Category Archives: Library

Calgary snapshot: Little Free Library.

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If you follow me on Instagram (or if you don’t, you can find me here) or my new Facebook page (here), you may have seen me share this photo, but just in case you missed it, I’ll put it up here as well. The Little Free Library set up near the community garden I belong to is so adorable – I love the colour scheme that was chosen for it.  From what I can tell whenever I stop by and open it up, it’s a popular fixture, with a varied and well-circulated selection of reading materials – everything from James Patterson to Robert Munsch, novels in multiple languages, cookbooks, hobby magazines, and religious tracts.  Are there any Little Free Libraries in your community?  Do you use them?

Tuesday tidbits and a long overdue apology.

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Heartfelt gratitude

Flowery Prose has sort of been languishing on the backburner for the better part of a year now as I’ve been tackling a zillion other projects…and while this has been going on, I’ve completely broken all the rules of good blogging.  Blogs that are worth their salt are built on the interactions between writer and reader. Although you’ve all been utterly fabulous and continued to read and comment whenever I’ve managed to squeak out a post (which has been less and less often as the months have gone by), I have, sadly, completely failed with regard to responding to all the fantastic comments I’ve received, as well as reciprocating by reading your blogs.  I not only need to issue a huge apology, but I need to take action.  So…effective immediately, you’re going to see a re-energized Flowery Prose.  I am also going to make a far greater effort to spend time finding out about what is going on in your part of the world, via your blog posts.  Please don’t expect huge strides, as I’m still swamped with projects.  But I am going to make a change.  Baby steps.  Thank you so much to all of you for sticking around this entire time, even when there was a whole lot of silence on my end – I am deeply grateful for your kindness!

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It looks as if I will have to fire my research assistant…this is the fourth time today I have caught her sleeping on the job….  😉

Writing updates

The Central Library here in Calgary and the local writer’s group Loft 112 have a cool little thing going on…they’ve set up a Short Story Dispenser, conveniently located near Luke’s Café on Level 1M.  While you’re sipping your tea or coffee, you can indulge in a randomly-selected one-minute, three-minute, or five-minute short story that is released from the dispenser at the touch of a button.  The stories have been written by both international and Calgary-based writers – and I’m absolutely delighted to say that two of my five-minute stories are currently stuffed somewhere in the dispenser, waiting for someone to read them. If you live in Calgary and area, Loft 112 is still looking for more stories to fill the machine, so take a look at the call for submissions and have fun with it!

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Local interest

I recently found a little gem of a book by a southern Alberta-based writer, Joyce Moore: A Guide to Alberta Outdoors – Rides, Hikes, Birds, and Beasts (Bayeux Arts, Inc., Calgary, 2009). It’s a brief but lively collection of nature/outdoors columns that were syndicated for several rural newspapers in the 1990’s.  She writes about ranching in the Highwood River area, the undertaking of several challenging and stunningly beautiful mountain treks, and observations of birds and other wildlife found in the Rockies and the foothills.  A one-lunch-break read, and a fascinating look at our beautiful province by a woman who clearly loves and respects the environment.

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Calgary snapshot: Central Library.

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In November of last year, the doors opened to an absolutely gorgeous new library in Calgary.  Central Library’s Snøhetta-designed new home is a striking, light-filled mix of glass, wood, concrete, and steel.  The graceful curves and oh! that skylight! captivated me when my hubby and I visited on opening weekend.

Check out 100 Reasons to Love the New Central Library, a compendium of fun facts about this spectacular space!

P.S. If you look down into the lower part of the photo, you’ll see a life-sized statue of a bison.  Created by Cree artist Lionel Peyachew, it is made out of pieces of stamped metal representing words in various Indigenous languages.

Home sweet home.

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Closing time at the library. A girl of about four years old and her father have just finished using the self-checkouts and are heading towards the door. The girl looks up at her Dad and asks, “Why are they closing the library?”

He responds, “Because the people who work here have to go home.”

She frowns. “But why can’t they live HERE?”

Why not, indeed? Massive square footage, open concept, tons of natural light, a fireplace, comfy chairs, and thousands of books.  I can see where she’s coming from…..  😉

Scraphappy At The Library

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I’m spreading a little blog love during the month of July! I’ll be reblogging recent entries from some of my favourite bloggers – I encourage you to click through and check out more of their work. Enjoy! ~Sheryl

Mrs. Walker Gets Cozy

IMG_4432Well…it’s been a while. March last year, I was absolutely pleasantly surprised and delighted to be able to work at the library again, right here in Cincinnati! And since that day, life has become very busy in a wonderful way.

This library is completely different from the little rural libraries I used to work at in Canada, the Cincinnati Public Library is considered one of the busiest in the USA. To work here is pretty intense, I am part of a fantastic team and it makes me very happy.

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Although I have little time for drawing, blogging ,etc I still do have plenty of creative outlets..even at work. One of the things I do, is making displays for the front desk. And these photos are from the current summer displays, relating to the summer reading programs. (This is at the Symmes Branch, if you are in the neighborhood and want…

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Library loans.

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We have a few slightly more “unusual” items available to borrow at the public library here in Calgary, including pedometers, electricity usage monitors, and – at one of our branches – musical instruments of all kinds, which is crazy exciting (and I really ought to take advantage of the opportunity at some point. I can’t currently play any instruments, but what better way to find out which one I would like to take up?).  I know some libraries throughout the world will lend out garden seeds, tools, and household appliances, among other useful items.  At one library in a neighbouring town in Alberta, you can even borrow snowshoes during the winter months.

Does your local library lend out items other than books (print and electronic), audio/visual materials, and access to streaming services and other online content such as newspapers and educational courses?  Have you ever used any of the “additional” items offered?

Looking for some colour….

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We’re in “dirty snow” mode here in Calgary, that eye-dulling time of year when EVERYTHING is grey and all the potholes and garbage buried for the past five months start materializing once again.  We are guaranteed to get a minimum of 16.275 mini-snowstorms yet before June – two before the end of this week! – so the greyness will be tempered by layers of fresh, sparkling white, but right now, my brain is absolutely crying out for some colour.

So, I turned to the blogosphere, and I am immensely comforted by the fact that there is a nice bit of colour going on elsewhere in the world.  For example:

Words and Herbs

Gardening Nirvana

Automatic Gardening and Real Gluten Free Food

Cynthia Reyes

Imagery of Light

Duver Diary

Natuurfreak

Garden in a City

A New Day: Living Life Almost Gracefully

Frank King Photos

….just to name a few.*

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And then at work, I noticed that all of the pink and red Pelargoniums that one of my co-workers has saved over the winter are blooming merrily away in the huge bay windows we have in the building. Overwintered P.‘s always surprise me with their transformations: they get so robust, it’s as if they’re working with a personal trainer, and they bloom like every sip of sunshine and speck of sugar in every single cell is bursting to get out. There are about eight of them in the library right now, part of a larger collection of both ‘Regal’ and the – ahem! – less regal (but just as delightful) P.‘s that are snowbirding in my co-worker’s home. It seems strange to me that these plants are so showstoppingly vibrant in this setting, yet the customers appear to rarely spare them a glance.  I would love to poll people and ask if they noticed the flowers.  Do you find you actually see the indoor plants in public spaces, like libraries, shopping malls, medical clinics, offices etc.?  Maybe most people don’t unless the arrangements are particularly bold.  Or maybe gardeners take notice more often because we’re keyed to look for plants?  What do you think?

*Please add your links to your “colourful” blog posts to the comments – the more, the merrier!  Share away!