UWO Librarians Without Borders

Kettle and Stony Point First Nations Public Library - A Continuing Partnership

2012-02-12T13:00:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, February 11, the Kettle and Stony Point First Nations Library held a special event to launch First Nations Libraries Week and celebrate a re-opening of the library.

The UWO chapter of LWB started a partnership with the Kettle and Stony Point First Nations Public Library in 2009, after Patty Lawlor, the Southern Ontario Library Service (SOLS) First Nations Consultant, and Beverly Bressette, the CEO of the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation Library, participated in a Speaker Series event at UWO. Past projects the UWO chapter of LWB has accomplished in collaboration with the library have included:

Kettle and Stony Point First Nations Public Library, November 2011

Fund-raising for and purchasing books to build the collection
Fund-raising for and purchasing a sign for the library building
Developing and implementing a pilot program called "Facebook for Seniors".

Members of LWB travelled to the library three times in November and December 2011to assist with cataloguing and speed the transition to a searchable online catalogue that better serves patrons and allows for inter-library loans with other locations within the Southern Ontario Library Service (SOLS). The library has been open with reduced hours and services over the past months, due to the large amount of work cataloguing new materials and some renovations, including the addition of new furniture and window coverings to make the space more attractive and comfortable. Yet another measure to welcome visitors will be establishing an area to get coffee and read local newspapers or magazines. The re-opening this past Saturday was planned to attract new community members to the library. Due to poor road conditions, LWB members were unable to make the planned trip and bring with them books for the library as well as bookends. They had also planned to participate in book talks, create book displays and catalogue new books that they had brought.

Danielle (Co-chair Winter 2012) in the children's section of the library

LWB members will be rescheduling the trip to the Kettle and Stony Point library, weather permitting, to deliver books and bookends and to help finish cataloguing the collection. Future projects being discussed with Beverly Bressette include programming to reach young adults in the community and programs to help community members learn how to search for information on the Internet.

If you are interested in contributing to this or other projects, please visit the Librarians Without Borders website to make a donation.

LWB 2012 Calendar Pre-Sales!

2011-11-06T15:22:00.000-05:00

That's right, pre-sales for the UWO LWB Calendar will start tomorrow November 7th!

Calendars are only $15 each and will be sold outside of the GRC all November from 12-1:30.

Calendars will be available (pending a massive snowfall or other unforeseeable event) by the week of December 4th 2011.

The calendar will feature some of your favorite UWO classmates, staff and faculty. Don't miss out!

Facebook for Seniors

2011-09-08T13:04:00.008-04:00

On July 30, five LWB students travelled south from London to the Kettle and Stony Point First Nation to deliver a Facebook orientation program based on a class project developed for the community by LWBʼers Megan Copp, Graeme Peters and Jessica Veldman.

The program provided an introduction to Facebook, including its history and a tour through the website, its features, and options for privacy settings. LWB volunteers helped the small group from the community set up their own Facebook profiles, find friends online, and upload a profile photo.

LWB also presented Kettle and Stony Point Library Coordinator Beverly Bressette with a DVD copy of the 2011 World Book encyclopedia, which she had requested and which had been provided by World Book to LWB at a reduced cost. Beverly said the DVD collection would be a great space saver in her library and a great resource for the community.

Beyond hosting and organizing the event, Beverly presented each LWB volunteer with a thank you gift for developing and delivering the Facebook program. LWB is planning future community projects with the Kettle and Stony Point First Nation in the Fall term.

The Facebook for Seniors group: From left to right (front row): Kevin Davidson,

Jacquelyn Bennett, Beverly Bressette, Caroline George-White. (Back row): Graeme

Peters, Joanna Kerr and Amanda Power.

Book Drive

2011-03-14T11:19:00.002-04:00

Librarians Without Borders is helping to organize a book drive for The Centre for Gender, Culture and Development, run through the Kigali Institute of Education in Rwanda. Women who survived the 1994 genocide now form a large part of the population in Rwanda. They now must struggle to live in communities that only a few years ago violently rejected them. The Centre aims to provide these women and their families new ways of thinking about existing in a still largely patriarchal society.

How can you get involved?

We are organizing this book drive to help collect scholarly resources for the Centre. Historical resources are greatly appreciated, but the Centre’s greatest need is current texts (written within the last 10-15 years) focusing on African or non-Western contexts.

We are also collecting monetary donations which can be sent by contacting Librarians Without Borders at lwbatuwo@gmail.com

Where can you drop off books?

