SGC Admin: From our inbox to you… Happenings at the Whitby Library…
Please Click Here to go to the Whitby Library Website to register or to find out more information for any event.
Your Library is Green
- On April 22, Canadians celebrate Earth Day, a day designed to highlight the importance of caring for our environment and sustainable thinking. Here at the library, we know how important the local ecosystem is to our patrons and the community at large, and we are committed to evaluating our impact on the environment on an ongoing basis.
- In 2005, when the Central Library re-opened in a new, state-of-the-art building, the facility used the most energy-efficient processes available at the time. Since then, however, there have been great advances in lighting, water and air system technologies, and to avoid expensive retrofitting we have implemented simple cost-effective changes that have made us more energy and resource efficient. Here are a few highlights of what we’ve done over the years to make Central “greener”:
- We’ve reduced the energy we use in our heating and air system by using air unit timers, occupied and unoccupied settings and holiday settings. We also have programmed our air conditioning system to shut down during cooler days and pull in fresh outdoor air to circulate throughout the building.
We have installed timers on our roof exhaust fans, which shut down when the library is closed to minimize energy waste. - Plans are in place to replace traditional lamps with energy efficient LED lamps.
- Plans are in place to install automatic flushometers on toilets to cut down on the amount of water used per flush.We have turned our hot water tanks down 1 degree Celsius, which cuts down on the energy used to heat our water.
- We have enhanced our water chemical program for the outdoor water fountain so that the water stays cleaner longer. This reduces the number of times we need to drain the pool for cleaning.
- We have recently joined a fluorescent light recycling program to keep these bulbs out of the landfill.
- As you can see, we’ve been hard at work reducing our carbon footprint and our impact on the local environment.
Spring has finally arrived, which means that we will be registering for the spring sessions of our preschool storytime programs.
In-person registration will take place on Wednesday, April 1 at 9:30 am at the Central Library and at 10:00 am the Brooklin Branch. Registration by phone will be accepted at both branches starting at 12:00 noon.
Due to ongoing flood repairs, storytime registration at the Rossland Branch will be announced at a later time. Keep an eye on our website, Facebook page and Twitter feed for updates.
The Brooklin Branch will also be accepting registration on April 1 for the LEGO Clubs and the Evil Genius Club.
For a complete listing of preschool storytime programs available at your local branch, see our Programs and Events web page.
Did you know that we shelve our children’s fiction series in a separate section to make them easier to find?
Many best-selling children’s authors such as Gordon Korman and Eric Walters are housed there as well as popular series such as Rainbow Magic the Fun Day Fairies, My Weird School, Geronimo Stilton and Magic Tree House. A series is a great way to introduce chapter books to your child, so drop by any branch today and find a series that interests your young reader.
Upcoming Programs
- Susanna Kearsley Book Launch at the Centennial Building
Monday, April 20
7:00 to 9:00 pm
Regal Room, Whitby Centennial Building - We are excited to be hosting an evening with Susanna Kearsley as she launches her latest novel, A Desperate Fortune, on April 20 at 7:00 pm.
- The program will be held in the Regal Room at the Centennial Building, 416 Centre Street South.
- Emceed by author/interviewer Ted Barris, the evening will feature an onstage interview, readings from A Desperate Fortune and book signings.
- A Desperate Fortune tells the story of amateur codebreaker Sara Thomas, who has been hired by a famous historian to crack the code of the mysterious 300-year-old journal of Jacobite exile, Mary Dundas. When Sara arrives in Paris, complications emerge with the journal’s owner, the charming neighbour and the journal itself.
- Books will be available to purchase the night of the event through Blue Heron Books.
- Registration is required. Register for the Susanna Kearsley Book Launch online or by contacting any branch.
- More Adult Programs at the Central Library
- Job Searching for Newcomer Youth at the Central Library
Monday, April 20
3:30 to 5:30 pm
Front Lobby - New to Canada? Looking for a job or a volunteer opportunity?
- Each month, an employment counselor from Northern Lights Canada is available in the lobby of the Central Library to help newcomer youth with their job searching needs and provide information about available programs. Drop by the table between 3:30 and 5:30 pm to have your job searching questions answered.
- Registration is not required, just drop in!
