Richard Wagamese, the celebrated Indigenous Canadian writer, was born October 14, 1955. Wagamese was Ojibwe and a member of the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations. He was born in Ontario and lived there for much of his life. In later years he lived in British Columbia, where he died in 2017 at the the age of 61. Keeper’N Me was his debut novel, published in 1994. Richard Wagamese was perhaps best known for his 2012 novel Indian Horse.
October is Canadian Library Month and International School Library Month. As we celebrate CLM and ISLM each year, we highlight notable librarians who have made significant contributions to libraries and librarianship. We also celebrate librarians who have raised the profile of libraries and librarianship with their fame in other fields. Here are the 2024 inductees into our Library Hall of Fame:
Ed Greenwood is a library clerk from rural Ontario. He is more famous for his prolific creativity in the world of role playing games and fantasy literature. He is the creator of the Forgotten Realms game world, which he first developed as a young child and integrated with Dungeons and Dragons. He would go on to develop intricate role playing game worlds, and write myriad novels, novellas, short stories and articles for fantasy and gaming magazines. He has won numerous awards and honours, including induction into the Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction Hall of Fame.
Since 2019 Leslie Weir has served as Librarian and Archivist of Canada. She is the first woman to hold this post. Weir has served in many important roles in Canada’s academic libraries, including President of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries, and University Librarian at the University of Ottawa. She has been honoured with numerous awards during a distinguished career.
Ken Roberts is a Canadian librarian. He had distinguished career in many positions, including President of Canadian Library Association, and Chief Librarian in the Hamilton Public Library. He is also a well known as an award winning writer of books for children and young adults, including Past Tense, a Governor General’s Award nominee. Roberts has won numerous honours during his career. One supporter offered this high praise of Roberts, “What stands out for me with Ken is that, in spite of all his accomplishments, he is a librarian first and foremost, and a humble man.” (source)
Find out more:
Ed Greenwood
Leslie Weir
Ken Roberts
Previous Library Hall of Fame Inductees:
Frank Herbert, author of the Science Fiction classic novel Dune, and the series of Dune books, was born on this day in 1920.
What is one of your favourite books? That is the question we asked teachers and other staff at Lord Tweedsmuir.
The response was excellent. There are some pretty cool books that were brought up. Ms. Perez loves Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. If you haven’t read it, maybe you should check it out. (We have it here in the school library for you to borrow.)
We’ve asked the adults in the building. How about the students? What are some of your favourite books?
Look for more examples of favourite books in the coming weeks.
Check out this map of the School Library to see all the different areas in our space, and all the different types of library materials that are available for you to borrow.
Better still, come down to see the place in person!
Earth Month comes to a close but the end of April does not mean the end of the climate crisis. Find out more. Find out what science says about climate change. Consider what you can do, as a citizen of this planet. Earth is the only planet we have. Consider what we, the people of Earth, can do, together, to save our home.
Find out more:
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
United Nations: Climate Action
(US) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, was born on this day in 1904. He would grow up to become one of the world’s most beloved writers of books for children.
“The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.”
Source: Unknown*
The rights and freedoms of Canadians include the right to read what you want to read. Such rights and freedoms are fundamental to democracy. However, such rights and freedoms are meaningless unless citizens exercise these rights and freedoms.
There are authoritarian forces at work in our society that seek power by attacking your rights, including attempts to censor or limit your freedom to read. Totalitarian states know that uneducated and illiterate citizens are easier to control and oppress. Such forces can only celebrate that the work is much simpler when significant portions of the population choose not to read. Censorship becomes less pressing when “aliteracy” becomes prevalent.
A true democracy guarantees fundamental rights and freedoms to its citizens. But to work effectively, indeed, to survive, democracy requires that citizens exercise those rights. In particular, democracy breaks down if citizens aren’t educated, informed and active.
The rise of powerful new information technology in the last few decades has made it more important than ever that citizens are highly “information literate.” Citizens must not only have access to information, they must have the tools required to wade through increasingly destructive levels of misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, and outright lies. Citizens need to have access to information that is credible, accurate and trustworthy.
The rise of anti-intellectualism and anti-science movements, perhaps most recently represented by anti-vax conspiracies, are part of the wider breakdown of democratic institutions. There is little doubt that attacks on public education over many years have reaped some these results and are integral to the rise of authoritarianism.
It is not enough to celebrate the Freedom to Read. As citizens of democratic societies, we have an obligation to exercise our Freedom to Read, in part so that we are equipped to defend our democratic rights and freedoms.
It is clear that democracy is under attack, throughout the world, and in our back yard. We must act.
Find out more:
Note* The above quote, or variations on it, are often popularly attributed to Mark Twain. However the original source of this quote, or its variations, remains unclear.
In the world of science fiction, the Hugo and the Nebula are the most prestigious awards that can be won by the author of a Sci-Fi novel. Here are those titles that achieved both distinctions and rank among the very best Sci-Fi works of all time.
All of these novels can be found in your School Library. Come down to check them out.
Canadian writer Lucy Maud Montgomery was born on this day in 1874 on Prince Edward Island. Montgomery is best known the author of the beloved novel Anne of Green Gables. Montomgery wrote 20 novels, hundreds of poems and more. Perhaps her greatest honour came when Anne of Green Gables won the inaugural tournament of Young Adult Lit March Madness at LTSS in 2022.
November is International Games Month @ Your Library. Classes have been invited down to the School Library to enjoy our selection of board games, card games, party games and other live and in-person games.
Thanks to Mr. Birnbaum for bringing his E.L.L. classes down. Games are a great way for these students to develop their language skills. More importantly, everyone was having fun.
We asked LTSS Teachers and Staff about some of their favourite games to play. Here are some of the replies:
Mr. Ferrier played Axis & Allies when he was a kid. Now he loves Yahtzee, and the My Little Pony game, although his daughter beats him every time.
Ms. Truss loves Arkham Horror. She also mentioned Love Letter, Jaipur and Taco Cat.
Mr. Donaldson’s favourites include Settlers of Catan, Sequence, Cribbage, D&D, Magic: The Gathering, and Chess
Other teacher favourites:
November is International Games Month @ Your Library
Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School Library 