Books will be accepted from now until the end of term and can be dropped off in the following locations:

- The Graduate Resource Centre in NCB (FIMS)

- UC 173 (English Department)

- Stevenson Hall 3130 (Philosophy Department)

- Somerville House 2319 (Department of Women’s Studies)

Books will be donated to the Centre or sold to raise funds to purchase other materials

Please consider getting involved in this book drive. Check out the attached poster for more information.

Prom!

2011-03-14T09:55:00.001-04:00

Hope to see you at the Peppermint Twist Prom!

Book Sale - Update

2011-03-13T21:22:00.003-04:00

Last week we had a very successful book sale and raffle. Stay tuned for more sales and raffles for the remainder of term!

Pancakes, Euchre, and more!

2011-03-13T21:06:00.002-04:00

We are currently focusing our fundraising efforts to raise funds for our partnership with the Austurias Academy in Guatemala and have a lot of fun things coming up from now until the end of term to help us with this project.

(photo credit: D Sharon Pruitt)

Pancakes: This Wednesday, March 16^th, LWB will be back selling pancakes from 8:30 am to 1pm outside the GRC.

Euchre: LWB will also be hosting a Euchre tournament on Thursday March 24^th at 7pm. Tickets will be on sale this week for $3 each. It will be an individual tournament with rotating partners with a prize for the winner.

Prom: Prom tickets will also be on sale this week for $10 a ticket.

Afghan: Finally, LWB will be raffling off a beautiful handmade afghan starting this week. The winner of the afghan will be drawn during the euchre tournament.

Hope to see you at some of these fun events!

2011-03-05T11:45:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,

We will be doing a Book Sale next Tuesday starting at noon outside the GRC, and to make it more fun we will be raffling off the first 6 Nancy Drew reprinted books.

The tickets will be 50¢ for 1 or 3 tickets for $1.

The draw will end later that day and we will notify the winner by email. All proceeds will go to the Guatemala project to provide books for the Asturias Academy Library.

Welcome to the new year

2011-01-24T12:34:00.003-05:00

Just a few quick notes for the new year.

The LWB will be presenting a poster during the Superconference's Poster Expo at the OLA super conference in Toronto. The poster is entitled "From the Ground Up: A Collaborative Library Experience in Costa Rica." and will be on display Thursday, February 3 from 1:00-1:45 p.m.

Among other projects, we will be working this semester to continue the work done by McGill in Guatemala. Check out this blog from the McGill LWB chapter; http://lwbguatemala2010.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/biblioteca-de-san-juan-la-laguna/

for more information you can also read this blog from one of the students who went to Guatemala
http://biblioblond.wordpress.com/page/3/

It's Speaker Series Time

2010-10-02T10:49:00.006-04:00

Good morning LWB:

Join us this Wednesday, October 6th, 2010 at 4:30pm in NCB 295 to hear from a current MLIS student about her work this summer in a remote community library in Tanzania East Africa. Joanna Kerr will talk about differences in library and reading culture and the life-changing experiences in Tanzania that brought her to MLIS. Snacks and refreshments will be provided. We hope to see you there!

More Fall Semester Fun....

2010-09-28T15:48:00.012-04:00

Good afternoon LWB friends:

I'd like to remind everyone that tomorrow is the third LWB meeting of the Fall semester. Same time, same place. Put your fundraising thinking caps on for this one.

I hope everyone has had the chance to email Co-Chair Dina for your Craft-a-Thon donation form! Now it's time to start collecting donations to continue supporting the FCT School for Blind Children in Nigeria. You definitely don't want to miss out on all the LWB crafting fun. Donation forms are still available. Once again, we will be getting our craft on the 16th of October.

An October spoiler...LWB will be hosting a fabulous speaker series this semester. One notable lecture is in conjunction with the CNIB and CNIB Library Partners Program. The presentation will be during the MLIS Research Week on Tuesday, October 26th, 2010 from 4:30pm-6:30pm in NCB Room 295. Refreshments will be served. Get excited to hear Emily Tufts speak on accessibility issues in library service, the implications of the AODA legislation for library service, and much more.

Library love to all.

Fall Semester Craft-a-Thon

2010-09-25T12:10:00.006-04:00

Hey Friends:

It's time for the Fall Semester LWB Craft-a-Thon! This semester the craft-a-thon will be held on Saturday, October 16, 10am-4pm in the 4th Floor Grad Lounge of NCB. Craft-a-thon works much like a Walk-a-Thon. Participants will collect donations and record the donations on the craft-a-thon donation form. On the day of the craft-a-thon donations and forms will be collected by the LWB team.

