New Website For AVRL, new browser for you?

You may be aware that the Annapolis Valley Regional Library launched a newly designed website a couple of months ago.  The change was necessary to better serve patrons who would like to access the site using phones or other mobile devices.  In moving in this direction, we were unable to develop a site that would work on all of the older versions of browsers.  When the site went live, we were all excited to get some real feedback from our users.   Unfortunately we quickly realized that many of our users are still using some of these older browsers.   

 
Anyone still using Windows XP as an operating system and is also using Internet Explorer will get a page that looks like the picture below when they visit www.valleylibrary.ca

Not at all like the version we wanted everyone to see, which is like the image above.

The best solution is to upgrade to a more current browser.  XP is officially out of support and is no longer being updated automatically by Microsoft which means Internet Explorer 8 is the last version that will work on XP.  The good news is there are alternatives to Internet Explorer that are faster, less vulnerable and give you the ability to add functionality.  Our favorites are Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

 Google Chrome came out in 2008 and has become the most popular browser worldwide. Chrome is fast, updates automatically and has a store filled with addons that can add functionality like adblocking or a Facebook addon that lets you keep up with friends’ activity even when you aren’t on Facebook.  Chrome is also one of the most secure browsers, blocking known malware and phishing sites automatically. 

 Mozilla Firefox is an open source offshoot of Netscape Navigator and has been one of the most popular browsers for many years. Firefox is quick and has a familiar interface. It was one of the first browsers to embrace addons and has a library of thousands to choose from.

There are countless reasons to upgrade your old browser and start using something new and up-to-date. Trust us when we say that your experience on the Web will be infinitely better if you choose to do this.

Whatever you’re doing on the Web—reading email, shopping, banking, or anything else—a new browser will allow your experience to be safer, faster, and much more beautiful.

Love My Library Week

While everyone is in the spirit of Valentine's day, we thought we'd celebrate a little library love this week. 

Visit your local branch, write a love note to your library, and put it on the big red heart. Just grab a post-it note, and tell us why you love your library. We want to know what you love about your library! We will feature some of these love notes on our website, on Facebook, on Pinterest, and on Twitter.

You can Tweet your love notes, too.  Just use the  #LoveMyLibrary hashtag. 

Or, if you can't get to your local branch this week, send us a love note online. 

Book Giving Day

For the third year in a row, Annapolis Valley Regional Library (AVRL) will be participating in International Book Giving Day. The goal of this initiative is to get books into the hands of as many children as possible. Here at AVRL, we’ve included teens and adults in that goal. During the week of February 9-14, our branch libraries will be hiding wrapped gift books out in the community. Whoever finds the book gets to keep it, or share it with a friend. 

International Book Giving Day is celebrated world-wide on February 14 each year. We use donated, gently used books as our give-away books. Look for pictures of the hidden books on Facebook, Twitter, and our website. And if you find a book, use the #giveabook hashtag to let us know! 

International Book Giving Day’s focus is on encouraging people worldwide to give a book to someone on February 14th. If you’d like to participate gift a book to a friend or family member,  leave a book in a waiting room for children to read, or donate a gently used book to a local library, hospital or shelter or to an organization that distributes used books to children in need internationally.

 In 2014, International Book Giving Day was celebrated by people in Australia, Canada, South Africa, France, India, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, the Philippines, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Brazil, Egypt, Poland, Greece, Portugal, Mexico, Macedonia, Malawi, Hungary, Malaysia, Israel, Denmark, Thailand

Have a heart that’s healthy

February is Heart and Stroke Month and as always it is a good time to take stock of how you treat your heart.  Canvassers will be going door to door this month to raise funds once again for research.  Check here for events throughout the year sponsored by the Nova Scotia branch of the Heart and Stroke Foundatio. 

A stroke is a medical emergency and demands quick action.  What exactly is a stroke? What is FAST?  The more you know the better when it comes to dealing with a stroke.  

Read about how your heart works, this workhorse that so often goes unnoticed until something goes wrong.  When it goes wrong it can happen in a hurry so take a few steps now, it will pay off later.   You can eat for your heart, exercise for your heart, meditate for your heart.  It is truly your best friend and needs all the help you can give it.  Start with a Risk Assessment to see where you are.  

  It will be Valentine’s Day soon so make sure your heart gets the love it deserves. Here are some title suggestions about Heart Disease and about how you can cook to change your eating habits to keep your heart in good shape:

Heart Health for Canadians  

 The cardiovascular cure : how to strengthen your self-defense against heart attack and stroke

HeartSmart : the best of HeartSmart cooking

-Patricia Miner, Head of Reference Services