GO GREEN - Inside and Out

Being that it is St. Patrick's Day the wearing of the green is encouraged and a toast to your health is mandatory.   In keeping with that there is no better way to take care of yourself than eating green.

We  know the standard ones, spinach, broccoli, cabbage and lettuce.  Remember our parents telling us to eat our peas?  Now there are more choices than ever including one that is getting a lot of coverage and  has gained the title of Superfood – Kale.

Kale by definition is : a hardy cabbage (Brassica oleracea acephala) with curled often finely incised leaves that do not form a dense head; also :  its leaves used as a vegetable.   It is an excellent source of  vitamin K, A, and C among others while also having anti-inflammatory properties.

Kale is not new and was a wartime staple in Britain during World War II, when rationing was in full swing.  Noted for being easy to grow and with a high nutritional  value, it stepped in to keep Britons healthy during that time.

There are newer and tastier versions grown now.  Originally it had much larger leaves and sometimes could  be bitter but now the Kale you see comes in baby, sweet and curly versions.  Kale can be eaten raw, boiled, braised, baked, and also provide the base for a super smoothie.   

Easy to grow on your own and so versatile, there are literally dozens of ways to enjoy this superfood.   Check out our ebook on Kale or borrow  The Book of Kale and make friends with Kale.

March Break @your LIBRARY!

Around these parts, we do March Break right.  While some folks are lucky enough to head for warmer climes, many of us stay right here and find ways to keep busy. There's no lack of snow for snowshoeing and enjoying the great outdoors! Did you know you can borrow snowshoes from many of the local recreation departments? Check in with your town and find out the details. If you want to track how many steps you walk during March Break, you can borrow a pedometer from the library. Or maybe try out a new Wii or x-Box game from the library-- you could learn to Hip Hop Dance this week!

If art is more your idea of fun, we've got a whole slew of art programs this week-- there's cartooning with Mark Oakley, pipe-cleaner art, Art Smart, and painting and collage. Take your youngest to storytime. Check out GirlPower. Play board games. Learn to knit, play Elephant and Piggie games, build something with LEGO, create a robot, or go to the circus. Find all our  programs right HERE and start planning your week!

Of course we've got plenty of books, so if your idea of a vacation is curling up with a really good novel, come see us. We've got DVDs for movie night, we've got audiobooks to listen to while you clean the house or knit, and eBooks to fill your eReaders.

And if our offerings are not quite enough, check out Valley Family Fun for even more ideas how to enjoy your March Break right here at home! And do enjoy your Staycation.

The Best Card Around!

Here at Team AVRL, we think having a library card is pretty sweet. Your library card is your ticket to so much – books, movies, music, and more! 

Throughout 2014, our staff will be showing you reasons why we think you should have (and use) a library card. Watch our Facebook page and and follow us on Twitter @valleylibs every Thursday to see a new reason to have a library card!

We’d like to hear from you, too. Send us a picture** showing why you love having a library card.  Tell us why, in one short sentence. We’ll be posting these on Facebook, FLICKR, Twitter,  and our blog. Share with everyone and let them know why YOU love your library card! Just send your photo and sentence to us at TeamAVRL@gmail.com. Everyone who sends a photo will be entered into our monthly draw for a bag of books. Share on Twitter using the hashtags #bestcard and #TeamAVRL.

**By sending us a photo, you agree to allow us to use it on Facebook, Twitter, and in other media. 

Book to Movie - It’s Showtime!!

So many of the best movies were books first.  Here is a sample of what’s hitting the theatres in 2014 for your reading --and then viewing pleasure. 

 Look at these choices – there are some solid offerings starting with the best seller The Fault in our Stars by John Green and the classic Lois Lowry novel The Giver.  At Christmastime the younger set will be able to see the wonderful Paddington Bear stories brought to life in Paddington.  

  Young and old fans of the Hunger Games will likely delight in Divergent by Veronica Roth.

Lots of buzz as well for the all star cast in Monuments Men by Robert Edsel , Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand ( the author of Seabiscuit ) and the delectable Hundred Foot Journey by Richard Morais.   For fans of the Jennifer Lawrence/Bradley Cooper pairing they are back together in Serena by Ron Rash.  Looking for inspiration? Take in Wild by Cheryl Strayed.   Comedy is guaranteed with Jason Bateman and Tina Fey in This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper. 

Check out these links below for release dates, summaries and a sneak peek at what’s being planned for next year.  Now, go to our catalogue and place your holds.  It looks like an exciting year.

Buzzfeed's "Books To Read before they become movies"

School Library Journal's year in movies 

And if you can't wait for these movies to come out, try this list of "Books to Movies" for kids. These great books have already been made into movies, and you can watch & read together.

Mobile Cloud Computing

Have you ever been told that you have your head in the clouds?  Well, maybe that phrase isn’t too far off.  You can easily put a picture of your head in the clouds at least.  Mobile cloud computing is adding a whole new dimension to our use of mobile devices.  As we use our phones as cameras more and more, we quickly run out of room to store all the pictures, or inevitably you want to show someone a picture that is not on the device you happen to have in your hand.  Mobile cloud computing solves these and many other issues around the many mobile devices we have. 

When purchasing a new mobile phone with either an Android or Apple operating system, you will be setup automatically for a free backup service.  This service will back up your phone whenever it is connected to a power source and wifi.  This is one feature of the mobile cloud computing world.  There is more.  You can also activate Google Drive for your Android phone or iCloud for the iPhone.  This will allow you to easily share files.

For the Android devices, download the Google Drive app.  With this app you can store your photos and files from your devices to Google Drive then access them with any of your devices.  You can also install the desktop version for Windows or Mac and share these files with your computer.

For Apple devices/computers activate iCloud, setting up access to store and share files with all of our Apple products.   If you own a Windows computer you can download the iCloud Control Panel (for Windows 7 or 8) and share in this service. 

** What is cloud computing?  It is simply the use of computers hosted on the Internet to store, manage and process data, rather than a local or personal computer being used for that purpose.

Charlotte Janes, Head of Systems and Administration

International Book Giving Day: Share the Love of Reading!

International Book Giving Day is a day dedicated to getting new, used and borrowed books in

the hands of as many as possible. The Annapolis Valley Regional Library is proud to participate again this year. 

A few packages of books will be sent to each of our branches.  Some of these packages will be adult books, and some will be children’s books. Each of the packages will be wrapped and hidden randomly in a library community, or perhaps even in a branch. Staff will be taking photos when the books are hidden, and these photos will be posted on Facebook as clues. Each book is a gift to whoever finds it. Please send us your stories on receiving this gift, as well as photos and we will post them on Facebook.

International Book Giving Day is an international holiday. In 2013, 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, Indonesia, Jordan, China, Puerto Rico and Bulgaria. We hope that people around the world will think about the best ways to help children in need in their communities.

”I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library.” —Jorge Luis Borges