North York Central Library Blog

LGBTQ culture and Pride month 2013

The month of June is the month for Pride as it is the month that the Stonewall riots took place in 1969 and demonstrated a change in the social winds for LGBTQ people to become less marginalized and more accepted. For those of you who are not familiar with the riots, they happened on June 29th in New York as the police were invading the Stonewall Inn, the drag queens were chuffed at this transgression and began to fight back. This story if very well told in the book "Stonewall" by Martin Duberman as well as the film of the same name based on the book.                                                                                                                                                                                         

       

and the trailer for the movie . . .

                                  For the month of June we celebrate difference, respect and the individual. This book and film are just an example of the berth of materials that the library has, not only on LGBTQ culture but on many others as well.                                                                                                                                                                         

 

 

Boomers & Beyond Series - Estate Planning: Maximize Your Estate

Join us next Thursday, June 20, from 2:00 - 4:00pm as the Business Department hosts our final Boomers and Beyond Series program this year Estate Planning: Maximize Your Estate.

Garry R. Duncan, FCPA, FCA, CFP and author of "When I Die: Financial Planning
for Life and Death," will explore issues that should be considered when dealing
with an estate plan and suggest methods to maximize the beneficiaries' share of
the estate.

Call 416-395-5613 to register.

Below are some Canadian books which can help you with estate planning, if you're at North York Central Library you'll find these books up on the fourth floor in the Business Department.

 

                                                          

 

                                                         

When I die: financial planning for life and death. By: Garry R. Duncan. Call #: 346.71052 DUN

The 50 Biggest estate planning mistakes...and how to avoid them. By: Jean Blacklock & Sarah Kruger. Call #: 346.71052 BLA. (also available as an e-book)

The Canadian guide to will and estate planning: everything you need to know today to protect your wealth and your family tomorrow. By: Douglas A. Gray. Call #: 346.71052 GRA

Wills & Estate Planning for Canadians for Dummies. By: Margaret Hellen Kerr and JoAnn Kurtz. Call#: 346.71052 KER. (Also available as an e-book)

 

 

 

How to Network Your Way into a New Career after Graduation

If you are a student or recent graduate, you probably know how tough it is to find your dream job. Most students don't even end up working in the field that they studied, although really most are looking for meaningful work related to their education - hard to find. In Canada the youth unemployment rate is 14.2% and the general rate is 7.2%.

Lauren Friese is the founder of TalentEgg  which is Canada's most popular job site and online resource for students and new graduates. The site specializes in internships, entry level positions and co-op positions amd was established in 2008 it is like on campus recruitment but online.

On May 21 the Business department will be hosting the second program of our Generation Next Series: How to Hatch Your Career through Networking 

Cassandra Jowett, content manager from TalentEgg.ca will share how she hatched her own career through networking while she was a student at Ryerson University, and provide easy-to-use strategies that will help students and grads become better networkers both online and in real life.

The program is from 6:30 - 8:00pm and is free of charge. You can call 416-395-5613 to register. Hope to see you there!

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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!

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.

What are you doing with your bicycle this winter?

Store it, ride it, put it on an indoor trainer or spend some quality time with it learning basic maintenance and how to tune it up.

It‘s about that time of the year when you start thinking about putting away your bike and pulling out your skis .Or, if you’re fortunate enough, storing your summer bike and pulling out your winter bike and skis and snowshoes and skates etc... There are a few simple things you should do to your bike before it disappears behind the shovels, salt, slush and snow blowers.

Storing it

Keep pressure in the tires (pump them up once a month while in storage), try to get your bike off the ground but if you can’t rotate the tires a quarter of a turn every couple of weeks.

Lubricate your chain, lubricate your cables, armor all the tires and cover the bike with a sheet or bike bag if you can.

These simple steps will allow you to start riding right away once spring arrives again.

 

 

Training on it

Save the cost of a  gym membership by setting up an indoor trainer. Most are about the cost of two months at the gym and they can be stored in a closet during the warmer weather.

If you have a bike computer you can keep track of the kilometers you ride. See if you can do enough to get yourself across Canada or maybe just to Moosonee. There are many different types of trainers and lots of online workouts.

