Monday, July 31, 2017

CBC News: Gather round kids! It's Drag Queen Storytime

Gather round kids!
It's Drag Queen Storytime

London Public Library hosts the first-ever event to encourage

youth to celebrate differences

By Rebecca Zandbergen, CBC News Posted: Jul 22, 2017 6:00 AM ET 


Mz. Affra-Tighty will be reading to children on Saturday, July 22 at the London Public Library in honour of the Pride London Festival.
Mz. Affra-Tighty will be reading to children on Saturday, July 22 at the London Public Library in honour of the Pride London Festival. (Amanda Margison/CBC News
In her heels, Mz. Affra-Tighty stands six feet eight inches.
"They're six-inch stilettos. They're delicious. Perfectly delicious."
To celebrate pride week, the London Public Library has invited Affra-Tighty to host storytime at its downtown location at 251 Dundas St. on Saturday. 
London Public Library promotional poster
The London Public Library is hosting the first Drag Queen Storytime on Saturday, July 22.
Affra-Tighty said the kids may be a little intimidated at first. "I think they'll see this gargantuan queen walking into the room. I think some might be a little alarmed because I am very tall."
"It will be intimidating maybe, depending on how the parents handle it," Affra-Tighty told London Morning's Rebecca Zandbergen.
Mz. Affra-Tighty
Mz. Affra-Tighty dropped by London Morning on Friday, July 21. (Amanda Margison/CBC News)
Affra-Tighty will be reading Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dressby Christine Baldacchino. It's about a boy who loves wearing the dress in his classroom's dress-up centre.
Affra-Tighty, who owns two tangerine-coloured dresses herself, said the story is about bullying. "The dress is a metaphor for everything that people like to pick at."
To her critics, Affra-Tighty suggested there's no reason why a drag queen shouldn't read to children. 
"I have nieces and nephews and I love them unbelievably, and I would do anything for them, just like most people would do for their kids. Why shouldn't I read? Why shouldn't it be me?"
Mz. Affra-Tighty
Mz. Affra-Tighty stands six feet eight inches in her gold stilettos. (Amanda Margison/CBC News)

Affra-Tighty will be at the Central Children's Library at 2pm on Saturday. Both parents and kids are welcome and are encouraged to wear their favourite dress or costume.


From: CBC

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Geek Wire: Got eclipse glasses? Here’s how to get ’em

All of the continental United States and Canada will witness a solar eclipse on Aug. 21, but you’ll need eye protection to see the partial phase safely. This may be the event that turns solar-filter glasses into a mass-market fashion statement.

If you think regular sunglasses, compact discs or exposed photographic film will do the trick, think again. (Besides, who has film lying around anymore?) As long as even a sliver of the sun’s disk is uncovered, virtually the only safe way to see the spectacle directly is through special spectacles.

Fortunately, there should be plenty of solar-viewing glasses to go around. The Robert D. and Jessie L. Stinnett Trust is facilitating distribution of glasses from American Paper Optics through the 2017solar.com website: You can order four pairs of glasses online for $5, but the offer ends on Aug. 1.

Astronomers Without Borders and other nonprofit groups are shipping glasses as well. Plenty of other online outlets sell the glasses (as well as solar filters for cameras, binoculars and telescopes), but whatever you do, make sure your shipment arrives before Aug. 21.

Libraries across the country, including Seattle Public Library, are distributing free eclipse glasses to all comers. Seattle’s program begins on Aug. 1, and there are a couple of caveats: The glasses have to be picked up at library locations in person (no phone or email orders), and it’s one pair to a family while supplies last.

Fourteen Seattle libraries will be showing NASA’s live video stream of eclipse coverage beginning at 10 a.m. PT Aug. 21. (You can find the list here.)

In Seattle, the partial eclipse reaches its peak at 10:20 a.m. when more than 90 percent of the sun’s disk will be covered.

NASA’s video coverage will focus on views from the 70-mile-wide path where a total eclipse is visible. The moon’s darkest shadow will sweep eastward across the mainland U.S. from Oregon to South Carolina. Watching the live stream, at the library or online, should serve as the next best thing to being in the zone of totality.