Craft-a-thon gives you the opportunity to be creative and help support LWB's non-profit initiatives. Participants can paint-by-number, knit a coffee cozy, crochet a blanket, or even scrapbook! Craft-a-thon participants are encouraged to bring any crafting materials to the event.

Also, because we will be crafting all day, this Craft-a-Thon will also be a potluck event. Delicious food and great fundraising friends will make for a wonderful afternoon crafting to continue LWB support for the FCT School for Blind Children in Nigeria. We are also interested in locating a television and DVD player to bring to the Grad Lounge on craft-a-thon day for your movie viewing enjoyment.

If you are interested in participating in the LWB Craft-a-Thon please contact Dina at draggiun@uwo.ca in order to register for the craft-a-thon, obtain a donation form, and provide the potluck item you will be bringing to the event.

Have a wonderful weekend and happy fundraising!

LWB Loves Pancake Days

2010-09-21T14:02:00.013-04:00

A big thanks to the MLIS community for participating in Pancake Breakfast this morning! Proceeds will continue to support The FCT School for Blind Children in Nigeria.

Delicious pancakes on the griddle.

...and with chocolate chips.

Yum, they're ready to eat.

MLIS friends enjoying LWB pancakes.

See you at our meeting tomorrow at 4:45pm in the Grad Lounge of NCB!
Cheers.

The Return of the Pancake

2010-09-19T21:39:00.011-04:00

Hey folks:

Firstly, I'd like to thank all the new MLIS students/LWB members for coming out last Wednesday to our first official meeting of the semester. Seriously, INCREDIBLE turnout. Incredible might even be an understatement. Us LWB-er's are ridiculously excited to have such fantastic new friends eager to fundraise! Library folk, get ready for interesting speaker series presentations, the 2011 calendar project, and many other fundraising events. For anyone who missed the first meeting you are very welcome to attend the next one on Wednesday afternoon at 4:45pm in the NCB Grad Lounge--the more members the merrier.

To start off the semester, and back by popular demand, LWB will be hosting a pancake breakfast sale. I know, pancake sale mornings are amazing. Pancakes for morning class breakfast? Study break snack? Lunchtime treat? Pancakes are always the way to go. LWB pancake makers extraordinaires will be firing up the griddle on Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 outside the GRC in NCB from 8:30am-12:30pm. So, bring a toonie for two fabulous flapjacks.

That's all for now folks. We hope to see you at the pancake table on Tuesday morning and/or at the second meeting of the semester on Wednesday afternoon!

Much library love.

LWB Meets Tomorrow

2010-09-14T19:05:00.009-04:00

Good evening LWB friends:

Just a reminder that tomorrow will be the start of LWB Fall Term Wednesday afternoon meetings.

In the meantime, check out this video on Books for International Goodwill: http://www.booktv.org/Program/11752/Books+for+International+Goodwill+Vignette.aspx High-fives to this wonderful volunteer effort to ship books to places such as Uganda, Kenya, the Czech Republic, and Native American libraries.

Same Place, New Time

2010-09-09T19:01:00.006-04:00

Hey lovely library people:

This is just a reminder that we have a new LWB meeting time which will be implemented starting next Wednesday, September 15th, 2010. Meetings will now take place every Wednesday at 4:45pm in the Graduate Lounge on the Fourth Floor of NCB. So, pencil it in your planners and get ready to brainstorm fundraising ideas for our fall term projects!

Have a wonderful evening (doing course readings?) and remember to attend the free pizza lunch tomorrow at noon!

Back to Library School with LWB

2010-09-07T15:56:00.005-04:00

Good afternoon LWB friends:

It's time to usher in Fall Semester 2010! Today is the first day back at UWO Library School and LWB would especially like to extend a warm welcome to all the new MLIS students. On Friday, September 10th, 2010 LWB, together with MLIS Student Council, CLA, and SLA student chapters, will be hosting a FREE Pizza Lunch in NCB at 12:00pm for a meet and greet with the new library science graduate students. The pizza lunch with be held outside room 114 of NCB. So, be sure to come out for a free slice of pizza, a carbonated beverage, and of course, to get the lowdown on LWB's fundraising efforts and upcoming Fall semester projects. LWB executive commitee will be hanging out at the pizza lunch to answer questions about past LWB projects and invite newcomers to the forthcoming meeting on Wednesday, September 15th, 2010 at 4:30pm. LWB has many great ideas lined up for this semester and is eager to continue its successful fundraising efforts.

Have a wonderful first day back to school!

