Brampton Library Blog

Written by Todd Kyle, Chief Executive Officer

Category: Blog

Published: 01 April 2021

April is National Poetry Month, and we at Brampton Library are inviting you to read, listen, watch, and create in the wonderful, lyrical world of poetry.

From silly limericks, to classical sonnets, to modern free-form verse, poetry is easily experienced, accessible to everyone, and an excellent way to try your hand at creative writing. Poetry is everywhere, and humankind has been telling stories and communicating in this form since the very beginning. If you think poetry is all about the past, think again. Not only is poetry present in some of our most pervasive modern art forms (like rap), the right poem can even take the spotlight and help crystallize the hopes and dreams of our time, as we saw with Amanda Gorman’s reading at the US presidential inauguration. 

At Brampton Library, connecting you to inspiration and creativity is what we do. We’re celebrating this month with lists of recommended books and films and with some really fun videos showing how you can create and share poems from the comfort of your own home. 

Who knows? Maybe when the pandemic has eased, we will all feel the urge to get out, stand in the middle of a crowd, and just start rhyming! 

Written by Surita Dey

Category: Blog

Published: 18 March 2021

Brampton Library is hosting Human Library: A Career Experience on Wednesday, April 7 from 7–9 pm, but you may be asking yourself, "What is a human library?"

Libraries all over the world have offered human libraries as special opportunities for their communities to connect and learn more about other people by forging new connections. A human library is not a separate library building but, rather, an experience with a living book. Books in human libraries are people who share their life experiences with the reader.

Different libraries might set up their human libraries in different ways, but generally they offer library customers the chance to "check out" a human book in order to have an open discussion and learn about that person’s life experiences, challenges and their journey to success in reaching their career goals. 

Brampton Library has successfully hosted human libraries several times before! 

In 2011, we had a human library event at our Chinguacousy branch with 16 human books available to talk to readers about a wide variety of topics. Then in 2013, we had a human library event that focused on the theme of healthy living. Our human books volunteered their time in order to create awareness about healthy choices and behaviors, healthy cooking, mental health, diabetes prevention and maintaining a balanced lifestyle. 

And in 2014, there was a human library event especially for youth — with a twist. The youth readers met with a wide variety of professionals to learn from their experiences in a speed dating format. The event was called "Career Dating" and our books had professional experience in information technology, education, marketing, politics, emergency services, trades, culinary arts, finance and the performing arts.

Unfortunately, in 2021, a human library event can't take place in person. But that doesn’t mean we can’t forge connections in our community! 

Human Library: A Career Experience will be an online version of a human library! We will be welcoming our 5 human books to share their career paths with our readers in a live event taking place via Zoom. Readers will be able to interact with books in breakout rooms where they can ask questions to learn more about that person’s life experience, what their job is like and how they have found a way to shape their career into a unique version that suits their life and interests. 

Introducing the living books for Brampton Library's Human Library: A Career Experience.

Neelam Advani, Assistant Branch Manager, RBC Meeting Place

Priya Malhotra, Priya Malhotra Art

Yosh Perera, Manager, Health Promotion and Prevention Programs, Moyo Health & Community Services

Erin Walker, Librarian, Makerspace & Digital Literacies, Brampton Library

Charmaine Williams, Brampton City Councillor

To register as a reader for Human Library: A Career Experience, please sign up through Eventbrite.

Written by Todd Kyle, Chief Executive Officer

Category: Blog

Published: 30 March 2021

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Curbside Pickup Service Expands at Five Brampton Library Branch Libraries

Following the reopening for limited services of our Chinguacousy, Four Corners and Springdale Branch Libraries on March 11, 2021 (see previous blog entry below) we are pleased to announce an expansion of our Curbside Pickup hours of operation, effective Monday, April 5, 2021. 

Enjoy more time to pick up your holds and Book Bundles!

As of April 5, 2021, our Cyril Clark, Gore Meadows, Mount Pleasant Village, and South Fletcher’s Branch Libraries will offer Curbside Pickup for reserved items on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10:00 am until 5:30 pm, and Tuesdays & Thursdays from 12:00 pm until 7:30 pm. While South West Branch Library expands its Curbside Pickup hours to Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10:00 am until 5:30 pm.

Stop by during any of the above-noted times for your Grab ‘n’ Go bag of books on selected themes chosen by LIbrary staff. The bag is yours to keep!

Please remember that Curbside Pickup is provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Be prepared to provide the last 4 digits of your library card number. When you arrive at your pickup location, please look for the bright green signs for further instructions and be prepared to provide the last 4 digits of your Brampton Library card number.

Please wait for notification that your held item(s) are ready before visiting your desired pickup location. Holds will expire 10 days after notification, and any unclaimed items will be checked in and placed back in circulation for others to enjoy.

Please note, the updates to our in-branch services, noted in our last Service Announcements update below remain the same. Please visit our website for more information. 

Written by Rachel Hopwood

Category: Blog

Published: 16 March 2021

Sometimes it seems like everyone else knows how to be an adult, right? Does it feel like others are real grown ups with all these skills that you never learned in school, while you're just faking it? 

If this sounds familiar to you, you should check out Brampton Library's Adulting 101 virtual program series! We're here to help you develop all those adulting skills you wish you had and to connect you with local experts who can help you figure out how to be your best grown up self. 

We launched the Adulting 101 series in the summer of 2020 with the goal of providing relevant, exciting learning opportunities for youth aged 15–29. We host virtual sessions on topics as varied as figuring out your finances, repairing your computer and phone, research strategies, job search help, camping tips, how to be an influencer, and even how to prepare for a zombie apocalypse!

If you're interested in checking out previous Adulting 101 sessions, some of them are available to stream on our YouTube page. 

There's more Adulting 101 to come, so keep an eye on our calendar and follow @BramptonLibrary on social media to stay up to date!