Seattle’s libraries are planning lots of events leading up to the big day. Here are the listings:

 

Get Ready for the Eclipse!


Pacific Science Center educator Dennis Schatz talks about the eclipse and how to see it safely. His children’s book about eclipses, “When the Sun Goes Dark,” will be available for purchase and signing. For all ages.

 

Solar Eclipse Lecture


Bryan Brewer, author of “Eclipse: History. Science. Awe,” will give a talk about the history, science and observation of eclipses. (Brewer gave GeekWire an in-depth eclipse preview last month.)

 

Who Stole the Sun?


What’s an eclipse? ​How do eclipses happen? What can I use to safely watch the eclipse on Aug. 21? Find out answers to these questions and more. For all ages.

 

Where Did the Sun Go?

 

Librarians explain when the eclipse will occur, how to view it safely and to participate in fun eclipse activities. For ages 5 and up.

 

Tinkerlab: Solar Eclipse


Learn about the eclipse, then make and take home a pinhole projection viewer to safely view the eclipse. There will also be fun experiments with the sun’s ultraviolet rays. For ages 12 and under.

 

Eclipse Story Time


Children will enjoy stories and activities about the upcoming total solar eclipse. For ages 12 and under.

 

Outdoor Eclipse Viewing Parties


Watch the partial solar eclipse with friends and neighbors. For all ages.


Source: Geek Wire

Friday, July 21, 2017

Behind the Numbers: If you haven't been to a library lately, you're missing out

If you haven’t been to the library recently, you’re missing out
by Erika Shaker

July 5, 2017

[A] library extends cultural services by providing everyone with an open area which serves as a venue for civil activity and creative ability. Libraries, which deviate from other cultural establishments, cover all fields of art and convey both information and experiences. Libraries do not present limits, rather they expand and unite different issues.

~ Maija Berndtson, Library Director in Helsinki, 1987–2013
Growing up in Hamilton, Ontario, my family frequented two public libraries: the downtown branch, a gorgeous structure built in 1913 with funding from American steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie, and the charmingly named Terryberry Library, after the 19th century settler on whose Hamilton Mountain property it was built. The name “Terryberry” lent the otherwise ordinary-looking building a sort of fairy-tale feel, with the bonus of ensuring I never, ever mispronounced “library” as “lie-berry.”

As kids we spent hours there, checking out books using the old card system, and later researching school projects through card catalogues. Every summer we got an extended loan period so we could borrow extra books for the entire two months of vacation. Even now when I go back home to visit my parents I am likely to find at least one book that never made it back to the library, its card and due-dated envelope affixed to the inside cover like a permanent, ink-stamped guilt-trip.

In 1980, Hamilton opened a new and much larger main branch downtown with (at the time) cutting-edge microfiche machines. The building itself is connected to the mall and the farmers’ market it houses, another Hamilton institution I’ve been visiting since I was in utero. On Saturdays it was common to see people leaving through the library doors, fresh vegetables and baked goods in one hand, book bag in the other. And as we became more independent, no longer needing parental accompaniment, the library somehow managed to be both an occasion and a familiar hangout at the same time.

Lest anyone think the Carnegie-funded heyday of this quaint institution has come and gone, my kids still have “Library Day” at school. When they were younger it took the form of regular class trips to the branch down the street, where Sue the librarian would read them a story before they picked out a book of their own to curl up with. Today my family still visits the library weekly for books and movies. The automated checkout stations are, granted, much flashier, the banks of computers connected to the internet always fully booked. But the clubs and reading circles, the public events and meetings, the hushed areas for silent study, the books and periodicals remain everything they used to be. In spite of the “death of print,” libraries, it seems, are still a thing.

But, as with most public institutions, libraries are also in austerity’s crosshairs. The mantras are predictable: we can’t afford such an expanse of non-commercial space; nobody reads books anymore; kids do all their research on the interwebs. The attacks have ranged from cold cost-cutting assessments (KPMG advised the City of Toronto in 2011 to “rationalize the footprint of libraries to reduce service levels, closing some branches”) to sometimes-bizarre political musings. Toronto councillor Doug Ford famously and incorrectly claimed his Etobicoke ward had more libraries than Tim Hortons—apparently a crime against nature. His Hamilton counterpart Donna Skelly announced this year that any increase to the city’s budget must “be based on the role the library plays in modern society, and not the one it did 100 years ago.”

