New Bookmobile stops!

The Bookmobile serves some of the Annapolis Valley's outlying communities and neighborhoods, aiming at all ages and interests. The Bookmobile provides access to a wide variety of adult and children's fiction and non-fiction material. You can also find magazines, audio books, and DVDs on the shelves.

Our new Bookmobile offers an exciting library adventure. Based on statistics we have developed stops in community hub locations. We look for community meeting places and develop partnerships to offer mobile library service. Our current community stops vary from one to three hours in length. And we visit communities every three weeks.

Our Bookmobile already offers mobile library service to Springfield, Summerville, Wilmot, Aylesford, Baxter’s Harbour, Centreville, Coldbrook, Maitland Bridge, Cornwallis and Bear River. The exciting news is that we have developed new partnerships to offer additional new community stops! Beginning this month we will offer Bookmobile service to East Dalhousie, Brooklyn, Black River, Hall’s Harbour, Port George, Morden, and Nictaux. 
 
To view our calendar of stops click here. This link will take you to the complete calendar of events for AVRL. You can filter these results by clicking on Outreach Services.

Click on any Bookmobile stop to receive full information on location and time of stop.
The Bookmobile can be seen travelling the Annapolis Valley almost daily. Bring a friend or neighbor and visit us at one of our community locations. Registering for a library card is FREE and can be used at any of our branches as well. If you see this lovely Bookmobile parked in your community, it probably means that we are open to the public. We will be flying a little flag to invite you into the Bookmobile. And please wave as you see us in your community.

Submitted by Wendy Kearnes, Bookmobile and Off-Site Services Manager

Spring Tonic

With the winter we have just experienced many of us are feeling used up, and sluggish. While we want to tackle the spring work we seem to be lacking the get up and go.

The practice of taking a spring tonic is an old one;  your grandparents may still have the recipes or have stories of having to force one down.  If you are of a certain age you may have fond memories of Granny making and taking her “spring tonic” on the television program Beverly Hillbillies. One of our co-workers who grew up in Kentucky remembers her grandmother insisting that everyone have a heaping serving of poke salad every Spring. 

It was a means to purify and energize the body from a winter of being indoors with a diet heavy in meats and root vegetables.   What went into the spring tonics of decades ago?  Dandelion greens, nettle and burdock were popular ingredients.  Another type was sulphur and molasses.   Many were mixed with alcohol as a base.  Keep in mind these were only supposed to be taken by the spoonful!

Modern day tonics can be made from many easily obtained ingredients and you don’t have to be an herbalist to know what to use.  They can taste a lot better as well.   New greens are often at the markets and grocery stores.  Honey, ginger, cider vinegar, lemon and springwater can be quickly put together as a quick tonic.  Your blender can take any number of greens and turn them into an enjoyable and energizing drink.  Even a fresh, healthy green salad can boost your energy and serve as a tonic. 

Here’s an example of one of the many websites on the history of spring tonics.  I also found this recipe that looks pretty good so I think it will be my tonic of choice this spring. Cheers! 

-Patricia Milner, Head of Reference Services

Spring Training is on

Our annual staff inservice is Monday, May 25^th.  All locations are closed on this day so that staff can gather together, learn, share, interact, and ‘develop’ professionally.  Our goal is to return to job duties and demands with a renewed sense of purpose, with improved skills and confidence, motivated to perform our tasks effectively and efficiently.

This year, we are excited to have guest presenter Pam Mood for our set of morning workshops. Dynamic, energetic, and humorous, she is a much sought-after motivational speaker. (She is also the serving mayor of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia).

Our Summer Reading Club Committee will unveil plans for the ever-popular summer program that sees kids and teens reading and using the library like crazy after school is out. Each year, the program is tweaked and shaped to keep things interesting and engaging.

We’ll talk about our new Be Fit Physical Literacy Kits, a partnership with Sport Nova Scotia.  These kits are now available for loan, but we’ll also be identifying ways to incorporate the physical aspects of the kits into our library programming.

Sharon Elliott, RCMP Senior Safety Officer, will provide us with practical information and tips to make our library visits for seniors a more positive experience.

One workshop will see the sharing of information and experience with challenging customer service situations. What did we do right? How can we do things better? Those public service staff will also share some innovative ideas that have enhanced the physical library spaces and made our libraries more interesting, inviting, and functional.

Staff can preview the new public library catalogue that will be coming soon. While we’ve provided input, this is our chance to see the almost-finished product, one we know the public will be pleased to see!

 While you won’t be able to visit one of our libraries on May 25^th, please understand that we’ll be working, and learning, to serve you better!

--Wendy Trimper,  Head of Branch Services

OverDrive Advantage Collection

Our downloadable eBook and audiobook service continues to be very popular.   We hope that you’ll be excited about our new addition to this service.  It’s called OverDrive Advantage.

Our downloadable eBooks and audiobooks is a shared service with seven other Nova Scotia regional public libraries.  The cost of the books is shared by all, with the exception of an Advantage collection.  OverDrive Advantage allows us to purchase additional copies of titles that will be available to only the users of the Annapolis Valley Regional Library.  For titles where we have purchased additional copies AVRL users are basically on two separate lists. Let me explain: For every 8 holds our users have on a title we are purchasing an additional copy for use only by our users.  For example, if there are 16 AVRL holds on a title we will purchase two additional copies.  The shared titles, as our two exclusive copies, will continue to be used by these 16 holds.  An AVRL user could be 40^th in the shared list, but only 7^th in ours. It is set up to get our users a copy as soon as possible.

 

Look for the Advantage symbol on the cover. Make sure you sign in to see all of the titles available, because the advantage titles don’t show up unless you are signed in. We hope that you will see reduced wait times for those popular titles.  

Remember you can check them out for 1 – 3 weeks, and it is all free and without any late fees.  Also, the MP3 audiobooks can now be transferred to a jump drive for use in your car or other player.

Happy reading,

Charlotte Janes, Head of Systems and Administration

Bookmobile Onsite Service

You have probably seen our new Bookmobile driving on the highway, at farmers’ markets, in parades or at a community stop. It is a beautiful vehicle and we are very proud of it. 

Our new Bookmobile has allowed us to develop new services. The Bookmobile now delivers all the benefits of a public library right to the front door of institutions, enriching resident’s lives with books, audiobooks, DVDs and magazines.  Our new customised Bookmobile is equipped with a hydraulic lift in the rear. There are five removable bookcarts on the Bookmobile which supply a good choice of material. Staff offload these bookcarts and take them into senior facilities and adult rehabilitation centres. Our collection and staff provide entertaining and informative materials as well as empower people to make choices and manage their own selections. These services are available free of charge.

Residents and staff of facilities that are served with onsite service are registered individually for a library card and can borrow library material and become responsible for it. They may also make requests and our staff will bring them as they become available. Library staff provide this service for 45 minutes per facility every three weeks. 

Our staff enjoy delivering this service and have met many wonderful people who are grateful to use the library. Well-attended Bookmobile visits can lead to enhanced library services, including special programs. If you would like more information on this service click here or call our office at 902-665-2995 ext. 234. 

Don’t forget to wave to us as we travel through the Annapolis Valley!

Submitted by Wendy Kearnes, Outreach Services Manger