We’re going batty!

Yesterday morning I came to work and as I reached the front door of the library, I was surprised to see this little guy just hanging out, right beside the front doors.

I don’t know how long he’ll be there, but he seems to be having a good old sleep right now anyway.  So, want to know more about bats? (I’m not convinced that I really do, but here goes.)

We have a large number of books on bats at the library such as this little gem about Vampire Bats by Barbara A. Somervill:

Canadian author Kenneth Oppel has written a fabulous series for kids written from a bat’s perspective starting with Silverwing. He also has a fun website based on the series and you can take a look at it here.

If you are interested in more information about bats in general, there are a few websites that you can visit such as Bat Conservation International, Bat Conservation Society of Canada, and Bats for Kids, a website for kids only.

Go batty!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Two of my little storytime Turkeys!

It is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada once again, and we’re hoping for some beautiful weather in Carleton Place.  The sun is supposed to shine and the temperatures have warmed up considerably, so it should be great for all those families traveling.  This past week, we made turkey masks during storytime and each little gobbler left here wearing their feathers.

Canadian Thanksgiving is held on the 2nd Monday in October, no matter what the date.  The funny thing is, although we all know a lot about the American Thanksgiving story, most Canadians would be hard pressed to tell you what our Thanksgiving is about.  We honestly don’t learn the real story when we are in school, but instead learn about the Pilgrims and the American holiday. In fact, there are many claims to Thanksgiving, all of which are quite different stories and some which are still argued about today. So I am providing a few Canadian facts here, courtesy of a site called Proud Canadian Kids.

Thanksgiving in Canada can be traced back to Ontario in the mid 1880’s.  It was actually started by a group of Protestants who wanted to take on the tradition of the American Thanksgiving, but give it a religious twist which excluded Catholics, the poor and many minority groups.  Of course, it failed miserably on those criteria, as the government, church and commerce each tried to take hold of the holiday. The church lost total control of the holiday once the government proclaimed it a national holiday, and it became more commercial, adopting the American traditions.  You can read more about it here:

http://www.proudcanadiankids.ca/Canadian%20Thanksgiving%20Truth.htm#Weird%20Turkey

We will all be eating yummy turkey dinners this weekend, very similar to the Americans in November.  But the controversy……is it stuffing or dressing? Some say that it is called stuffing when you actually put it inside the bird, and dressing when you cook it in a pan outside of the bird.  Others think it is just a regional preference. Either way, it is a great part of the turkey tradition.

And just how did the pumpkin pie idea start? Apparently the Pilgrims took the large gourd and hollowed it out, filled it with cream or milk and then baked it until it was soft.  It wasn’t until many years later that we simplified the recipe to become a pie. (Or maybe theirs was easier?  Certainly not as tasty!) Did you know that pumpkins were originally just native to North and Central America but are now grown on six of the seven continents? (They don’t grow them in Antarctica.) You can find out more of these fascinating facts about pumpkins at this site.

So Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating this weekend!

Should books go on a diet?

Are books getting too long?  Often, writers are sticking us with books that are 400 – 600 pages and this can be both good and bad for the reader.  On the good side, if we are enjoying a book, it’s nice to have a long story so that we can live with the book for some time.  On the bad side, however, it becomes difficult for older people to hold longer and therefore heavier books, and since many people read in bed, a huge book becomes a hindrance sometimes.  So are books too long?

Scott MacDonald wrote a fascinating article in the book magazine “Quill & Quire” about the length of books being published in Canada right now.  “The End of the Alphabet”  by C. S. Richardson which was published by Doubleday Canada recently became a surprise hit, many believe due to the fact that it was such a short book….only 160 pages long.  Over this past year, MacDonald says that Canadian publishers put out only a handful of novels that were around the 160 page length of the Richardson book, and only a few dozen more that came in under 300 pages.  The vast majority of Canadian fiction (and probably fiction in general) is between 300 – 450 pages.  “Books are as long as they need to be,” one publisher believes.  But why are the little books making such a surprising showing?

