North York Central Library Blog

National Day of Mourning - Remembering lives lost or injured in the workplace

In 1991, the federal government officially started recognizing April 28 as the National Day of Mourning after passing a Mourning Day Act  on February 1, 1991. This important day commemorates workers who have been killed or injured in the workplace as well as reminding us all to be committed to preventing further deaths and injuries by improving health and safety in the workplace. 

According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) In 2011, 919 workplace deaths were recorded in Canada and between 1993 to  2011 17, 061 people lost their lives due to work-related causes. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) 2.02 million people die each year world wide from work related diseases 321,000 from workplace accidents, which means that:

• Every 15 seconds someone dies from a work related accident or disease

The National day of Mourning also known as Workers' Memorial Day is now recognized by approximately 80 countries around the world including: Argentina, Belgium, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Gibralter Panama, Peru, United States and many other countries. Workers' Memorial day was actually created by Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in 1984. The CUPE website has honoured a few of the CUPE workers who have lost their lives since the last National Day of Mourning in 2012:

• Sylvain Ferland, 49, was killed in an accident while driving a bus in Montreal, Quebec.
• Normand Gauthier, 53, a longshoreman was killed during loading operations on a Europe bound ship in Port of Matane, Quebec. He leaves behind a wife and 3 children .
• Claude Picard, 48, a linesman who worked for Hydro Quebecwas killed after falling 13 meters while working on a hydro pole Saint-Félix-de-Valois, Quebec. He leaves behind a wife and a daughter.
• Hubert Fortin, 67, was killed when he was struck by a roller coaster at La Ronde, a Montreal amusement park where he was working. 
• Tara Lynn Veri, was killed when her car was hit by a cement truck. She was from Simcoe, Ontario. 

In international news, there are far more fatalities, our standards and regulations for health and safety are quite high in North America.  Just this past week there was a factory that collapsed killing over 200 people, I was watching CBC news yesterday and they said they are still pulling out bodies from the rubble, for more information you can read this article. Below is a video from CBC about improving unsafe work conditions overseas.  

 

 

Tomorrow, April 28 businesses are being encouraged to recognize this day and to remember to make worker health and safety a priority. There will be special ceremonies all over the country and in Parliament Hill the Canadian flag will be held at half mast. At the Toronto Public Library 2 minutes of silence will be observed to remember worker's lives which have been lost. In the business department on the 4th floor at North York Central Library, one of the librarians has made a beautiful display to honor the National day of Mourning. You should go up and take a look - here's a sneak peek:

National Day of Mourning Display - Business Department

At North York Central Library the Law books are held in the Business Department, we also have a lot of legal directories and leaflets. If you are looking for books on occupational health and safety, worker rights, joint health and safety committees etc. you can find them up on the fourth floor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Calling all opera lovers! Opera Talk # 4: Richard Strauss's Salome

This is your last chance, opera lovers! The fourth and final Canadian Opera Company opera talk takes place on Thursday March 28 at North York Central Library. Wayne Gooding, author, lecturer and editor of Opera Canada magazine, will discuss Richard Strauss’s controversial opera Salome.

Salome has had a fascinating performance history due to its controversial subject matter (it is based on the biblical story in which Salome demands the head of John the Baptist, and King Herod, driven by lust, complies.) Though Salome received 38 curtain calls when it premiered in Dresden in 1905, the path to this opening night success was not smooth. Some of the singers rebelled when they first attempted their parts, protesting that they were too difficult. Marie Wittich, who played Salome, refused to perform the infamous Dance of the Seven Veils (she is quoted as saying, “I won’t do it, I’m a respectable woman”) and a dancer had to be found to stand in for her during this scene. There was more controversy after the Dresden premiere. The Kaiser would only allow the opera to be shown at the Berlin Court Opera on the condition that the star of Bethlehem shone in the theatrical sky – chronological inaccuracy didn’t matter to the Kaiser, it seems (Christ’s birth was thirty years before the time period of Salome). Did the Kaiser think this bit of stage design would somehow make the seduction, decapitation and necrophilia on stage more palatable to the audience? At the 1907 premiere of Salome at the Metropolitan in New York certain wealthy audience members were so appalled by the opera, they used their influence to shut the production down -- all future performances were cancelled. Strauss's source material had a troubled performance history as well. Oscar Wilde’s play Salome (which Strauss based his libretto on) was in rehearsal in 1892 with a planned London premiere, when it was banned by the Lord Chamberlain’s office.