Newfoundland and Labrador announced in 2016 it would close over half the province’s public libraries, which would put 15% of the population more than a 30-minute drive from their nearest branch, and leave Fogo Island without a library altogether. For smaller communities it was a devastating decision. “Books are often scarce in these areas,” wrote Nick Farris in the National Post, “but their libraries, like Fogo’s, are not just repositories of printed words. They make the internet freely accessible, in places where broadband connectivity is not quite universal. They provide public space where movie theatres and sporting arenas have never been built.” The public was so enraged the government suspended the closures pending consultations and a review of the policy.

More recently, Saskatchewan planned to inflict $4.8 million in cuts to its public libraries, reflecting “the new reality for libraries in the 21st century,” according to a CBC report. “The future of libraries is leaning more towards electronic media,” said Education Minister Don Morgan. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t have bricks and mortar, but there certainly is a shift.” Mere days later the government hastily backtracked. “We’ve heard from people pretty clearly that they value the library in its present form,” Morgan conceded. “It’s important for them not just to have the electronic capability, but they also want to have the physical space to go to.”

In both Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador the library as a structural feature may be safe, at least for now, but elsewhere the institution’s lifeblood—its librarians—is being sapped. Back in Toronto two smaller libraries recently extended their short hours, but with a catch: the facilities will not be staffed. Instead, empty buildings will be monitored through video surveillance, “to connect customers to staff when needed.” People can reserve or pick up books, and use the wireless, but the space will no longer be conducive to deeper research.

Librarians are more than mere monitors of the library space. Montreal’s Côte-Saint-Luc’s city hall lowered its flags when the town’s founding librarian died in recognition of her community contributions. In a public talk, the recently deceased Indigenous author Richard Wagamese paid tribute to the St. Catharines, Ontario librarian who changed his life by answering his questions, recommending books, and taking him to art galleries and the opera.

There is no question that, in a time of “alternative facts,” librarians have an even more vital role to play. We are inundated with information on a daily—even hourly—basis. The line between opinion and news is blurring, and conspiracy-based websites are proliferating, shared more easily than ever on social media platforms. In such an environment, the ability to find accurate, vetted information has never been more important.

And that is precisely what librarians were trained for. It’s no wonder they are helping design school curriculum and resource guides, and holding workshops to educate the public on what digital literacy and critical thinking means—in the immediate political context, yes, but as a general requirement for an informed citizenry.

Far from being outmoded or irrelevant, libraries continue to occupy a key place, literally and figuratively, in the hearts and minds of communities. They are increasingly at the forefront of municipal and architectural revitalization initiatives, and today, in both Europe and North America, they are combining traditional lending and preserving functions with new services of use to urban centres. The Ottawa Public Library, for example, offers video and audio streaming services, free access to hundreds of magazines through apps like Zinio, and the latest video game rentals.

According to the Pew Research Center in the U.S., a significant percentage of library users think branches should consider moving some books out of public locations to free up space for technology labs, meeting or reading rooms, or for cultural events, so that the institution can continue to play an evolving role for patrons. However, a comfortable (and growing) majority of users do not want the library’s footprint to be reduced. In fact, they would prefer to see more space for reading, working and relaxing. And two-thirds of library users in the U.S. aged 16 and older believe closing their public library would have a major impact on their community.

The numbers were higher for women, older adults, parents of young children, low-income Americans, African Americans and Hispanics, who are more likely to use library computers and wireless. Additionally, those who are more civically active, or have worked with others to address a community problem or try to affect government policy, are more likely to visit the library, often for public meetings. Libraries were also seen in the Pew study as helpful in seeking health care information or learning new technologies, providing information on community events and alerts about volunteering opportunities, and finding a job or obtaining job training.

Some newer libraries have integrated the ongoing and expanding role of the library into its physical design. Halifax’s central library, for example, includes space for cafes, auditoriums and video gaming, as well as areas to record podcasts or play board games. The Toronto Reference Library and Vancouver’s central library offer digital media spaces, and a recent expansion to the latter has added a theatre, silent reading gallery and rooftop garden. The Waterdown Library and Civic Centre in Hamilton is literally built into the topography of the surrounding area, incorporating a seniors’ recreation centre and various municipal services, and designed to allow the facility to evolve with the varied needs of its patrons.

