Barbara Frum District Blog

Spring Clean the Natural Way

It’s that time of year again! Spring is finally here, the sun is shining and many of us will take this opportunity to open the windows and do a thorough house cleaning. Cleaning with natural products is better for your health, better for the environment, and just as effective as using the brand name products you find in the stores.  With ingredients like white vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda, natural cleaning is relatively cheap, and uses products you would find in your kitchen, or at any grocery store.  I have slowly been de-toxifying my products for years, and have been very pleased with the results.  It's easy, cheap, and I don't have to worry about my three year old helping to "clean".  Don’t know where to start?  Come and check out, or place holds on the titles below:

   

   

Kids Have Stress Too!

Did you know that children can suffer from stress just like adults?  We all complain of having too much stress in our lives, but we often don’t even consider the stress in our children's lives.  School and social situations can sometimes be overwhelming for children, and it is important for them to learn techniques to cope with stress.  Stress can affect a child's ability to learn, be happy, and can even negatively impact their health.  If you are interested in learning more, Barbara Frum Branch will be hosting a program entitled Kids Have Stress Too!, for parents who have children ages 4-9 years old, on Tuesday April 16. Facilitated by a Toronto Public Health Nurse, this program will cover what is "stress" for your children, how stress affects your children, and how to help your children cope with stress.  Please call 416-395-5440 to register.

For more information on kids and stress, check out some of the Toronto Public Library resources below:

       

Stompin' Tom saved my career, or, you might think it's goofy, but the new librarian is a newbie....

The year, 1990. The setting, the Audio Visual Department at North York Central Library where, a few nervous months after arriving in Canada, I had begun working in a temporary position.  I might have been the first South African librarian they had worked with. It is certain that I was probably one of the most confused and also one of the luckiest they had met.

 

As any newcomer to Canada or any other country soon finds out, being the "new kid on the block" involves so much more than learning a new language or which side of the road to drive on. Once, I listened to a programme on CBC in the 1990's about newcomers to Canada. Of  the many people who were interviewed for the show, the vast majority stated that it was much harder trying to integrate into the new culture than the actually learning of English as a Second Language. It is such a good thing that today there are so many wonderful resources for newcomers such as LIP and settlement.org .

 Anyway, returning to my early, angst-drenched days here  - would my previous experience be enough to keep the job? Would I fit in with the work group? Would my accent prevent me being understood? How would I ever manage to learn the intricate booking sytem? And who on earth was Stompin' Tom? What did he do? And why was he so important to one of my colleagues in particular?

Soon I was enlightened. Somewhere between the "voluntary" viewing of an old 16mm film, Across This Land with Stompin' Tom Connors and the gleeful, unabashed joy of those watching me watch the film, Stompin Tom got to me.  Seeing him in all his everyman glory, stamping away in his famous style, sharing the love he had for all things CA-NA-DA.  From that unlikely moment on, the Stompin' Tom bond grew between myself and my colleagues. From the annual Stompin Tom parties held at the end of each crazy year,to any mention of Bud the Spud, by any of us, warm chuckles would soon erupt and often an extra snippet of info about him would emerge.

In this bizarrely unexpected way, my first feeling of community in Canada slowly developed. Slowly but surely, my knowledge of Canadiana grew and so did my confidence. It wasn't too long before I realised that I need not feel bad that Tim Horton hadn't invited me personally for a coffee, because "he" was a chain.  And I soon stopped bumping into people when I realised that one walked on the right down supermarket aisles.

So, thanks to all of you from AV - you know who you are! - and thanks to Stompin' Tom, I found out all about Canada and how goofy it was to be a Newbie. I mean Newfy.