Canadian film director and Academy Award nominee Atom Egoyan directs the Canadian Opera Company's production of Salome, which runs from April 21 to May 22. Egoyan talks about opera and directing Salome in a video interview on the Canadian Opera Company's blog.

The talk will be held in the auditorium of North York Central Library, on Thursday March 28 at 7:00. Call to register: 416-395-5639.

If you'd like to listen to Salome to enrich your experience of our final opera talk, remember, with your library card, you have access to Naxos Music Library, our streaming music service, anytime of day or night. Naxos Music Library has various versions of Strauss's Salome, including the following:

Reveal the 8 Universal Truths about Your Money

 

 

 

Even though Money Matters Month is technically over here at North York Library we still have one more personal finance program to offer you 8 Universal Truths about Your Money: The Basics of Financial Planning

Tom Hamza, President of the non-profit Investor Education Fund (IEF) will discuss eight Universal Money Truths that apply to everyone, regardless of their financial situation. Learn practical tips on budgeting, saving, borrowing, investing, and protecting your money from fraud.

FREE. Call 416-395-5613 to register.

Monday, March 27, 2013

6:30-8:00pm

Auditorium

There are a lot of great resources and tips on the IEF website for people in all financial stages of life. The IEF provides unbiased programs and tools to help consumers make better financial and investing decisions. Of course, you can always visit the North York Central Library's Business Department on the 4th floor and check out all of our personal finance, investment and economics books, DVDs, databases and newsletters. The staff at the reference desk are always happy to help you!

Canadian Gothic

Where does a librarian go on a night off? To a book launch, of course. Actually, it was my first. I was amazed at how many people were crowded into the room at the Gladstone Hotel – all seats were taken, and many were standing -- but then, there’s a lot of buzz around Andrew Pyper’s new book, The Demonologist, predicted to be the Gangnam Style of 2013 by Mark Medley of the National Post.

Luckily, I arrived early enough to get a seat close to the authorial action. Despite the large turnout, I was reminded of a place I'd never been: a parlour where you might pull yourself closer to the fire to chase away the shivers after hearing a dark tale. On the stage, two plush chairs the shade of unripe squash flesh were set on a rug patterned in colours that brought to mind dark jewels. Between them, a table held a delicate vase of white flowers. The atmosphere seemed perfect for the launch of a book about a Columbia University professor of literature, David Ullman, who tries to recover his twelve year-old daughter Tess from the Unnamed, a demonic entity.

While waiting, I wondered if the blossoms in the fragile glass symbolized the innocent, vulnerable daughter. And did the pale orange chairs and stack of flame coloured books in front of the vase signify the fires of hell entrapping her? And, I wondered, is seeing symbolism everywhere an unfortunate and distracting side effect of studying literature? Wouldn’t it be more productive to prod the tiny, withered math zone in my brain by attempting to calculate something? But if I were math oriented, I probably wouldn't be eagerly awaiting a Canadian author who writes disturbing, scary fiction.

 

First, the audience was treated to the chilling book trailer, which you may watch below:

Then Andrew Pyper read from his new book.

After the reading, author Russell Smith interviewed Pyper, who was engaging and funny -- not the moody, tormented soul one might expect. I was intrigued when Smith said that for him, the scariest part of the book was the trip to Canada. In response, Pyper touched upon what he called, 'Canadian Gothic'. He pointed out that in Canada, we don't have the typical settings for frightening tales that some places have, such as castles -- what we have is the immense north, the wilderness. The city, Pyper said, is safety -- the woods, the river, the cabin -- that's scary.

