel and a quick bite to eat, we were off to visit the Whitehots showroom to purchase books. Let’s just say it was an interesting cab ride out to Mississauga.  But once there, we found LOTS of great books, friendly staff and got down to the business of loading up our carts with books.  While we left a few books on the shelves, we can’t wait until our boxes arrive back here at the library. Then, it’ll be down to work to get them all into our system and onto the shelves. Fun!

Back at the hotel, we made our way to the Conference Center and checked in.  If you can imagine thousands of librarians in one space, this was it.  Excitement was in the air and we were all looking forward to getting down to all the plenary sessions, author visits, presentations and poster sessions. Vendors were busy setting up the Expo which we’d all attend at least at one point during the conference, to view books & products and to meet with the wonderful people who keep libraries current and relevant.

Janet and I headed back to our room after a nice dinner with librarians from Smiths Falls, and we poured over the catalog to see what sessions we’d be attending the next day. Exciting!

Stay tuned for more information on the sessions we attended, people we saw and things we learned. It was a great week!

Educate, Entertain, Empower!

In the last part of January, we’re off to Super Conference 2013 in Toronto, the annual conference for all things librarian! We spend three days going to workshops, listening to amazing speakers, and visiting the country’s largest library trade show. It’s a lot of fun and we come away with plenty of great new ideas for programs, policies and most importantly…our patrons. It helps us make our library better, stronger and more relevant in our community, so we’re lucky to be able to attend year after year.

And while the conference is still over a month away, we are busy choosing which workshops we want to attend. And believe me, it’s difficult to choose; there are SO many exciting options. If the events aren’t cancelled or too full, I’m looking forward to attending a Forest of Reading® winners showcase where authors talk about their experiences with the program, and another one called Confessions of a Social Media Librarian. And Janet is thrilled to be able to hear her favourite author, Louise Penny, speak. Maybe she’ll even get an autograph! (I’m bringing my camera, Janet, so we’ll get a picture if that happens!)

You can drop by the website and see all of the wonderful things happening during our stay in Toronto.  We’ll post lots on our Facebook page as it happens and then do a recap when we get back in February, but you might find it interesting to see everything we’ll be up to.  And mark your calendars, because if past years are any indication, there will be a massive snowstorm here in Carleton Place that Wednesday, January 30th morning.

 

We’re Looking for Babies!

We’re getting closer to the start of our Babytime session at the library. We still have some spaces for this great program which is part of the Baby Time for Lanark County project, funded by the Government of Ontario.

The session will run every Wednesday morning at 11am for six weeks, beginning February 6th through March 13th. Your child MUST be 0 – 12 months old within that entire period. The program is free, but registration is required as spaces are limited. Please give us a call or email us at cplibrarykids@yahoo.ca if you’d like to attend.  It’s going to be a fun six weeks!

An Unexpected Journey

Tomorrow, most of the world will finally be able to enjoy the release of Peter Jackson’s film, THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY (based on the book by J.R.R Tolkien, of course). The prequel to Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, this movie will follow the story of Bilbo Baggins 60 years before Frodo leaves the Shire for his adventure of a lifetime. For fans of the books and/or the movies, this is a long awaited beginning to another trilogy that is sure to set box-office records and net Jackson many awards.

The website has a lot of great information if you’re a big fan of the movies, including downloads, videos and games. It’s a great way to immerse yourself in the movie or reacquaint yourself with the book (it’s slightly changed) if you want to be ready.  I don’t think I’ll hit the theatre on the release date but I’ll certainly go to see it over the holidays at some point.  It’s kind of nice to expect movies for the next few Decemebers.

If you’re in New York City this December, Radio City Music Hall will be hosting the final installment of The Lord of the Rings in Concert, a live performance of the score while the film airs onscreen!  There are also numerous performance dates across the US, so visit the site to find out more information.  I can’t even imagine how difficult it would be to time the music to the movie in a live performance, but it would be incredibly exciting to see/hear it all happen at once. Such a special way to round out the holidays.

These two events may not be your cup of tea, but you could also go lo-tech and settle down with the original novel, THE HOBBIT, and become immersed in the story for the first time, or the tenth time. Enjoy!