Our society today is so busy that many people just don’t have the time to read a really long book, or they can’t commit to something long if it is going to take them ages to read.  We are an instant society, and short books fit really well into that mind frame.  They must be good books, however, and not feel as though they have been deliberately shortened.

This summer, our student page Stephen was taking an English course to get ahead in his studies this year.  He doesn’t love English, so it was a bit of a search when his teacher asked him to pick and book to read for a report.  He wanted something good, but something really short so that he could read it and get on with the report.  He could have used this book:

The World’s Best Thin Books to Read When Your Book Report is Due Tomorrow, by Joni Richards Bodart

Supposedly, it is a list compiled by teacher and librarians for students who need a really good, intelligent, worthwhile book to read for a project. Not a bad idea at all, when many students are not assigned specific books to read.  Thinner is not always better, but thin books are great when you are in a pinch.

I have read many long books and probably quite a few short books as well. There is a certain satisfaction to finishing a really long novel, but getting through a nice, tiny book in only a few hours can also be very good for the ego.  But just as we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, we also shouldn’t judge a book based on the page count. What do you think?

Happy Canada Day!

Today is a day of celebration in Canada…Canada’s birthday! Just as the United States does on the fourth of July, we are taking the day off, having family BBQ’s, enjoying sunshine and entertainment and waiting for fireworks in the evening! But, I bet there are a few things you didn’t know about Canada:

#1) Canadian Diamonds. With all of the talk about “blood” diamonds, you’d be well to buy a Canadian Diamond. The Northwest Territories is one of the world’s top diamond producers. All Canadian diamonds are marked and numbered and come with certificates that say they are authentic Canadian diamonds. Go easy on your conscience and buy Canadian!

#2) Did you know that some of the best dinosaur fossils in the world are found in the province of Alberta, Canada? Places like Drumheller and the Badlands boast fantastic finds for paleontologists.

#3) There is great surfing on both coasts of Canada. Tofino in British Columbia and Nova Scotia both boast great spots to catch a few waves. There are some interesting links here:

http://eastcoastsurf.ca/cms/

http://www.scotiasurfer.com/

http://www.bcsa.ca/

#4) There are icebergs off the coast of Newfoundland. Yes, icebergs can be spotted as easily as whales and fishing vessels.

#5) Basketball was invented by Canadian James A. Naismith who was born in Almonte, Ontario. Almonte is just a short 10 minute drive from our library here in Carleton Place. (Visit the Google Map here:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=45.204296,-76.102295&spn=0.676343,1.752319&z=10&msid=107749563519938617894.000450e3a9618edbe99b2

We have lots of great books about Canada at the library, so come in and ask us about:

M is for Maple : A Canadian Alphabet by Michael Ulmer

The Truth about Canada by Mel Hurtig

and

Unforgettable Canada : 100 Destinations by George Fischer

Should we call ourselves “Free Bookstores”?

After reading an article recently about libraries and marketing, I started thinking about all of the things we do in our own library to try to get new patrons coming in. There are brochures and posters, displays at various school meet-the-teacher nights, ads in the newspaper, website links and blog announcements. But often, I think we are really preaching to the choir. The people who really seem to notice the advertisements are the people who actually use the library on a regular basis, and so the marketing doesn’t work the way we’d always like it to work.

Libraries are becoming relevant to a more diverse group of people now, with public internet access, online catalogues, downloadable books, children’s activities, movie & music rentals and even computer gaming in some cases. So why aren’t more people visiting and why aren’t libraries considered “cool”? Are there ways to market libraries that we haven’t really thought of? After all, we are probably one of the only places left that provides “free” (or mostly free) services to people. And with the cost of gas and the rising costs of living, you’d think that a place offering free services and products would be enticing enough. But we’re not quite exciting enough for some just yet.

