Director's Message

I hope this December newsletter finds you and your loved ones healthy and well. We appreciate your kind support of the measures we continue to take to keep everyone at the library safe, particularly wearing a mask when you visit.

Under the new restrictions from the province, we have made the following adjustments:

• more staff are working from home;
• our in-person programming has moved online;
• we have had to cancel our Stitch Together group until after the holidays;
• we are not allowing any bookings in our program room;
• and there are new limits to the number of people permitted in the library at one time.

If you don’t feel comfortable coming into the library, or if you find we are at capacity when you arrive, feel free to give us a call, and we will gladly bring your items out to your vehicle. You can park either in the loading zone out front or in the designated spots in the parking lot right next to the building. If you don’t have a specific title in mind, we would be glad to bring you a selection of items based on your reading tastes. We can print/fax/scan/copy for you while you wait in your vehicle too. And we continue to provide safe and distanced exam invigilation services. We understand that it can be difficult to pick up holds or return your items on time if you are self-isolating. If this is the case for you, please give us a call, and we can make alternate arrangements.

The library will be closed from December 24th-January 3rd, so be sure to stock up before then! Our book drop will remain open, so you can return items whenever you need to. We continue to quarantine all returns for a minimum of 4 days to make sure items are safe for the staff and for their next reader.

I didn’t read a lot this month, but the books I read were all very good:

• We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter. I could hardly put this one down and read it in two days. Classified as fiction, this well-told story is based on the author’s family’s experience of the Holocaust. The narrative switches between the different siblings as they take incredible risks and do whatever they can to survive. Highly recommended.
• The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes was a satisfying read about gutsy young women on horseback running a mobile library in the hills of Kentucky in the 1930s. This book is perfect for a cozy weekend at home.
• Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos is a follow up to one of my recommendations from last month. I don’t think it’s a strong as the first, but it has made me laugh and cry, and I have enjoyed it.
• Apeirogon by Colum McCann is brilliant. It was long-listed for the 2020 Booker Prize and is more literary in nature than a lot of my recommendations. At the heart of the novel are the true stories of two fathers who each lost a daughter to violence – one to a suicide bomber in Jerusalem, the other to a rubber bullet in Palestine – and who vow to use their grief as a weapon for peace. Fragments of their experience are interwoven with stories about art, history, politics, and nature, making for a beautiful and captivating reading experience. The book’s blend of despair and hope captivated me.

I hope you find new traditions and good books to bring comfort and joy to you and your loved ones this Christmas season. From all of us at the library, Merry Christmas!

Director's Picks - December

Apeirogon

McCann, Colum, author 1965- author

Belong to me

De los Santos, Marisa, 1966-

The giver of stars

Moyes, Jojo, 1969- author

We were the lucky ones

Hunter, Georgia, 1978- author

See All Director's Picks - December