I thought of Margaret Atwood's book Survival: a thematic guide to Canadian literature, which offers one way of approaching Canadian literature. Atwood suggests that "every country or culture has a single unifying and informing symbol at its core." The symbol for England may be The Island, for America, it may be The Frontier. For Canada, the unifying symbol is Survival. This symbol can have various facets. It can refer to survival of "hostile elements" or the "grim" survival of a disaster, or cultural survival (here, Atwood refers to French Canada trying to keep its culture and language alive "under an alien government". Provocatively, she says the symbol has a similar meaning for English Canada in relation to America.)

"But the main idea is the first one: hanging on, staying alive. Our central idea is one which generates, not the excitement and sense of adventure or danger which The Frontier holds out, not the smugness and/or sense of security, of everything in its place, which The Island can offer, but an almost intolerable anxiety. Our stories are likely to be tales not of those who made it but of those who made it back from the awful experience -- the North, the snowstorm, the sinking ship --that killed everyone else."

Though Survival was published in 1972, the patterns Atwood observed in Canadian literature may still be seen today. Without giving anything away, in Pyper's The Killing Circle the hostile elements become a factor in the survival of the main character, Patrick Rush, when he leaves Toronto and goes north on the trail of his kidnapped son. Things get scarier in The Demonologist when David Ullman heads north to Canada. Will David Ullman survive? Atwood points out that "in many Canadian David-and-Goliath stories, Goliath wins." I'm looking forward to reading The Demonologist to find out if this particular David will be added to the long list of Canadian literary victims.

 

If this post has piqued your interest in Margaret Atwood's perspective on Canadian literature, consider reading Strange things: the malevolent north in Canadian literature, a collection of lectures Atwood delivered at Oxford University in 1991. Yes, it's literary criticism, which may sound like the kiss of death if you're seeking pleasure reading, but it's fascinating and witty. Trust me.

 

For a blast from our poetic past which nicely exemplifies Atwood's ideas in Survival, consider the classic Canadian poem The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert W. Service, which involves another ill fated trip into Canada, and yet another victim of the malevolent north, where the cold stabs "like a driven nail." You can read the whole poem on the Poetry Foundation website. Some of you will know the first verse by heart:

There are strange things done in the midnight sun

      By the men who moil for gold;

The Arctic trails have their secret tales

      That would make your blood run cold;

The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,

      But the queerest they ever did see

Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge

      I cremated Sam McGee.

 

 

 

 

It's tax time! Let us help you Solve the Mysteries of Income Tax

The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.

-Albert Einstein.

Like it or not, it's that time of year again, tax time! As you can see even Albert Einstein, deemed one of the smartest men in history also had a hard time understanding taxes. Not to worry, the library is here to help. If you come visit us in the Business Department department up on the fourth floor, we have some free booklets prepared by Ontario's Certified General Accountants called Your Personal Tax Planning Guide. Every year we receive these booklets around January, just in time for you to start preparing your taxes. You can also view this free publication online as a PDF.

It seems as if every year there is something new which we have to learn and include in our taxes. One of the nice features of the free booklet I mentioned above is that it includes a section called Major 2012 Federal and Provincial Changes Affecting Individuals. One of the major changes this year is that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is no longer mailing income tax and benefit packages, we are all being encouraged to file online. However, this doesn't mean that you can't file your taxes on paper you can request a paper package, and it will still be accepted. You can also call the CRA at 1-800-959-8281 (press * star key to speak with an agent).

At North York Central Library, we have our annual income tax clinic:

This is a FREE, community income tax program provided by Certified General Accountants, using software supplied by Canada Revenue Agency. It is available to single persons with incomes under $30,000 or families with an income of under $35,000. Qualified accountants will help individuals to fill out their 2012 Income Tax Returns. Interest income must be under $1000. Sessions are on a First come/First served basis.

Please note clinic dates & times:

Saturdays, March 2, March 9, April 6, April 20, & April 27 - Hours are 10:00am-5pm, last client taken at 4:15pm. Concourse level.

Thursdays, March 7, March 14, March 28, April 11 & 25 - Hours are 6:00pm-8:30pm, last client taken at 7:45pm. Concourse Level.

Please call 416-395-5614 after Jan. 28, 2013 if you need more information.

If you have mobility issues, you can contact Wheel-Trans Customer Service at 416-393-4111 to arrange to be picked up or you can even book a wheel trans trip online. 