LWB CBC Radio Interview

2010-09-03T13:30:00.005-04:00

Hello LWB Friends:

I hope everyone is enjoying their three week library school summer vacation! Perhaps relaxing poolside with a good book or two? Getting excited to fundraise with your favorite LWB friends this Fall semester? As summertime comes to a close, LWB looks forward to meeting faces, old and new, at the upcoming weeks back at library school. In the meantime, as you await the infamous scent of LWB pancakes wafting the second floor hallway of NCB, listen to Jessica Luet's recent interview on CBC Radio about LWB's Costa Rica library project:
http://www.rcinet.ca/english/column/the-link-s-top-stories/librarians-without-borders/

Enjoy the long weekend friends!

See you back at library school in a few,

Natalie

LWB Team of Summer 2010!

2010-08-10T22:43:00.005-04:00

The LWB summer 2010 team would like to thank you for your amazing fundraising support this semester!

From right to left: Ellen, Jeremy, Jessica, Natalie, Graeme, Dina, Sarah, Megan, and Christina.

An LWB Thank You

2010-08-10T17:46:00.003-04:00

Hello LWB Friends!

This is a friendly Librarians Without Borders message regarding weekly LWB coffee sales. Coffee, tea, and pancake sales have now ended for the summer term. LWB would like to extend many thanks to everyone who purchased a cup of coffee or a delicious chocolate chip pancake to help support LWB's summer fundraising efforts towards purchasing materials for the FCT School for Blind Children in Nigeria. So again, thank you for the support. We couldn't have reached our goal without you!

I hope everyone enjoys the final few weeks of summer! We hope to see you in September for more LWB fundraising fun!

Natalie

Faculty Photo Contest and a Final Summer Pancake Sale

2010-08-02T23:28:00.009-04:00

Good evening LWB friends!

I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend and enjoyed the summer sunshine.

This is a reminder to the FIMS community that LWB is hosting a faculty photo contest. Please visit the GRC to place your guess on which faculty member's baby photo is on display for a chance to win! Ten Thousand Villages has kindly donated wonderful prizes for the winner to take home.

Also, LWB will be holding one final pancake sale of the summer on Thusday, August 5th from 8:30am to 12pm! Be there to enjoy some hot cakes at the price of 2 pancakes for $2.00 to support LWB's summer fundraising efforts towards the FCT School for Blind Children in Nigeria.

Hope you all have a non-stressful final two weeks of summer term!

Costa Rica Feature

2010-07-26T18:01:00.004-04:00

LWB is very pleased that the work done in El Humo has been featured in a press release from the Western News at the University of Western Ontario. The full article is available online here.

It's almost time for crafting fun

2010-07-14T20:09:00.008-04:00

This is a reminder regarding participation in the Librarians Without Borders 3rd Craft-a-thon. There is still time to sign up and help us raise money for the FCT School for Blind Children in Nigeria by crocheting, painting, knitting, coloring, or whatever other crafting activities you might enjoy! The craft-a-thon will be held this Saturday, July 17th from 10am until 4pm. Please email draggiun@uwo.ca with your choice of potluck item and to get your donation form. If you are unable to attend the craft-a-thon feel free to sponsor another participant. Donations can be made at the LWB coffee sale table on Thursday or Friday morning.

Also, a side note: today's bake sale was awesome! LWB friends, thanks for your support. Hope you enjoyed the yummy treats!

LWB Bake Sale!

2010-07-12T15:38:00.002-04:00

Hello LWB Friends!

This week LWB will be having a Bake Sale with delicious treats to satisfy your sweet tooth! The goodies will be on sale on Wednesday, July 14th from 8:30am-12:30pm. All sorts of yummy treats, coffee, and tea will be served! Once again, proceeds from this summer term sales will be going to the FCT School for Blind Children in Nigeria!

See you Wednesday at the treats table!

Get Some More Pancakes!

2010-07-06T16:39:00.004-04:00

Hey LWB Friends!

Just a reminder that LWB will be selling pancakes once again! Pancakes will be sold Thursday, July 8th outside the GRC in NCB from 8:30am-12:30pm. Come enjoy some hot cakes topped with maple syrup and chocolate chips, yum!

Again, proceeds will be going to the FCT School for Blind Children in Nigeria!

Much LWB pancake breakfast love

Get Your Craft On!

2010-07-06T11:57:00.004-04:00

Hello Friends!

Librarians Without Borders is hosting the 3rd Craft-a-thon (formerly known as the Knit-a-thon). We welcome all forms of crafting abilities. Please come out and help us raise money for the FCT School for Blind Children in Nigeria by crocheting, painting, knitting, coloring, or whatever other crafting activities you might enjoy while hanging out with fellow MLIS-ers. The event will be held Saturday, July 17th from 10am until 4pm. We will be viewing movies and providing refreshments. So please join us for some crafting fun! For lunch, we will be having a potluck feast. Please email draggiun@uwo.ca with your potluck item, to register, and get your donation form!