Architectural novelty often provides an attractive financial justification for library construction or expansion. That’s because libraries can offer remarkable return on investment. According to a high-profile 2013 study, for every $1 invested in the Toronto Public Library, Torontonians receive $5.63, representing an economic windfall to the city of $1 billion. Similar stats exist for the Ottawa Public Library. And when the Calgary Public Library eliminated fees for library cards in 2015, annual visits jumped by one million people. Ontario public library usage is at an all-time high.

Numbers aside, the public’s fondness for libraries—both for their potential as future hubs for new services and as a popular physical destination—is a reminder that these public institutions, despite the rhetoric of rationalization, have the capacity to be as nimble as any Silicon Valley startup. What is a makerspace or neighbourhood tool-sharing kitchen if not mostly a trendy library? This should be particularly relevant to urban planners and policy-makers today, as so many other community spaces and support programs are being reduced or becoming unavailable.

Far from old-fashioned, the library’s version of sharing is innovative and—bonus!—sustainable.

Erika Shaker is Director of Education and Outreach with the CCPA. Follow her on Twitter @ErikaShaker.

Source: Behind the Numbers

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Globe and Mail Columnist: Outrage over group’s use of Toronto library threatens freedom of speech

Outrage over group's use of Toronto library threatens freedom of speech
By Marcus Gee

July 13, 2017

Free speech is the cardinal right – the right that underpins all others. Yet how casually we brush it aside.

This week in Toronto, a small group held a memorial service at a public library branch for a lawyer who had defended Holocaust deniers and other figures on Canada's far-right fringe. Spokesmen for Jewish groups said they were outraged that the Toronto Public Library would provide a platform for such a gathering. Mayor John Tory was "deeply concerned." Members of city council said they were shocked. "Those tied to hate and bigotry have no place in our libraries," Councillor James Pasternak said.

They seemed entirely oblivious to the threat to freedom of expression. If the library takes it upon itself to decide who has the right to speak, where does it end? If it denies space to a far-right group, what happens when a far-left group comes along? What would it say to the many Canadians who suffered under communism if someone who denies the crimes of Stalin or Mao wanted to hold an event and was denied? What would it say to Toronto's large Tamil community if extreme Sinhalese nationalists were not permitted to hold a study meeting at the library about the crushing of the Tamil separatist movement in Sri Lanka?

Opinion: We need to protect free speech on campus1

It is precisely to avoid making these judgments that the library takes a neutral approach to those who book its spaces. It doesn't demand to vet their opinions in advance. As long as they follow basic rules of conduct, they get the space. So it is absurd to suggest that the library is somehow endorsing or countenancing the views of those who held this week's memorial.

Critics of the event seem especially upset that it took place in a "public space," under the roof of a publicly funded institution. It is not hard to see where that dangerous argument could lead. If people whose opinions are deemed beyond the pale are to be kept out of the public libraries, why not the public parks, the public squares, the public streets? Who gives them the right, some might say, to wave their nasty placards where all can see, or publish their rank opinions where all can read? Surely public spaces are where free speech, however outrageous or obnoxious, should be allowed to flourish. That is the principle behind the famous Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde Park, where people of every opinion and background get the chance to sound off in public. No one says that because the authorities allow it they are giving their stamp of approval to what is said.

Libraries, in particular, should be havens for free expression. They are the places citizens go to learn about the world in all its complexity. Librarians are always facing pressure from one group or another to ban books that they say might corrupt morals or spread hate. They are right to fend off such attempts. Librarians are guides to the world of knowledge, not arbiters of it. They should be equally impartial about who meets in library spaces.

Banning objectionable speech short of direct incitement to violence is always a mistake. Those who object to this week's event and gatherings like it have other ways to respond. One is to protest. If a hate group holds a rally, hold a rally condemning hate and praising tolerance. Another is to correct. When deniers spout nonsense about how many died or didn't die in the Holocaust, fight back with the undeniable facts.