- Numbers, Rhymes and Storytimes at the Central Library
Mondays, April 13 to May 11
9:30 to 10:00 am - Numbers, Rhymes and Storytimes is a half hour program for children ages three and four, featuring stories, counting, number songs and games.
- It will be held on Monday mornings at 9:30 am beginning on April 13 running for five weeks until May 11. Note that there will not be a program on April 6 as the library is closed on Easter Monday.
- Registration is required. In-person registration begins on Wednesday, April 1 at 9:30 am. Telephone registration will be accepted after 12 noon by calling 905-668-6531 ext. 201
- Genie Bottle Earrings at the Brooklin Branch
Saturday, April 11
2:00 to 3:00 pm - In this year’s Pass the Book selection, The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker, Ahmad is a Jinni who arrived in New York City in 1899. As a being made of fire, he was trapped in a copper flask for centuries, but, with a stroke of luck, was released by Arbeerly the tinsmith.
- Adults ages 18 and up are welcome to join us to create a tiny pair of magical genie bottle earrings that any Jinni would be happy to spend hundreds of years locked inside. Learn some jewellery making basics and bring your creativity. Materials will be supplied.
- Want to read up on jewellery making in advance? See our collection of jewellery making books.
- Registration is required. Register for Genie Bottle Earrings online or by contacting any branch.
- Evil Genius Club at the Brooklin Branch
Wednesday, April 15
6:30 to 8:00 pm - Teens in grades 7 to 12 are invited to join this club of maniacal makers! Arduino hacks, MaKey MaKey, Cubelets, Minecraft, retro gaming and DIY will be provided. Bring your inner evil genius and explore this high-tech maker space.
- Create Arduino devices and control them with your smartphone or tablet. Use MaKey MaKey to create controls out of almost anything. Or drop by and share your latest App discovery. Meet fellow techies, share ideas and join the digital conversation. You’re invited to hang out, bring friends, try things and make stuff at this program. You’re welcome to bring your own devices, tech and software.
- Registration is required. Registration begins on Wednesday, April 1 at 10:00 am. Register for the Evil Genius Club online or by contacting any branch.
- Everyone loves statistics, right? All those numbers, tables, cross-tabulating…sometimes there are even graphs! OK, there aren’t that many people who love statistics. But lots of people need them: for school assignments, work, research, maybe even winning an argument.
- Statistics are pretty much everywhere, but sometimes it’s hard to find the right ones that are from a good, reputable source. Here are some great places to find the numbers you need.
- Statistics Canada should always be your go-to site for anything Canadian. StatsCan collects data on all kinds of things: business, science, energy, diversity, Aboriginal peoples, culture, language, etc., etc., etc. The site isn’t always the easiest to use, as there’s lots of jargon, some of the reports may be dated and/or discontinued and the search box doesn’t always work the way search boxes should. But it’s still a great resource with scads of data under that utilitarian face. Here’s one hint: if you’re looking for demographic information about Whitby or other communities in Canada, you can type in place names under Census of Canada and the National Household Survey.
- Also from StatsCan, the CANSIM socioeconomic database provides direct access to data tables. You can customize the data you see with checkboxes and download data in Excel-compatible formats for advanced geekery.
- Looking outside Canada? The US government’s data and statistics site provides data collected by the US Census Bureau and other US government agencies. The Office for National Statistics does the same for the UK and Eurostat for the European Union. The United Nations Statistics Division has data from all over the world.
- For local information, Durham Region has put together a terrific tool to share different health, community and socioeconomic indicators. They divided the Region into fifty different health neighbourhoods, with data for each. You can look at early childhood development, smoking rates, income, commuting, obesity and much, much more.
- We should also mention that the Whitby Library is one of a handful of public libraries that offers customized demographic portraits through our PCensus software. PCensus combines Census data, spending data and maps to provide a profile of an area of your choosing, be it a city, the drive time from a certain point or a custom-drawn shape on a map. Drop us a line if you’d like to make an appointment to give PCensus a test drive.
- Finally, as the saying goes, “there are lies, damned lies, and statistics.” It’s good to make sure that you’re using the numbers properly, and also good to have a basic understanding so others can’t pull one over on you. Check out our collection of books on statistics, including this entertaining title on the clever ways people can manipulate numbers for sneaky reasons.
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