Libraries: More Than Just Books

In this episode, we’re talking about one of our favorite places: the library. 📚 

We share why we love libraries, how they can be an amazing community resource, and all the surprising things you can borrow (it’s not just books!). We also talk about how libraries can be a welcoming space for everyone—whether you’re new to a country, looking for connection, or just need a quiet place to be.

And yes, Larissa once met a kangaroo in the library.🦘

If you’ve never been to a library before—or if you haven’t been in years—this episode might change the way you see them.

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Thanks and we'll talk to you soon.

Transcript

0:00

Speaking of that room in the basement, I once met a kangaroo in there. A real kangaroo? - Yes. That seems like... not its natural habitat. What was going on? Hello, EEPers. Welcome to another episode of Extra English Podcast with Misha and Larissa. We are two Canadian English teachers talking about life in Canada, our lives, and anything else that might interest us and hopefully will interest you too. So join us for another conversation. Hi EEPers, welcome back to the Extra English Podcast. Today we're going to talk about an excellent community resource: the library. I love the library. Same. The library is incredible because of course it has books. We know it has books and, videos and other kinds of resources, but it also has programs and activities. Yesterday, for example, I went to my local library and I made a bag. Oh my gosh, so cool! This is made out of fishing net. There's an organization called Beach Relief that uses these nets and big, big ships to go and clean the ocean to to collect the garbage and the plastics that are in the ocean. And then they sort them and recycle them, but they had extra netting. And so one of the volunteers, started a little workshop where we can go together and sew these.. sew these nets into bags that can be used at the beach, can be used at the market. Mine's not finished yet. I have a bit more to do on the top and I have to finish the handles, but I'm really excited to use it. Plus, it looks really cool. It looks functional, but also fashionable. Yeah. She said when she uses hers, she gets tons of compliments and people want to know where she got it. Which is why she decided to start these, these workshops and decided the library was the perfect place to host them because she wants to do it for free. She wants to make it accessible to the community and that's what the library is all about. I love that about libraries. Everyone is welcome at the library. There are resources for all kinds of purpose ... purposes. All sorts of things. It's a great place for that kind of thing. What do you love about the-- like, what do you do there? What is your go to? Well, I have a son who is right now three years old, and our local library has a lot of children's programing. So they have a, of course, a children's department with books and toys, but they also hold, things like singing events. Or once we went and saw a little dinosaur show where they had puppet dinosaurs, or they have classes for young kids learning to read all that kind of stuff, which I think is such a great resource. All for free, of course. So yeah, like that. And it’s not just kids. So my kids now are... Well, my teenager doesn't go as often because he's busy with things. But I have a daughter who's 11, 11 or 12, and they have events for the tweens as well. Isn't that a cute name? It's like “between”; they've taken that word. So you're not a child. You're not a teenager. You’re in between, so they call them the tweens. They have a cooking club for the tweens. Science clubs. You need to register for them. But they're free. And just such an incredible resource. Well, we're talking about our library, but every city, every major Canadian city and most small towns... will have a public library that has all sorts of opportunities. So if you live in Canada, you should check out your public library if you don't already. Absolutely. Ours, speaking of, also has a lot of resources for people learning English, and they have children's books and adult books, I think, in other languages. So lots of variety. Yup. And they host, when you say resources for learning a language, not just like books and DVDs, but oh, and computer programs, but also conversation circles, times when you can sit and chat with people. So it's also a great place to meet people, to make friends, potentially, or build relationships. I still actually am in contact with some of the other moms that were at the library programs when I took my little, little kids there. We don't get together often, but when I see them around town, we still chat. And, yeah, it's possible to make friends at the library. Absolutely. So you may not know this about me, but do you know that my first ever job was at the library? No! -Uh huh! When I was 16. So my first official job. I was a babysitter before that. But my first official job was at the library, and I lived in a small town growing up, so it was a very small place. But we had a public library. And I loved to read as a child. So the librarians all knew me. And when I turned 16, they told me: “Apply for a job!” It was so sweet. So I worked there all through high school. It's great. It was a great first job. Was your job shelving the books? I did everything, so I shelved books, checked books out, called people. It was a nice -- I thought about it when you said meeting people, because, of course, I became friends with my coworkers. But many