So I’ve been thinking about marketing, which brought me to a great article in Maclean’s Magazine about a breakfast cereal we’ve had in Canada since 1941 called “Shreddies”. The Shreddies brand cereal is about as plain as you can get….little squares of whole wheat that look like they are knitted together. Yummy, but not exciting. And in a world of flashy cereals which have marshmallow stars or crunchy clusters of honey and oats, Shreddies needed something to revive interest in the brand.

Along came a lowly intern named Hunter Somerville who was asked by his marketing firm Olgilvie and Mather, to come up with a new marketing idea for the back of the box. And so, he came up with what he calls “the stupidest, worst idea ever”, but an idea which completely changed the way we’ll view Shreddies forever. Diamond Shreddies were born by turning the little square on its side. (By the way, there are plenty of funny videos on YouTube about the new Shreddies and the reactions that people had when they were first introduced.)

Maybe we have to think about libraries in the same way now…..market them with a completely new spin, so to speak. What could we do? Call ourselves “Free Bookstores” as a way to draw in people who are interested in saving money? Or how about “Information Supercenters?” “Search Engine Buildings”?

Any ideas?

Tax Season 2008

Well, it is about that time again…..tax season! Some of us drop our receipts, T4’s and other information off to an accountant to figure out, while others wait in line at one of the various tax processing businesses to see how much we are getting back this year. For those who like to do their own taxes, there are a few changes this year that you might want to be aware of. This information comes courtesy of a Yahoo news report, so I’ll provide the link to the site at the end of this article if you’d like to read more.

Federal
• The new tax rates and income brackets as shown on Schedule 1 are as follows:

• The personal basic amount is increased to $9,600.

• The age amount is increased to $5,177.

• The spousal amount and the amount for an eligible dependant are increased to $9,600.

• The maximum amount for an infirm dependant age 18 or older is increased to $4,019 per dependant.

• The maximum eligible earnings for CPP/QPP purposes is $43,700. The rate respecting CPP/QPP contributions is 4.95%.

• The maximum amount of eligible earnings for employment insurance purposes is $40,000. The employment insurance rate is now 1.8%.

• The maximum amount of eligible adoption expenses is increased to $10,445.

• The pension income amount remains unchanged at $2,000.

• The maximum amount eligible for the calculation of the caregiver amount is $4,019 per dependant.

• The disability amount is increased to $6,890, and may be increased by a maximum supplement of $4,019 (workchart 316).

• The maximum amount (3% of net income) deducted to calculate allowable medical expenses is increased to $1,926.

• The maximum amount for the new Canada employment non-refundable tax credit is increased to $1,000.

• A new $2,000-per-child tax credit for children under 18.

• A new tax credit in respect of up to $500 in eligible fees for the enrolment of a child under the age of sixteen years in an eligible program of physical activity.

• The education amount for part-time studies and the textbook amount remain unchanged at $120 and $20 per month.

• The education amount for full-time studies and the textbook amount remain unchanged at $400 and $65 per month.

• The maximum amount for the refundable medical expenses supplement (line 452) has been increased to $1,022.

• Eligible dividends are taxable at 145% with a federal dividend tax credit of 18.9655%. Dividends other than eligible dividends are taxable at 125% with a federal dividend tax credit of 13.3333%.

If you are looking for some books to help you along with your filing, don’t forget that we keep many current offerings including:

101 Tax Secrets for Canadians, by Tim Cestnick

Tax Tips 2008 for Canadians for Dummies and

Evelyn Jacks essential tax facts : hundreds of quick and easy ways to improve your after-tax results during tax season and all year long by Evelyn Jacks.

Please feel free to reserve a book online or come into the library and ask to see our finance section. Hopefully, you’ll find a few good tips to pick up a little more in your refund!

(Article information copyright Dr. Tax-UFile.ca 2008)

http://ca.pfinance.yahoo.com/ca_finance_taxes/13/tax-changes-to-watch-for-on-your-2007-tax-return