Hope to see you there!

LWB Summer Treats and Eats!

2010-06-20T17:13:00.004-04:00

Hello LWB Friends!

Second chances are rare in life. Did you miss our last LWB Pancake sale? Here is your golden opportunity to indulge in hot, delicious pancakes. Back by popular demand LWB will be hosting a second pancake breakfast of the summer term on Wednesday, June 23rd from 8:30am-12:30pm. Pancakes will be sold outside the GRC at the same low price of 2 pancakes for $2. Of course, we will still be providing the chocolate chip option to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Also, don't forget that LWB coffee and tea sales are continuing into the summer every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning from 8:30am-12:30pm! So start your day with some java!

Looking for something to cool you down on these hot summer days? Well, never fear LWB is here! For a limited time (Thursday, June 24th from 11am-2pm) LWB will be hosting a Summer Treats Sale! Ice cream sandwiches and freezies will be sold outside NCB Room 295 for your snacking pleasure. Ice cream sandwiches will be sold or $2.00 and freezies will be sold for $1.00.

All proceeds will benefit current LWB Summer Projects including raising money for materials for the FCT School for Blind Children.

Hope to see you this week for some summer treats and eats!

Jessica and Natalie

Libraries in the News

2010-06-14T09:09:00.002-04:00

For those who are interested in the work being done by other groups to spread information, we've seen a couple of projects come up in the news:

Librarians are setting up the first children's library in Liberia.
The InfoLadies of Bangladesh are spreading information on bikes.

Costa Rica Speaker Event

2010-06-09T19:58:00.005-04:00

Thank you to everyone who came out to this wonderful speaker event! And thank you to Courtney, Erin, and Kristina for sharing their experiences and photos from the trip.

For those who missed the event and are interested in seeing the presentation, we have the pdf version available from Google Docs here. It has all of the links of the resources used for the collection development.

FCT School for Blind Children

2010-06-06T19:25:00.006-04:00

LWB is very excited about our newest project, a partnership with the FCT School for Blind Children in Jabi-Abuja, Nigeria.

The FCT (Federal Capital Territory) School for Blind Children is a boarding school for Nigerian children with varying degrees of visual impairment. There are 70-75 students of ages varying from 6-25 years who study the national primary education curriculum along with additional classes geared towards the needs of the visually impaired. Some of their classes include Braille writing, typing, mobility, hygiene and environmental orientation in order to assist the students with daily living.

In Nigeria, as with many other developing nations, there is a minimal understanding of those with physical or mental challenges. Often times, parents are unaware of the potential of these children, do not know schooling is available for them and/or do not believe it is worth educating children with special needs. Due to a lack of education and the pressures of the social stigmas associated with special needs, parents and the community at large can sometimes choose to hide away their children. As such, the students at the FCT School for Blind Children come only after social and mission workers go into remote areas and convince parents to send their children to school.

We are very pleased to begin working with the FCT School for Blind Children in order to assist them with meeting the educational needs of their students. The majority of their classes are currently taught using verbal dictation, due to a lack of textbooks in Braille and tactile objects to facilitate learning. We are currently fundraising to help purchase Braille books, flash cards and maps for the students.

If you are interested in making a donation or helping to support this project, please contact us at lwbatuwo@gmail.com

Costa Rica Speaker Series!

2010-06-06T13:04:00.005-04:00

You are cordially invited to a presentation on the Librarians Without
Borders student committee's recent Costa Rica library project.

From September 2009 to April 2010, the Librarians Without Borders
student committee at UWO and Central American partner organization
VIDA, undertook a project to build a school library for the rural
village of El Humo, Costa Rica. In April, ten LWB members travelled to
Costa Rica for two weeks to physically construct and set up the
library. They're back and ready to share their experiences. LWB members
will speak not only about their experiences
in Costa Rica but also about the planning, organizing, collection
developing, all around hard work behind the project.

Please join us:

Wednesday, June 9 from 12:00-1:00 in NCB 293

Refreshments will be served.

Hope to see you all there!

Natalie and Jessica

Summer Term Begins and Coffee and Pancakes are Served

2010-05-24T16:19:00.004-04:00

Hello MLIS friends!

We would like to introduce ourselves, Jessica and Natalie, as the new LWB UWO Chapter Co-Communicators. So, hello everyone! We're honored to deliver the LWB scoop to our fellow library lovers.

