Multi-generational

Bring your rainbow flags and glitter, and come on out for Pride Month celebrations at the library. Learn how and why your library can participate, what others in the province are already doing, and about some of the resources available to support staff and community members alike. This session will begin with a very brief primer on terminology and etiquette for working with the LGBTQ+ community, context about Pride celebrations, and recent highlights from Alberta communities. Library-specific content will cover ideas for Pride month programs and community participation, and ways to ensure your library is welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community year-round through staff training, policies, facilities and programs. 

 After a focus group revealed that the citizens of Yellowknife were short on affordable family friendly (and adult non-pub) activities the Harry Potter Escape Room was born. This session will describe in detail how to plan, promote, and execute a successful literary themed escape room. To date, the Harry Potter escape room has brought over 200 people into the library and the current waiting list includes over 25 more teams eager to be part of future sessions.

How do you find a way to engage historians and genealogists with your collection? Give them what they are looking for… primary resources! We all have books in our collections with inscriptions, letters, bookplates and flattened objects inside. But what do we do with them? The Robertson Library, University of Prince Edward Island, has identified a number of in-house books with interesting ownership stories. Researching the connection between the book, as artifact, and its previous owner(s), the UPEI Library has created a VRE (Virtual Research Environment), www.BookLives.ca, for genealogists and historians. Learn about this new primary source (held within your own library stacks) and hear some of the stories of book lovers from the past.
Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the book as an evolving artifact of history.
• Understand why provenance (ownership history) is important.
• Identify how to find, research, and document provenance within your collection.