Dress Up for Halloween

The Archer Library staff is getting in the Halloween 2020 spirit… by dressing up their pets. As you can see Hagrid is still deciding which costume to wear, but Gracie is ready with her “candy corn” attire, and Brooks is dressed as a spooky bandit.

Share your dressed up pets in the comments below….

For more inspiration check out the eBook “Dog trick or cat treat pets dress up for Halloween”. If you want to find out more about Halloween, including links to books and movies, check out our Library Leisure Guide.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Archer Book Club)

Time for a ghost story!

The next virtual Archer Book Club will take place on October 21st, 2020 at 12pm. We will be discussing the classic short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. This seasonally appropriate ghost story was the winner of the Fall 2020 Archer Book Club vote, and can accessed online through the library!

To attend please visit the Archer Book Club page and contact us there: https://uregina.libguides.com/archerbookclub

We will send out Zoom information for all those who sign up.

More information about this month’s selection (including how to access it), discussion points, etc. can also be found at the above page. Vote for Winter 2021 selections!

Future 2020 Meetings
November 18, 2020 – 12pm-1pm (Good Natured by Frans B. M. De Waal)

Staff, faculty and students are all welcome!


Photo source: Arlysse Quiring

Welcome to the Library Leisure Guide!

Bored? Stressed? Both? The library’s Social Media Team has launched a Library Leisure Guide! This page is our new home for fun activities and initiatives for students, staff and faculty of the University of Regina. Check out our Halloween movies gallery (accessible online through our databases), traditional recipes for Día de los Muertos, relaxing colouring pages, and much more! Enjoy!

Visit the guide here, and come back often for new content: https://uregina.libguides.com/c.php?g=719908&p=5145048

Image source: https://libreshot.com/halloween-pumpkins/

Gladys Arnold – 2020 Women’s History Month #BecauseOfYou

To celebrate Women’s History Month, the University of Regina Archives and Special Collections would like to profile journalist Gladys Arnold.

Image credit: University of Regina Archives and Special Collections, Gladys Arnold Fonds, 98-54, Box 32, File 711, Gladys Arnold in Paris, 1938

Arnold was born in Macoun, Saskatchewan in 1905. She taught in various rural schools before joining the Regina Leader-Post in April 1930. Arnold began as an editorial assistant but was soon writing editorials, feature articles, and news stories that were picked up by other newspapers.

Seeking adventure, Arnold left her job in 1935 and traveled to Europe. Arnold began submitting freelance pieces to the Canadian Press (CP) and shortly was hired as their full-time Paris correspondent. In the next four years she reported from France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Italy and from the Spanish border during the Spanish Civil War.

Image credit: University of Regina Archives and Special Collections, Gladys Arnold Fonds, 98-54, Box 2, File 12, Gladys Arnold’s press card, Paris, 1940 (front) and (back)

Gladys Arnold was the sole Canadian correspondent in France at the outbreak of the Second World War and she covered the early days of the conflict, the so-called “phoney war”, until the German occupation of Paris in June 1940.  Returning to Canada, Arnold served with the CP Bureau in Ottawa until 1941 when she left CP to help set up the Free French Information Service in Canada. After the war this service was attached to the French Embassy in Ottawa and Arnold served as its Director until her retirement in 1971.

In 1987 Arnold published her memoirs about her wartime experiences, One Woman’s War: A Canadian Reporter with the Free French (Toronto: J. Lorimer, 1987). For her service to France she was named Honorary Brigadier in the French Free Forces in 1940, and Chevalier de la legion d’honneur in 1975. In 1988 the University of Regina presented her with an honorary Doctor of Laws. Gladys Arnold died in Regina in 2002.

The Gladys Arnold Fonds at the University of Regina Archives and Special Collections consists of 10 collections containing her personal and professional papers. You can browse the contents of Arnold’s collections by visiting her dedicated web page.

Look for the “Happy Book”

Still time to complete the Archer Library “Look For The Book” online scavenger hunt!