Your library - open even when we are closed

The cold weather has settled in and doesn't seem to be leaving any time soon. For me, one of the great pleasures of living in a cold climate, is snuggling up under a blanket with a piping hot drink, a beloved pet and a great read. If you were paying attention, you would have realised that I didn't mention the word "book". I truly believe that we are in the epicentre of a tremendous change in the publishing and reading world and that books will one day imply a very explicit form of medium. In the same way that we don't use the word "record" any longer, but "album". Many of us readers love the tactile experience of holding an actual book; many speak of their love of "that new book smell". Yet there is something to be said for the sheer convenience of carrying many books in one compact light device, with features that may make up for not being a physical "book". Personally, I love being able to change the size and even the font when I am reading and very little  beats the guilty bliss of being able to read at night in bed after "lights out" time. I also love the fact that when I have run out of good reading material, I can simply log in to the TPL website from anywhere, find something new to eread , download a book, an audiobook or even a children's book by a familiar or a totally new author and be reading something deliciously new in minutes. And - did you know - you can now get French, Chinese, Spanish and Russian eBooks!

Your library continues to evolve, and offers you the opportunity of discovering the wonderful world of eReading. In the near future, I will be exploring these and other amazing reference resources you can read from home, your local coffee shop or even while on holiday.

Stay tuned!

 

Reading is SNOW Much Fun!

                                                               Barbara Frum Winter Display with thanks to Anna Rita & Melanie

When you’re an adult you sometimes forget about the magic of snow, and how much fun it can be.  We tend to think more about the inconvenience of shoveling, the icy sidewalks, and the slippery slushy roads.  We need to try and look at it through the eyes of a child and remember how magical snow is, how much fun we had building snowmen, snow forts, snowball fights, tobogganing, or simply catching snowflakes on our tongues.  My daughter was ecstatic when she looked out the window last week and saw the snow that she has been waiting for for weeks was finally here.  We could barely get breakfast into her before she rushed us out the door to play.  After an hour or so out in the snow we went back inside to warm up, and spent some time huddled by the fire reading some of her favorite books as we sipped some hot chocolate.  It was truly magical.  Here are some wonderful books about snow to help you and your family get into the winter spirit:

                  

                  

And Now for Something Completely Different

This blog was initially going to be about something entirely different. But it has been my experience that life happens and then one 's attention moves in another direction. For various reasons, I have recently been thinking about our connections with those closest to us - our families, friends and pets. Friends who wiggle their way into our lives until finally they too feel like family. Colleagues who don't realise just how important they are to us. The pets we own that we sometimes discover actually own us.  Perhaps the coming darker months are responsible for this absorption and introspection, but I don't feel any need to uncover the reasons, preferring to acccept these reflections at face value. The following author has, at alternate times of my life, proved to spark and reward much soul searching in the best of ways.

Jon Katz is an online journalist (Slashdot ) whose Running to the Mountain: A Journey of Faith and Change led me to keeping an eye out for his books for over a decade. Convinced that searching for the most meaningful life he could live was the only way to go, Katz has impressed thousands with his online blogs, his drastic move from urban New Jersey to sheep farming with border collies. Katz's books on dogs are always more than simply books on dogs. They are chatty, thoughtful, often provocative and always enlightening in the best ways possible. Here is an extract from one of his blogs on dealing with the pressures and fears of modern life:

 

"Fight back.  Build boundaries. Turn off your Facebook alerts. Connect and share less. Run off and buy a farm. Meditate every morning. Brush a donkey once a day. Herd sheep with a border collie. Watch chickens peck for bugs. Take dogs for a walk. Avoid status alerts, nobody needs to know where I am.  Do not have a TV in the house. Avoid tests and pills if possible. Do not watch “the news.” Meditate every evening. Seek love, every day. Do not argue your life, or join in arguments about other people’s lives. Do not judge other people, give unsought advice, or tell other people how to live or what to do.  Avoid anger, in yourself, in the legions of angry children of the modern world. Avoid labels like left or right."

While each book can be read on its own, my advice would be to read them in order of publication. This way, you will be in a position to join Katz's journey with all his wonderful ensemble of animals as they have impacted on his own life.

Get up and Move While you Read! Great books for preschoolers who won't sit still.