There are other tax clinics available all across Ontario, the CRA has a great list of Volunteer Tax Preparation Clinics. Also, 211toronto.ca has a list of clinics available across the GTA. If you come up to the Business Department, our staff will be happy to assist you with questions you may have about your income tax, we have a great deal of resources to help you or we can direct you to other places which may help you.

Don't forget that there are always books available to help you prepare your taxes as well if you'd like to do your taxes on your own, here's a couple you can take a peek at:

 

                                                 

                                      

      

Gordon Pape, Canadian Personal Finance Expert will also be coming to North York Central Library next Monday evening to present his program Retirement's Harsh New Realities where he'll discuss important things every Canadian should know including information about minimizing your taxes and protecting your financial future. 

All the best with your taxes!

For aspiring fiction writers, and those who are amazed by what fiction writers do.

Like many of you, I love a good story. I am also intensely curious about how writers create stories. Where do they get their ideas? What do they read? What inspires them?

To me, writers are conjurers who perform a kind of magic, creating an imaginary world that seems so real I feel as though I’m inhabiting it for a time -- a world populated by people and creatures who do not exist, but who, through the conjurer’s art, blaze into life in my head.

Incredibly, the tragedy and comedy of human existence are fixed onto the page with no more than simple symbols we call letters. One only has to look upon these sorcerer’s symbols and a bridge is instantly formed between the writer’s imagination and the reader’s mind; the magic is so strong that it doesn’t matter if the writer has been long mouldering in his grave – his creations live, and come thundering across that bridge into the reader’s mind where they triumph, fail, fight, dance, love, betray, laugh, weep, are born and die.

When I open a book about writing I feel like Mickey Mouse in the sorcerer’s apprentice scene in the movie Fantasia -– I just can’t resist –- I want to know how the magic is done.

Maybe you made a new year’s resolution to finally write that story you’ve had kicking around in your head for the past few years? For inspiration, come to the Language, Literature and Fine Arts Department at North York Central Library to browse our collection of books on all aspects of writing. Here are three of my favourites. They are not so much concerned with the mechanics of writing, such as the invaluable Elements of Style, as with inspiration and the joy of writing. If you have a favourite book on writing, I'd love to hear about it.

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg.  Written by a woman who has taught writing classes for many years, this affirming book focuses on writing as a practice, not as a career. It is comprised of short, lively chapters (sometimes only a page) which can be read in any order. Here, she explains why she uses cheap spiral notebooks: "Think, too, about your notebook. It is important. This is your equipment, like hammer and nails to a carpenter. Sometimes people buy expensive hardcover journals. They are bulky and heavy, and because they are fancy, you are compelled to write something good. Instead you should feel that you have permission to write the worst junk in the world..."

Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury. Many know Ray Bradbury as the author of science fiction classics such as Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, and others. This slim volume is a gathering together of essays on writing written over a span of years, all in Bradbury's distinctive wonderstruck voice. This author is so beloved to me, it is almost a cruelty to have to choose only one of his quotes on writing, so I shall be kind to myself and choose two: "If you are writing without zest, without gusto, without love, without fun, you are only half a writer...For the first thing a writer should be is--excited. He should be a thing of fevers and enthusiasms." And from the same chapter, "The Joy of Writing": "But ideas lie everywhere, like apples fallen and melting in the grass for lack of wayfaring strangers with an eye and a tongue for beauty, whether absurd, horrific, or genteel."

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. Apologies for using a hackneyed phrase, but this book is compulsively readable. It is also highly entertaining, insightful and at times, hilarious. Here is a quote which should help keep all books about writing in perspective: "This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bulls**t...I figured the shorter the book, the less the bulls**t."

Need more motivation? This February the Toronto Public Library welcomed a new writer in residence, Alissa York. Alissa is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Fauna, Mercy and Effigy, and the short story collection Any Given Power. Here is a list of the four upcoming talks Alissa will be giving at North York Central Library:

Surrounded By Stories: A Guide To Getting Inspired -- Saturday, February 23, 2:00 pm-4:00 pm

Sense Of Place: Creating A Convincing Word -- Saturday, March 23, 2:00 pm-4:00 pm

Abiding Obsessions, Recurring Themes: A Panel Discussion -- Thursday, April 25, 6:30 pm-8:30 pm

Origin Story: An Illustrated Reading -- Thursday, May 23, 6:30 pm- 8:30 pm

Call the Language, Literature, Fine Arts Department to register 416-395-5639.