people like my parents’ friends -- my friends’ parents would often come in and we would chat. And so it was a really nice way to connect with people. It was a smaller library. And a couple of years ago, so there weren't the same level of resources I find today at my local library, but it had the same connecting spirit that the libraries today have. I think if you got a job at the library in a major city, it wouldn’t be such, such a well-rounded position. So they have specific qualifications they require for working at the circulation desk, I think. But there are lots of opportunities to volunteer, especially as a teenager or even simple jobs like shelving the books and helping with some of the programing or volunteering in the conversation circles. Also, our local library has a literacy program people can volunteer at helping people learn to read. Such a good resource. Yeah, we have a friend who reads stories to kids. That's right. Yeah. Helps kids who are learning, need a little extra help. I love it. Library is great. So how do you get a library card? To access the library you just need to show them that you live in that city or town. So any kind of mail that has your address on it. Driver's license. You bring it to the circulation desk, to the front desk, and they'll typety typety and.. Give you a card! Just like that! Yeah. It's easy to do. Yeah, but. And you need the card. You need the number in order to sign up for activities. But it’s -- Or take out books. Yeah, but it's free and easy to do. And you don't need a card to go hang out at a library. Correct. Or use the internet. That's right. Sometimes when I've gone to visit family in other cities and I have work to do, I go to the local library and have somewhere to sit where I can focus. Oh, last weekend, I took my daughter to a birthday party in a city nearby. It was downtown and around the corner was a library. So I went there. I had brought my own book to read, but instead I saw they had on some tables, jigsaw puzzles laid out so fun. So fun! And so I sat for half an hour and worked on a jigsaw puzzle because that's fun for me. And then I went back and picked up my daughter. I love that. Yeah. Larissa, one other thing our local library has done for us has been a great resource in, uh, producing our YouTube videos. --Mhmm! Our local library a few years ago built recording studios, which are awesome. They are amazing. They're really high quality, soundproof, great audio equipment. We brought our own camera. They weren't built for video recording. More for, for audio. But it was a great space to use. Yes. The acoustics were beautiful because it was meant for like bands or individuals to record podcasts or music. Music, yeah. So they had in there there were instruments, there was a piano, digital piano. Yeah. Beautiful set up. And staff who were knowledgeable, which was good. We, you know, it's always a learning curve. We have things to learn all the time, but they helped us set things up, and it it was really useful. - Yeah. - Yeah. If you look at some of our more recent, not very recent, but the most recent YouTube videos on our channel, you'll see that that setting. Yeah. And you'll see a noticeable improvement in the quality of the audio and video work. That's right. Right now we're just in my living room, so we're hoping we can make this work, too, but it was nice just to walk in and have everything ready to go. It was really great. Yeah. Our local library, in fact, rents out tons of things other than books, not rents, loans out for free. Many things, uh, including equipment like skates. Ice skates, yeah! -- Really cool! You should listen to our episode about winter activities. Uh, instruments they rent out. - Yes. What else do they have? My son learned to play the violin on a on a violin that he borrowed from the library. So he got it for three weeks, and then nobody wanted it, so he signed it out again. It was new at the time, and he signed it again. And he took like, he basically had it for the whole year. That's amazing. And learned to play the violin. That's so awesome. Yeah. I've also borrowed passes for museums or, the conservation areas around. So those things require an entry fee. But the library has family passes that you can borrow, and they let you in. Free admission to those places, which I think is amazing. I think that's one of the best things about the library, is that it's creating a little equal ground for people. Right? Things that people might otherwise not be able to afford, or might be reserved for people who have more spare money at the end of the month. Yeah, the library is kind of balancing that out, which is so great because to take let's say you have 3 or 4 children, and you want to go to a museum that's upwards of $100. Absolutely. And so, everybody can go -- Library museum pass! Another thing our library has is, hotspots. So you can -- if you don't have internet or you need internet on the go, you can loan those out for a period of time, which is also a great resource for anyone. Yeah. And I've borrowed, an outdoor nature kit before. It came with a backpack and a book about our area and binoculars and a little tiny microscope. So you could, like, find a leaf and look at it under the microscope. I didn't know they had those. That's so cool. Yeah, it's really cool. They have, outdoor games. Oh! Giant jenga! Yes. Giant Jenga. And this is -- Jenga. This is a game. That's the name of it. Like the brand name. Yeah, but they're blocks that you stack up and you take some out, and you try not to make it fall down. But they have a big