In this Little Free Library in Vancouver

COLUMN: Books by Boom-Boom and other library innovations

Some might think that libraries are casualties of the digital age, gone the way of telephone booths and fax machines.

Some might think that libraries are casualties of the digital age, gone the way of telephone booths and fax machines. And yet, while it’s getting harder to find a phone booth, it’s getting easier to find a library. October is Canadian Library Month, a good time to reflect on the place of libraries in society.

When I look in the library mirror, what I see is adaptability and innovation. I see libraries that have embraced the digital age, expanding their repertoire to include informational and educational databases, eBooks in print and audio in addition to physical holdings.

As for libraries themselves, our days as simply warehouses for books are long gone. We are the social hub of the community, where kids come to storytimes, teens get tutored, grandparents get computer training and people of all kinds come to meet, learn, and enjoy.

The definition of library has expanded, but lovers of traditional books continue to find more ways to share them. A recent Macleans magazine article describes the efforts humans go to in order to do just that, with libraries popping up in airports, hotels, and subway stations. It describes a library in Burundi filled with giant, locally-made hammocks to read in. And it lauds the unstoppable librarians, who deliver books in the Gobi Desert by camel or in Laos via an elephant named Boom-Boom.

Little Free Libraries have sprung up everywhere — there are several in the Nelson area and more than 40 now in Vancouver — with their take-a-book-leave-a-book philosophy. Sometimes the book you pick up will come with an anonymous note; I picked one up at a tiny, perfect library just off Commercial Drive with a note that read: “this book changed my life.”

Whichever way you get your book — off the shelf or online — books indeed have that ability. In our new cookbook Pairings: a compendium of beloved recipes and books from the chefs of Nelson (to be launched at our 95th birthday party on Oct. 27) our local kitchen wizards told us about the book that changed their lives. Chances are, you have one too.

To celebrate Library Month, we’d like you to share the name of a book you’ve loved; one that picked you up when you were down, taught you the thing you needed to know, inspired you, made you think, changed your life. Write it down with a bit about why you chose it, drop your entry in the box across from the circulation desk, and we’ll draw for a copy of our gorgeous new cookbook.

And we’ll make up a reading list (keeping your comments anonymous) to inspire readers through the year — great books you can read any which way you choose.

In England, British Telecom launched an adopt-a-kiosk program a few years ago, offering communities a chance to buy defunct telephone booths for about two bucks apiece. Those classic red telephone boxes became all sorts of good things — including libraries. Making it harder to find a phone, but easier yet to find a library. When you find one, you can use your smartphone to call your mom to tell her about it (on which you can also read a book, by the way).

Where will you find the book that will change your life?

Anne DeGrace is the adult services coordinator at the Nelson Public Library. Check This Out runs every other week. For more information go to nelsonlibrary.ca.

Just Posted

Activist, author Libby Davies coming to Nelson

Davies will talk about the intersection of activism and politics in pursuit of social change

NDP bring Green New Deal to the Kootenays

MPs Wayne Stetski and Peter Julian held climate change talks in Nelson, Cranbrook and Revelstoke

VIDEO: RCMP officer killed in the line of duty remembered ‘through the laughter of children’

Sarah Beckett Memorial Playground opens with ceremony in Langford

B.C. RCMP plane chases fleeing helicopter as part of major cross-border drug bust

The helicopter eventually landed at a rural property near Chilliwack

Thousands cycle to conquer cancer

The 11th annual Ride to Conquer Cancer took place Saturday morning, Aug. 24 in Surrey, B.C.

PHOTOS: Brazil military begins operations to fight Amazon fires

Amazon fires have become a global issue, escalating tensions between Brazil and European countries

Racist confrontation in Richmond parking lot caught on camera

Woman can be heard yelling racial slurs, swear words at woman in apparent parking dispute

Groups ready campaign to help young voters identify ‘fake news’ in election

The media literacy campaign to focus on identifying misinformation and suspicious sources online

Big rally in northern B.C. draws attention to continuing lumber crisis

Mayor Joan Atkinson says about 400 workers have been directly affected by the closure of the Canfor mill

Orangeville Northmen take Minto Cup at Langley Events Centre

Swept best-of-five series 3-0 over Victoria Shamrocks

Expanded support to help B.C. youth from care attend university still falling short

Inadequate support, limited awareness and eligibility restrictions some of the existing challenges

Most Read
https://www.nelsonstar.com/community/column-books-by-boom-boom-and-other-library-innovations/
www.nelsonstar.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2019-35
132699
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:XQCHMDSOUVW6YP2NILXC2ODE7EJEQA64
<urn:uuid:abdb6c17-ac8d-45b1-8ac4-678171d9f8cd>
2019-08-24T22:24:05Z
146.148.100.136
text/html
sha1:775FXQXBMFWDDHXMJJNK7KXBTLH624RY
<urn:uuid:ee9c52cf-5497-48f6-b0b4-ef282c33f282>
https://www.nelsonstar.com/community/column-books-by-boom-boom-and-other-library-innovations/
response
<urn:uuid:6af40b08-9db8-4140-97a7-1468b2a46ba3>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-35
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for August 2019
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-67-67-85.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/