Our first co-communicating task is to deliver news about this wonderful upcoming event to you:

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day...and pancakes are just plain AWESOME. Can't/wont cook for yourself? Don't live with mom and dad? Let us do the work!

On Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 from 8:30-11:00am Librarians Without Borders will be firing up the grill to bring you a delicious breakfast! Pancakes will be 2 for $2 (with chocolate chips or not) so get them while they're hot!

LWB is also committed to satisfying your coffee needs. Beginning May 26th, 2010 (and continuing EVERY Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning) we will be selling hot, fresh coffee and tea from 8:30am-12:30pm on the second floor of NCB.

Don't make the trees cry! Bring in your own mug/travelmug and recieve 25cents off your coffee/tea purchase.

$1.25/$1.00 coffee
$1.00/$0.75 tea

*Prices based on a Timmy's medium cup. If you bring in a monster coffee cup to be filled you will be charged for two cups of coffee.

Hope to see you all bright and early on Wednesday morning for hot and delicious breakfast delights.

Your friendly LWB Co-Communicators,

Natalie and Jessica

2010-05-23T14:41:00.003-04:00

The Librarians Without Borders UWO student committee will be hosting Kate Johnson for the first speaker event of the Summer 2010 semester!

Kate Johnson will be giving a presentation focusing on the state of libraries in Mongolia and the challenges of developing library services in a former communist country. She will also discuss her experience of working as a United Nations Volunteer.

Kate Johnson is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Information and Media Studies. She is currently researching the social role of public libraries, particularly whether libraries contribute to the social capital of communities. She completed her dissertation research on the information seeking behavior of residents of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

The event will take place on Wednesday, May 26th at 4:30 PM in NCB 285, admission by donation.

CLA-CASLIS Speaking Event

2010-05-11T23:28:00.008-04:00

Wednesday, May 19, 2010, 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm
Ottawa Public Library Auditorium (120 Metcalfe)

CLA-CASLIS is going to be hosting a speaking event about the projects that the LWB student committees have been participating in, including work in Costa Rica and Guatemala, as well as local work in Canada. They will have representatives from the University of Toronto, McGill University, and our very own University of Western Ontario.

We will have three of our members presenting on the trip to Costa Rica and sharing their experiences. If anyone is going to be in Ottawa on May 19th, this will be a great opportunity to hear about the Costa Rica trip, as well as see what other LWB groups have been doing.

Admission to this event is by donation, with a suggested donation of $5 to $10. Those who donate will be eligible to win a copy of Three Cups of Tea and Stones Into Schools by Greg Mortenson. All proceeds from this event will go to LWB.

You can register through CASLIS at http://tinyurl.com/lwb-2010

Meeting Time Change

2010-05-09T23:22:00.003-04:00

Our first meeting of the semester is coming up fast. The meeting time has changed to Tuesdays at 4:30 PM in the NCB Grad Lounge. The beginning of the semester is a fantastic time to join and help support some great causes. We always welcome new members and we do have some positions available for those people who are looking to get involved.

Hope to see you at our first meeting!

Collecting Spanish Children's Books for the El Humo Library

2010-04-14T00:21:00.004-04:00

For the past eight months, the student committee of Librarians Without Borders at the University of Western Ontario has been working on a project to build a school library for the mountain village of El Humo in Costa Rica. Through bake sales, craft sales, Freedom-to-Read button sales, and a series popular pancake breakfasts, our committee has been busy raising funds for books and building supplies.

The El Humo school requested science and geography materials, as well as books appropriate for young English-language learners. Finding Spanish-language materials for the library has been quite the learning experience! Fortunately, we had some help along the way.

The friendly folks at IBBY Canada directed us to two wonderful sources for selection of Spanish-language children's books—the Banco del Libro in Venezuela and Fundalectura in Columbia. School Library Journal reviews of Spanish books were also useful.

Another great find was the Barhona Centre for the Study of Books in Spanish for Children & Adolescents. This website provides reviews of children's books either written in Spanish or English about Latinos, and has a search engine that allows users to locate books set in specific Latin American countries.

We also felt it was important that the collection include materials by Costa Rican authors and books published in Costa Rica. We put our librarian skills to work and came up with a list of required reading from the Costa Rican Ministry of Education and a local supplier in San José.

We've purchased some books from Tap Peques, a Canadian distributor of Spanish children's books based in Oakville, Ontario, and another bunch from an online bookseller. If time allows, we'll scope out a local bookstore or two when we arrive in San José before boarding a bus for El Humo.

The collection of English books was boosted by several very generous donations from Canadian publishers. Thank you to KidsCan Press, Scholastic Canada, Groundwood, and Annick. We're thrilled to be able to share some fantastic Canadian children's books with our new Costa Rican friends.