 

 

Learn to maintain it

There are lots of books on this topic.

Where to get tools and expertise:

Community Bicycle Network workshops

Evergreen Brickworks – bike works  closed for the season but a good one to keep in mind

 

Keep riding

Do it and do it often but do it safely. Here are some pointers for winter riding.

City of Toronto bike winter page

Everything you need to know about winter cycling from the Toronto Star

If Calgarians don’t know about winter cycling who does?

For inspiration there are lots of cycling magazines at the library. 

 

 Toronto also has some excellent cycling organizations.  

 

 

Safe riding!

 

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!

 

 

Business Inc: Make Your Business Dreams a Reality

 

Starting a business is both an exciting and overwhelming experience. Whether you intend on starting a business within the next six months, or would like to accelerate the growth of an early-stage business, Business Inc. could be just what you need to boost your plans.

Business Inc. is a 9 week business program offered at Toronto Public Library in partnership with the City of Toronto and the Toronto Business Development Centre which is an independent non profit, non government organization dedicated to nurturing the growth of new and emerging businesses. Upon completion of the program you will receive a Business Seminar Series Certificate of Completion and you'll be eligible to apply for a small business loan ranging from $5,000 - $30,000.

The program costs $100 + HST per participant ($113), the value of the program is actually $700 - this program is generously supported by the Toronto Public Library Foundation. During the program you will have the opportunity to: prepare/update your business plan, access a business advisor and network with other entrepreneurs.

There will be 3 locations offering the program, enrolment is limited to 20 participants per location (60 participants total). Applications are available online as well as at the branches where the program is being offered, they are due by Friday, September 28, 2012. The applications will be reviewed for: attendance at the orientation session, opportunity for business growth and a potentially viable business idea. The program dates and details are as follows:

North York Central Library Branch

Mondays, October 15 to December 10, 2012. 6:30 - 9:30pm

Cederbrae Branch

Tuesdays, October 16 to December 11, 2012. 6:30 - 9:30pm

York Woods Branch

Wednesdays, October 17 to December 12, 2012. 6:30 - 9:30pm

Each branch will be having Business Inc. Orientation Sessions where you can find out more information.

The Business of Fitness, Check out this new magazine!

                                         

                                                                      Fitness Then

    Want to know more about the fitness industry in Canada? We have a new fitness industry magazine in the Business Department at North York Central Library called Fitness Business Canada! Fitness Business Canada is the only national magazine serving fitness professionals throughout the health/fitness industry in Canada. Fitness has evolved over the years from Jane Fonda's aerobics videos, Sweatin' to the Oldies with Richard Simmons, Suzanne Somer's Thigh master to Yoga, the extreme Crossfit Kettlebell training (I've tried it - it's intense) and Zumba. Just like everything else, there are trends in the fitness world.

 

                                 
                                                                       Fitness Now

    The magazine is full of interesting articles primarily for people in the industry. The articles range in topic from sales strategies for success for fitness club owners, new fitness trends, new products and equipment from fitness industry suppliers. Whether you're in the fitness industry or just interested in what's new in the fitness world - you should take a peek at this magazine.

I looked over the March/April issue, I was interested in the article on the cover Dispelling Weight Training Myths - one myth that was dispelled was that weight training makes you inflexible - apparently not. DId you know that Olympic weightlifters are the second most flexible athletes next to gymnasts? Here's a peek at some of the other interesting articles: 

The State of the Global Fitness Industry 2012 - The Economy and weather disasters are just two factors that have affected the buy in to fitness.

Motivational Closing - Help your team members improve their closing ratios.

The Power of Group Exercise - It's a sales tool and a retention tool, and for some members its the only reason they go to the gym. Let a strong group exercise program create the fans your club needs to succeed.

One nice feature of the magazine is that each issue has a section called "FBC Trainers" which features articles for fitness trainers such as The Fitness Professional's Quick Guide to Menopause. Even if you aren't a trainer, the information could be useful for your own workouts.

To check out other Fitness Business Canada magazines, come visit the Business Department on the 4th floor at North York Central Library and as they used to say on  Participaction "keep fit and have fun!".