I frequently get asked to recommend children’s books that involve movement.  Toddlers and preschoolers enjoy stories that have an element of participation in them.  These types of books are great when they don’t want to sit still for a story.  They allow the children to move around and engage in the story in a different way.  This type of reading can be just as valuable as sitting and looking at a book, as it still addresses the six pre-reading skills identified in the Ready for Reading Program.  Here are some of my favourite books that get children moving:

 

Can you Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas

This funny book by Jan Thomas gets kids rolling on the floor with laughter.  A great read for small or large groups of children. Play "let's pretend" with a ladybug, as she gets kids to stand up, sit down, shake, and of course, make a scary face!

 

Cat Secrets by Jef Czekaj

The secret of how best to live a cat's life will be revealed only to those who can prove that they are genuine cats.  This cute and humorous book gets kids meowing, purring, and stretching along with the cats.

 

From Head to Toe by Eric Carle

Animals encourage the reader to exercise by getting them to follow their movements.  As always, Carle's pictures and text are great for young readers and their parents.

 

 

 

Here Are My Hands by Bill Martin

This book goes through various parts of the body, pointing out the parts and mentioning their functions, from "hands for catching and throwing" to the "skin that bundles me in."  

 

 

 

If You're Happy and You Know it (Jungle Edition) by James Warhola

Jungle animals sing the verses of this popular song.  Kids have a great time roaring, crawling, stomping, jumping and flapping like the animals in the book.

 

 

The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort

In another twist on a popular song, this one, Wheels On the Bus, animals including seals, tigers, geese, rabbits, monkeys, and more make their own sounds as they ride all around the town on a bus. Children enjoy singing along, and making the various animal sounds and actions.

Do Seniors Network?

Who said networking is for business people and business people only? If you ever thought that networking is not a senior’s thing – think again.

Networking is an effective activity for everybody - from all walks of life and from all ages. Sometimes it’s hard to separate the word from professional advancement but simply put, it is the exchange of information between two or more people that may benefit either party. So how does networking benefit seniors?

There are many exchanges that can help the elderly – new health information or lifestyle routines are normally the conversation centerpiece. In my experience with seniors, one of the most valuable networking discussions is when seniors talk about the programs and events they’ve attended. It’s really an opportunity to get a sense of whether a community program is right for you.

In the spirit of making connections, a group of community-based organizations are getting together to showcase their community supports for seniors. We are inviting Dr. Magic to perform some tricks and a local pianist to keep the rhythm going. Please see the event information page for the Magic of Connections Community Fair at the Barbara Frum Branch.

Monday October 29, 2012
2-4:30 p.m.
3rd Floor, Room A & B

Soccer, Lies and Deceit

Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup Qualifying is in full kick.  With forthcoming matches this weekend, soccer supporters and fanatics are gearing up to see their favourite teams advance.

As much as we love to think that it is all about “the love for the game” there have been numerous controversies involving FIFA.  I’m sure you heard about Canadian world-class striker, Christine Sinclair, and the comments she made towards a FIFA referee that called a penalty in favour of the USA Soccer Team.  Christine allegedly stated that the USA cheated their way into an eventual over-time victory.  

Corruption in professional soccer is not a new storyline.  The inequalities have been secretly documented by reporters and journalists including the release of Foul! The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote-Rigging and Ticket Scandals - the first international exposé of bribery in the world’s most passionate sport.   Checkout some titles below for more insider stories, but don’t take the lies and deceit too close to heart!

      

Let's Get Physical

Everyone always says that summer is a great time to get into shape but I say there is no time like the present.  A year ago today, I made the best decision of my life: I joined the gym and I have become a new person.  Not only am I physically and mentally stronger, but I am more confident and happy in my day to day life.  Making a lifestyle change with physical fitness isn't always the easiest but choosing exercises that you find convenient and enjoyable will help you to stick to your activity plan.  For more tips on how to incorporate fitness into your everyday life, check out some of these titles.