The last option – perhaps the best when it comes to the tiny, miserable group of cranks who are Canada's white nationalists and Holocaust deniers – is simply to turn away. They feed on publicity like this week's fuss. Instead of fulminating against them or attacking the library for giving them space, ignore them. They don't deserve even a minute of our time, much less all the air time and headline space they got this week.

No matter how we choose to respond to offensive opinions, it is important to remember the danger of suppressing them. Even in a blessed place such as Canada – a strong, stable democracy with a respected Charter of Rights and Freedoms – freedom of speech can be a fragile thing. We saw that just recently, when three editors left their jobs after an angry pile-on over the complicated issue of cultural appropriation.

In a 1945 essay on free speech and the profusion of it in Hyde Park, George Orwell wrote: "The relative freedom which we enjoy depends on public opinion. The law is no protection. Governments make laws, but whether they are carried out, and how the police behave, depends on the general temper of the country. If large numbers of people are interested in freedom of speech, there will be freedom of speech, even if the law forbids it; if public opinion is sluggish, inconvenient minorities will be persecuted, even if laws exist to protect them."

On the evidence of the library affair and other events lately, public opinion in the Canada of 2017 is sluggish indeed.


Source: The Globe and Mail

Monday, July 17, 2017

Global News: Toronto library refuses to cancel controversial memorial despite requests from mayor, councillors

Toronto library refuses to cancel controversial memorial despite requests from mayor, councillors
By Jessica Patton

July 12, 2017

Despite concerns raised by Toronto Mayor John Tory and two Toronto city councillors, the Toronto Public Library has refused to cancel a memorial event in honour of a controversial lawyer taking place at the Richview Library Wednesday night.

Barbara Kulaszka, a former librarian turned Canadian free speech lawyer who represented controversial figures such as Marc Lemire – a self-proclaimed white nationalist and former president of the Canadian neo-Nazi white supremacist organization the Heritage Front, according to the memorial page.

Kulaszka died in her hometown of Brighton, Ont., after a battle with lung cancer June 15.

Critics have taken issue with the memorial as well as the speakers for the event, which include Lemire, and Paul Fromm, the organizer and another self-proclaimed white nationalist, who is also the founder of the Canadian Association for Free Expression.

Tory expressed his concern and said he issued a request to the Toronto Public Library staff to cancel the event but that he was informed “that the library has received legal advice that it cannot reject this room booking request.”

He added he has asked the library to have the event “closely monitored.”

The Toronto Public Library issued a statement and said they have taken the concerns seriously and do not tolerate hate speech, but that “cannot deny bookings from the community that are in accordance with the law and the library’s policy and rules of conduct.”

“However, should the group act in a manner that is not consistent with the law or our rules of conduct, please be assured that we will take immediate action.”

Counc. John Campbell tweeted he had also reached out to the Toronto Library and had spoken to the chief librarian but she would not “relent,” citing the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom of Speech.

“It’s all well and good to advocate for free speech, but Toronto Public Library needs to demonstrate common sense on who gets rental space,” Campbell wrote in another tweet.

Sara Lefton, vice president of Greater Toronto at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs told Global News in an emailed statement that while the CIJA firmly supports free speech, “that doesn’t mean that publicly funded institutions such as libraries are obliged to provide a pulpit for white nationalists to promote their hateful agenda.

“It’s appalling and ludicrous that these individuals were given taxpayer subsidized space for an event, in light of their clear track record as leaders of a racist movement hostile to Jews, the Black community, and other Canadian minorities,” Lefton said, adding the CIJA has voiced their strong opposition to the library, the mayor’s office and city council.

Another Toronto councillor, James Pasternak, released a statement saying he was “deeply disturbed” to hear about the event as well as the fact that the group leading the service are selling tickets for $10 to attend.

Bernie Farber, former CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress, told Global News “There is no excuse for allowing neo-Nazis use of publicly funded facilities such as the Richview Public Library.

“Parliament has banned these neo Nazis from speaking on the Hill as has OISIE.”

Farber added he fears that if the event is allowed to take place in the public library, it will open the doors for more events of the same nature.

In the wake of the event, Tory said he has asked the libary board to review its room rental policies for future use.

Source: Global News