one with, like, giant blocks that you can play with. And that's super fun. -- Yeah. Another thing our library does really well is, it makes a welcoming and safe space for all community members. They have multiple social workers on staff. Just to help make sure everyone feels comfortable in the library, to make sure everyone's being included in a safe way in the library, which I think is also such an excellent addition to that kind of public space. And they run a lot of programs to help, uh, integrate into the community. So they'll have like how to write a resume or job search things. The YMCA partners with them. They have some partnerships with, groups that work with people with disabilities so that they can have, access to some of the programing as well. That's right. Yeah. Pretty awesome. -- It's pretty awesome. Yeah. Oh, did you know that our library has bees? I did not know that. Outside, presumably? Yes. On the roof. -- On the roof? Well, not the top roof. There's kind of a... a secondary roof, so you can see it, and they can go out and access it. They have a bee ... hive, I guess. Cool. Because bees are very important in the environment and they are becoming a little bit rare or endangered. And so they have planted a lot of, of wild flowers that the bees need or want to pollinate. And they've got, they've got a bee -- And so they use it to teach kids and other people about, about beekeeping, but also just to, you know, bring more bees to the area. But can I buy library, honey? No, not yet. Well, it's a future, future project for them. They also have a, garden. Like a vegetable garden that they have out in the back. I'm not sure what they do with the produce that they grow. I know they have some some, like teen and tween groups that kind of tend to the garden -- plant it and tend to it. Maybe they use it in their cooking classes. They probably use it in the cooking classes. If they have extras, maybe those people take it, maybe they give it to food banks or I'm not sure exactly, but it's fun to walk through and see what's growing and, just be in a garden. It's nice to be in a garden. You don't feel like you're walking on someone's yard or... You don't want to just wander into a backyard garden! You can just go to people's gardens, but you can go to the library garden! That reminds me that they have a space next to the garden that you can rent out for events. A friend of mine rented the, the sort of library garden patio space for her birthday party one year. That's a great idea. Yeah, it’s another option. I've also heard of weddings being held in the library. They hold weddings at our library. That's a creative idea. -- It is creative! And also in the basement, there's a small movie theater. So you could -- they they show films there, but, free to come to bring your own snacks.. You can rent.. there was a traditional Hindu celebration there a couple weeks ago that my son and I attended in that space. So it's rentable to community groups. Great. Yeah. Also, they have rentable rooms. So I'm part of a, sewing guild, group for people who sew clothing. And we used to have our meetings there once a month, so we’d rent out a room in the basement. It was a beautiful space, um, to hold our meetings. Speaking of that room in the basement, I once met a kangaroo in there! A... a ..real kangaroo?? --Yes. That seems like ... not its natural habitat. What was going on?? Well, it was one of the bigger rooms. For the kangaroo! Hopping room. Kangaroos are short, actually.-- Oh, they’re short? At least this -- the one they brought -- I’ve never seen a kangaroo. The one they brought was short. It was a group that -- it was an event that you could bring your family, your children to. And they had reptiles and. And this kangaroo who hopped around us, and and we learned about -- Like, just free roaming kangaroo?? They had him in a cage sometimes but then they took him out. I’m ... I have so many questions. We could see him go. Yeah. Snakes, snakes and birds. And then, like, the grand finale was. Meet the kangaroo. That is shocking information. That is amazing. I wish I had seen it. I clearly have never seen a kangaroo in person, so. Local library! Just keep in mind, not all libraries will have a kangaroo. And I've lived in this city for now, ten years, and I... There was one kangaroo once. He doesn't live there. So growing up, I was under the impression that libraries were meant to be quiet. You know, like you, even in movies, you see the librarians. Yeah. The stereotypical librarian is telling people to be quiet. I wasn't like that as a librarian.-- Of course not. But I feel like there are definitely quiet study spaces in libraries. But there are also areas where it's okay to talk. It's okay to drink a coffee. In fact, there’s a little cafe There’s a coffee shop in our library. You can buy a snack, get your coffee. And yeah, be respectful of other people. Don't be loud and obnoxious. But it's not.. It's not the traditional library anymore where you just sit and you read your book in silence and that's it. It's meant to be a community space. Yeah. Which is, I think, why I love it so much. Me too. If I wasn't a teacher, I'd like to be a librarian. Well, future career! So that's our experience of our local library or libraries. I hope you have access to a community space like that. Or if you live in a Canadian city and you haven't checked out the library, this is our recommendation. Go check it out. See what's there. Have fun. Yeah. Enjoy. Thanks for listening to another episode. Find us on Instagram or YouTube to join the conversation.