Stayed tuned for more on the Costa Rica trip. Next up, Jessica, will give a short run down of our itinerary.

Hasta luego,

~ Erin

Another semester coming to a close

2010-04-10T15:55:00.003-04:00

As the semester is coming to an end, LWB is winding up all of the activities of the semester.

After eight months of fundraising, organizing, collection developing and all-around hard work, Librarians Without Borders student committee at UWO is just about ready to head off to Costa Rica. Early in the morning on April 18, ten FIMS students will be embarking on a flight to Central America to build a library at a school in the rural village of El Humo. LWB and Central American partner organization, VIDA, would like to thank the department and the entire FIMS community for their support over the past two semesters; the project could not have gotten off the ground without it. The intrepid LWB travelers will be back in early May with pictures and lots of stories, so stay tuned!

Pancakes! Bake Sale! Craft Sale!

2010-03-10T03:48:00.005-05:00

Warning: please do not eat the crafts.

Seriously, though, LWB is selling some great stuff!

On Thursday, March 11th, between 10-1 at the Grad Lounge, you can have Pancakes! $2 for 2 pancakes! No assembly required!

On Wednesday, March 17th, between 10-2 at the NCB, there will be a Bake Sale! Rated E for eat!

On Saturday, March 20th, LWB will be having a Craft Sale at Western Fairgrounds! Disappointment not included!

Donations for either the bake sale or the craft sale will be welcomed and appreciated. Contact lwbatuwo (at) gmail.com if you are interested in donating something.

Welcome to LWB at the University of Western Ontario

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Librarians Without Borders UWO Student Committee Home

Welcome to website for the University of Western Ontario (UWO) Student Committee of Librarians Without Borders. LWB is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advocating for equal access to information for all people around the world.

This website provides information about the UWO Student Committee of Librarians Without Borders. It includes information about the group’s projects, fundraising activities and awareness campaigns.

Speaker Series - Winter 2010

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The Winter Speaker series began in January with

Seeing is Believing

Norton Campbell, immediate past chair of CODE (Canadian Organization for Development through Education) and a member of the board for 7 years, and his wife Maureen Campbell spoke about their experience visiting libraries in Ethiopia in November, 2007.

For more information about CODE visit www.codecan.org

We continued in March with

First Nations Public Libraries

Patty Lawlor, the Southern Ontario Library's Services First Nations Consultant,
and Beverly Bressette, the CEO of the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation Library.

Speaker Series - Fall 2009

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During the Fall of 2009 we had the opportunity to hear from some excellent speakers including:

Steve Patterson who spoke about his experience in Bangladesh.
Scott Robins who talked about IBBY and IBBY Canada.
Librarians Pamela MacKay (Huron University College) and Chantal Phillips (University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus) spoke about the role of the academic library in supporting civil society organizations in Tanzania through a variety of activities. Both are members of the project team for the international partnership project, Building Civil Society Capacity for Poverty Reduction, a collaboration between Huron University College and the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

Chantal Phillips blog - http://westaglibrary.blogspot.com
Tanzania Project - http://www.huronuc.ca/about_huron/tanzania_project/

Speaker Series - Winter 2009

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The UWO Student Committee of Librarians Without Borders held its second Speaker Series in the Winter of 2009. Four new speakers came to share their library experiences with students, faculty and staff from the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at UWO.

In the winter of 2009, Marc Kosciejew and Steve Patterson from the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at UWO came to discuss international libraries. Marc Kosciejew gave a presentation about his visit to North Korea. Steve Patterson shared his experiences in Bangladesh.

Also in the winter of 2009, LWB held its first presentation about local information equity issues. Beverly Bressette (Library Coordinator for the Kettle and Stony Point Public Library) and Patty Lawlor (First Nations Consultant for the Southern Ontario Library Service) came to talk about First Nations Public Libraries. This presentation initiated a partnership between the UWO Student Chapter of LWB and the Kettle and Stony Point First Nations Public Library.

Speaker Conference - Summer 2009

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In the Summer of 2009 the UWO Student Committee of Librarians Without Borders partnered with the UWO Student Chapter of the Canadian Library Association to provide members of the Faculty of Information and Media Studies with a new learning opportunity. The two student groups joined forces to present a Speaker Conference for FIMS faculty, staff and students.

The Speaker Conference gave attendees the opportunity to learn about different aspects of librarianship. Speakers talked about a wide variety of subjects including professional practice experiences, information equity issues, and community projects. During the Speaker Conference speakers and attendees also had the opportunity to network, mingle and share their thoughts.