 

Musical rivals: Mozart, Salieri and La clemenza di Tito -- Canadian Opera Company Opera Talk # 3

La clemenza di Tito is one of the last works Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed before his untimely death in 1791 at the age of 35, when the curtains closed on a blaze of creativity from the musical genius; in the same year he completed La clemenza di Tito, he worked on The Magic Flute and Requiem. Though it fell out of fashion for a time, La clemenza di Tito, which was written for the coronation of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, as King of Bohemia, is now considered to be a masterpiece of Mozart’s later period. It is interesting that the commission to write the piece was first offered to the composer Antonio Salieri, a prominent figure in Italian opera in Vienna, in light of the supposed rivalry between Mozart and Salieri -- a rivalry dramatized in the 1984 Oscar winning film Amadeus.

Please join us at North York Central Library on Tuesday, January 15, at 7:00 p.m. for a talk on Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito by Ian Kyer. Ian is a lawyer, historian, a seasoned public speaker and an author, who has written a historical novel about Antonio Salieri and his relationship with Mozart. He will be using audio/video examples to illustrate his talk, which will focus on the Canadian Opera Company's upcoming production of La clemenza di Tito and the relationship between Mozart and Salieri. Ian will also discuss the theory that Salieri, driven by envy, fatally poisoned Mozart.

Mozart's final illness began when he was in Prague, for the premiere of La clemenza di Tito. Over the next few weeks his health deteriorated. After he returned to Vienna, while taking some fresh air with his wife, Constanze, he began to speak of his own death and said he was composing Requiem for himself. (In fact, Franz von Walsegg commissioned the Requiem mass in memory of his late wife.) According to Constanze's account, Mozart declared, "I am sure I have been poisoned. I cannot rid myself of this idea." ("Salieri and the 'Murder' of Mozart" p. 264)

Over the years, there has been much speculation that Mozart was murdered, and Salieri is not the only imagined culprit. Some of the stranger motivations proposed include the theory that Mozart was murdered by the Freemasons as a sacrifice to Masonic deities, or that he was being punished for revealing Freemason secrets in his opera The Magic Flute. (Mozart joined the Freemasons in the last few years of his life.)

If you would like to listen to La Clemenza di Tito before Ian's talk, the Toronto Public Library has both DVD and CD versions of the opera. If these are being used by another person, never fear. With your library card, you have access to Naxos Music Library, our streaming music service, anytime of day or night. Naxos Music Library has the following version of La Clemenza di Tito available:

 

 

To get to Naxos Music Library from the Toronto Public Library website, just type "Naxos" into the search bar and click on the orange box that says "access online"; enter your library card number and your fourdigit pin number and you will be taken to Naxos Music Library. Type "La clemenza di Tito" into the search box to find the versions shown above. If you don't want to listen to the whole opera, scan through the list of results for highlights. Happy listening!

 

Short video preview of the Canadian Opera Company's La clemenza di Tito.

For a fascinating article on Mozart's death, you may enjoy reading Salieri and the "Murder" of Mozart by Albert I. Borowitz, published in Musical Quarterly. In this excerpt, Borowitz gives some insight into the lengths those who believed Salieri murdered Mozart were willing to go to convince others that the rumors were true: "At a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Vienna on May 23, 1824, concertgoers were distributed a leaflet containing a poem which pictured Salieri as Mozart's rival, 'standing by his side with a poisoned cup'." (Salieri and the "Murder" of Mozart, page 274).

The talk will be held in the auditorium of North York Central Library, on Tuesday January 15 at 7:00 Call to register: 416-395-5639.

 

 

 

 

Check your Stocks with Value Line, now available online anywhere!