Rules: 
1) Open to all registered students (undergraduate and graduate) until Sept. 30th, 2020.
2) Five prizes of $20 Tim’s gift cards will be awarded randomly to those who finish the scavenger hunt instructions.
3) Find the “Happy Books” using the five clues.  To be entered for the prize draw:
            a) Fill out the form with each of the Happy Book icon locations (please send all five at the same time), with your name and student number. https://uregina.libwizard.com/f/lookforhappybook
            b) Post the final instruction on InstaGram, Facebook or Twitter and tag #archerlibrary and #lookforthebook.

Happy Scavenger Hunt!

Clue #1:  The library is like a home away from home for students like me.  (Hint: Go to the library homepage (https://www.uregina.ca/library) and look to the left!)

Join the Virtual Archer Book Club!

Keep our distance AND enjoy spending some virtual quality book time together. This fall the Archer Book Club will continue to host virtual meetings on Wednesday September 23rd, October 21st and November 18th (12 pm – 1 pm). We are inviting the UofR community (students, faculty and staff) to read, and join the discussion during virtual Zoom meetings.
Visit the Archer Book Club guide for more information and to join!

Last Archer Book Club For Summer!

There’s still time to read and join us for the last Archer Book Club session for summer 2020! On Wednesday August 12th at 2:00pm we will be chatting about The Last Wish, by Andrzej Sapkowski. This novel is from The Witcher series, which is also the inspiration for a number of games and the Netflix series.

Staff, faculty and students are all welcome!

Please note the book club meets virtually and a zoom link will be sent to all participants closer to the meeting. To join us simply send us an email. Contact information and more about the book club, this month’s selection, and archived June and July meetings can be found here: https://uregina.libguides.com/archerbookclub

Also remember to vote for Fall 2020 selections! Voting will be available until August 4th, 2020.



Image source: https://www.pxfuel.com/en/free-photo-xvcgq

Spanish Influenza, Covid-19 and the Archer Library

The image for this blog post is a combination of an Influenza card (University of Regina Archives & Special Collections 89-44 Box 157 File 2180 Influenza Card n.d.) from the T. A. Heinrich collection and the decals available from the UofR printing services. As of 2 June 2020, the total confirmed Covid-19 deaths in Saskatchewan is exactly the same as the Spanish Influenza deaths in Regina on Wednesday 16 October 1918 according to “The Leader” newspaper. The number is conspicuous because the armistice of the First World War occurred in 1918 on the 11th month on the 11th day. The Star Phoenix created this interesting video in 2018 about the toll of the Spanish Flu in Saskatchewan. Which makes it clear that the soldiers returning from the Western Front brought the Spanish Flu to Saskatchewan.

On 19th October 1918 “The Leader” newspaper reported the Regina College is in voluntary quarantine, and only resident students are able to attend classes. And it states on December 4th 1918 that the quarantine is lifted and “not a serious case of sickness has developed at the college all the time the epidemic has been raging in the city, and throughout the province”.

During the quarantine outside studios were arranged to accommodate non-resident music teachers and their pupils. And the Orchestra Practice was suspended to ensure no cases of the flu would develop. As you know, currently the University of Regina classes are taking place remotely and online, and on the music front the University of Regina Choir is continuing to sing while maintaining physical distancing.

Did you know that registered students, faculty and staff have access to the electronic full-page newspaper archive of Leader Post? Coverage includes all the stories, images, advertisements, and classifieds dating back to 1883. As this blog shows the perfect source to browse and discover information about the Spanish Influenza. However, also a fun resource to research your family members! If you are interested in current information about Covid-19 check out the Coronavirus Research Database.

And last but not least stay safe and sign up to join the Archer Book Club for virtual Zoom meetings in June, July and August!

Join the Virtual Archer Book Club!

Image Source: https://libreshot.com/stack-of-books/

Keep our distance AND enjoy spending some virtual quality book time together. This summer the Archer Book Club will pilot virtual meetings on Wednesday June 10th, July 8th and August 12th (2 pm – 3 pm). We are inviting the UofR community (students, faculty and staff) to read, participate in virtual Zoom meetings, and join the discussion before and after the virtual meetings.
Visit the Archer Book Club guide for more information and to join!