Four speakers came to this event:

Marc Kosciejew (PhD Candidate at FIMS) returned to shared his experience of libraries in North Korea.
Martha Foote (Board General Manager of Library Co) talked about her career as a legal librarian.
Laura Reed (Coordinator of Children's Services at the Kitchener Public Library) gave a presentation about public libraries in Sri Lanka. She also shared information about the Kitchener Public Library's partnership with the Grand Valley Correctional Institution for Women.
Rebecca Faber (Information Services Librarian at the London Public Library) shared her experiences dealing with a very diverse patron group in a public library setting.

Speaker Series - Fall 2008

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In the Fall of 2008, the UWO Student Committee of LWB held its first ever speaker series. For this series, Dr. Kate Johnson and Dr. Ajit Pyati from the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at UWO gave presentations about their experiences in international library settings. Dr. Johnson gave a presentation about the year she spent working in Mongolian libraries. Dr. Ajit Pyati spoke about his research on public libraries in India.

A number of students, faculty and staff attended this speaker series. It provided students with an opportunity to better understand international information equity issues. It was also a great forum for discussion. This speaker series was such a successful first event that LWB decided to invite new speakers every term.

Librarians Without Borders wishes to thank out gracious sponsors!

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September 2009 - April 2010 Sponsors

Campus Hi-Fi

Knit-A-Thon

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The next Knit-A-Thon details are coming soon!
Anyone can participate.
Knitters need to bring their own needles and wool and get to keep what they make.
Pledge someone to support!

Calendars

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Calendars are still available for purchase! Email for information.

Euchre Tournaments

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Every term the UWO Student Committee of Librarians Without Borders organizes a series of Euchre Tournaments to raise funds for its various projects. About once a month, members of the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at UWO are invited to the Grad Club for a few hours of fun and cards.

Craft Sales

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In a new fundraising initiative, the UWO Student Committee of Librarians Without Borders organized a series of Craft Sales. The first LWB craft sale took place in the spring of 2009 at the Western Fairgrounds Market in London, Ontario. Following the success of this event, LWB held another craft sale at the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at UWO.

Craft sale items included record bowls, greeting cards, blown glass, needlepoint bookmarks, knit baby bonnets, and more. All of the items sold at the craft sales were handmade. Many of the crafts were made by Masters of Library and Information Science students at UWO. Others were donated by family and friends.

Club Amick

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Club Amick is a book club project to support children's literacy efforts in remote Ontario First Nations Communities. Through Club Amick, children living in isolated First Nations Communities are given the opportunity develop their own collection of books. Each Club Amick child receives a free book four times a year.

Club Amick evolved as part of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario's Aboriginal Literacy initiatives. Approximately 40% of First Nations communities in Ontario do not have a public library. In these communities Club Amick is one of the few sources of new reading materials for children.

The UWO Student Committee of Librarians Without Borders is committed to raising awareness about the literacy issues facing First Nations communities throughout Ontario. If you wish to learn more about Club Amick or want to make a donation please visit the Club Amick website.

Kettle Point First Nations Library

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The University of Western Ontario student committee of Librarians Without Borders formed a partnership with the Kettle and Stony Point First Nations Public Library. This First Nations library is located 70 km West of London near Lake Huron. As with many First Nations public libraries, the Kettle and Stony Point Public Library is severely underfunded. This library relies almost entirely on donations for its collection. LWB has decided to partner with this library in order to further its efforts to develop a collection suitable to the needs of its patrons.

As a first step in this project, LWB developed a wish list of teen materials in collaboration with the Kettle and Stony Point Public Library Coordinator. LWB purchased these items and donated them to the library in the summer of 2009.

LWB donated over 40 teen books, graphic novels and manga to the Kettle and Stony Point Public Library. This donation was made in support of the library's efforts to develop an up-to-date collection that is suitable to the needs of its users.

Some of the more popular items donated to the Kettle and Stony Point Public Library included J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, the first 3 books from Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and volumes 1-6 of the popular Japanese manga series Naruto. An assortment of other teen novels and graphic novels were also included to suit a wide range of reading interests.

LWB continued with the project into December of 2009 and has scheduled more tasks for 2010.

Costa Rica

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Librarians Without Borders UWO committee is traveling to a small village in Costa Rica to build a one room public school library. This trip will take place at the end of April for two weeks. Various fundraising events are taking place in order to assist in funding for the construction materials for the library as well as library materials.

Book materials will focus on basic English books and Science and Geography in Spanish. LWB is working with the not-for-profit organization VIDA to make this happen.