Today as I was working extra hours at the Don Mills Library, a man asked me if he could see the Value Line Records and Ratings Reports. When I presented him with the large binder, he was disappointed to find that the latest print issue was from November. I asked him if he knew that the database was available online and he didn't. At both my home branch North York Central Library and the Toronto Reference Library the Value Line Research Centre Database has been available online for the past year. However, for the past few months the database has been available online, anywhere even the comfort of your own home as long as you have an active library card. 

Value Line has been around since the 1931 and was discovered by Arnold Berhnhard it is one of the most trusted and popular investment reports that the Toronto Public Library subscribes to. Value Line provides stock reports and covers most actively traded U.S. exchange-listed stocks, small and mid-cap stocks, mutual funds, options, convertibles and special situations.

Here's an example of one of the reports you would see from Value Line, this is the Boeing December 14, 2012:

You can also analyze specific industries (onlne not in print), historical stock tracking, analysts views and newsletters. It is very important to do your research it could be the difference between you making a great deal or losing it.  For more information on other great sources with company information to make you a savvy investor check out my colleague Teresa's blog Thinking of investing in an IPO? It pays to do your homework.

Value Line also has an excellent website, with a wealth of information including video commentary, new videos are added on monthly basis, check this one out it's about the investment outlook for the company KRAFT (KFT)

Remember, you can always stop by the business department at either North York Central Library or Toronto Reference Library to look at other great investment resources.

Free Science Events for December 2012

The Science and Technology Department of North York Central Library compiles a monthly calendar of free science events in Toronto. Applied science includes health, gardening, pets and food; all subjects found in the department's collections. Here is the December Calendar:

This month's highlights include:

• Dec 2 - Ontario's Wild Bees, an event which discusses why all bees are at risk and what we can do to save them
• Dec 2 - Feeling Physics!, an hour of science discovery that will allow children to feel the effects of the forces that push, pull, bounce, fly and float
• Dec 6 - The Science and Pseudoscience of the Apocalypse, a lecture that will review the difference between what conspiracy theorists claim, the media reports, and what astronomers actually observe when it comes to the predicted Dec 21st, 2012 doomsday

Small Business Month may be over, but our Small Business Programs aren't!

Even though small business month is technically in October, in the Business Department at North York Central Library we decided to extend it until the end of the year! Did you know that in Ontario roughly half of us work for small and medium size enterprises (SME's), and they generate approximately $250 million annually?

"Small business owners and entrepreneurs are truly exemplary Ontarians. After all, they are key contributors to innovation, investment and job creation in every part of our province. They are the drivers of our economy, and while we pay special tribute to them this month, their efforts are felt year round."

- Harinder Takhar - Minister of Small Business and Entrepreneurship

We know that every year our patrons look forward to our annual small business month programs. Based on your feedback, we've realized that a lot of people wondered why small business programs were limited to October so we've got more planned for you entrepreneurs. We understand that finding the right information for your small business can be difficult and sometimes costly. All of the programs offered at the library are free, so why not stop by and learn something new?

Here's what's coming up in November:

Hot or Not: How to Know if Your Business Idea Will Fly or Fail

Sean Wise a Ryerson Professor, author and past Dragon's Den coach will discuss ideas based on his 2012 bestseller. 

There are many copies of the book available at the library, check it out:

 

 

Best Business Tools  

Miriam Tuerk our first ever Entrepreneur in Residence will discuss both cost and time effective productivity tools. This program was actually rescheduled. Originally it was scheduled for Tuesday, November 13, 2012, however due to illness, the program will be held on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 in the Concourse.

                     
                          

And this is what's on in December:

  Why Privacy Makes Good Business Sense        

Any business owner who collects, uses or keeps personal information about clients has a responsibility to protect this information according to guidelines set out in the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Lonny Kates from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada will teach you how to keep your business in compliance with the law.

 

 From Renos to Riches

Ian Szabo, is an expert house flipper and author of the only Canadian title in the field of investing in renovations From Renos to Riches: The Canadian Real Estate Investor's Guide to Practical and Profitable Renovations.  Learn about house flipping, the Canadian way.

 

You can check out the book too:

 

Please call 416-395-5613 to register, hope to see you!