We know exam time is really stressful, so we’ve put together some resources for those moments when you need to take a break. Over the next two weeks we’ll be posting featured pages from our Library Leisure Guide to help ease some of the stress. Here we go!
All you need is your library card to access movies from our databases. Whether you’re into superheroes, old classics, musicals, comedies or arthouse film – you’ll definitely find something to relax to.
Alex King (President’s Advisory Committee on Art, Archer Library):
“When it began to dawn on me that Covid would affect us in significant ways, I felt strangely calm. I consider myself pretty resilient, and I can approach a crisis with calm and rationale. I’ve happily lived alone for many years and moved internationally (twice) with minimal support. I’m fortunate to have robust mental health and my favourite place to be is on the couch or experimenting in the kitchen. I have fantastic neighbours. A few months at home? I could do this.
And at the beginning, I could. My apartment was spotless, I was catching up on my reading list. Hell, I could go to work in sweatpants because the office was… my kitchen table. And then as the restrictions tightened and Covid crept closer to home, I realized this was for the long haul. I missed socializing, worried about older relatives, and felt lonely and bored. I ordered coffee deliveries just to see a friendly face.
One day I received a text asking if I could foster two cats in need of temporary housing. They’d been rescued from a hoarding situation and being a timid pair were proving hard to adopt. I agreed immediately. It surprised none of my friends and family that this became a “foster fail”, and I realized Kiki and Kirby had become family.
Living with these two sweethearts has made the pandemic experience infinitely more bearable. Being an anxious new cat mum has been a welcome distraction, and they amuse and delight me every day. Moreover, the slow bonding process has been incredibly rewarding. It took months for these shy babies to emerge from hiding to trust me enough to seek out cuddles and playtime. I’m so grateful for my cute little family!”
Favourite pandemic read: The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein
If you are interested in sharing your Humans of UofR Libraries story, please contact us at arlysse.quiring@uregina.ca
Spring has sprung, and Passover, Easter, and Ramadan are all coming up soon. The Holidays & Celebrations tab of the Library Leisure Guide has added sub-sections for each, and can be found as follows:
Today, March 23rd marks the one-year pandemic anniversary when the majority of library staff began working remotely, with similar transitions across the university. In celebration of resilience and community, the yoURArcher Blog team is launching Humans of UofR Libraries. The purpose of the series is to create a space for the sharing of pandemic experiences amongst staff, faculty and students. If you are interested in sharing your Humans of UofR Libraries story, please contact us at arlysse.quiring@uregina.ca
Carla Flengeris (Luther Library): The day of the earlier-than-usual cocktail hour
“When we moved our offices home, I had to carve out my workspace in our basement: small house, two non-essential workers and a Grade One student all needing privacy – there was no other place for me to go. This particular corner of our basement is at the back of the house. On the other side of this wall is a gravel back alley used only by us and the city’s garbage/recycling trucks.
A few weeks after the lockdown, a mysterious (and massive) steam roller appeared in front of our house, parked on the street. For a month, it never moved.
My very first library instruction class via Zoom was to about 50 students. I was nervous about the tech, but it was going great: screen-sharing, break-out rooms – we were nailing it. And suddenly, there was a deafening noise and the house started to shake. I searched the faces of the students who had their cameras on to see if it was happening to them, too. I’ve lived in Saskatchewan my entire life – what are we supposed to do in an earthquake? I panicked. I was shouting to the class “Can you feel that? Is everyone ok?” but I could tell they couldn’t hear me – I couldn’t hear myself. They looked terrified, probably because of the noise and seeing the picture frames falling off the wall behind me. I ran upstairs to rescue my kids and as I was flying past a window, I saw it. The steam roller – rolling down the alley, slowly, inch by inch. I ran outside in my sock feet. One worker, leaning on his rake, looked at me, finished the drag of his cigarette and yelled, “Alley refresh.”
We soldiered on – making heavy use of that chat function. “
The Archer Library is pleased to be a participant in One Book, One Province, an initiative created by the Saskatchewan Library Association to encourage all residents of the province to come together during the month of March to read and discuss the same book. This year OBOP has chosen Blanket Toss Under Midnight Sun. You can learn more about the OBOP program and this year’s book by visiting their website.
Dr. Sherry Farrell-Racette from the Faculty of Media-Art-Performance will assist in facilitating the discussion of the book. You can learn more about Dr. Farrell-Racette’s work and research interests here.
We welcome everyone who wishes to participate in our discussion to register for our March 17th (12pm) book club meeting by filling out our registration form. We hope to see you there!
Tired of the melting-and-still-snowing weather? Take a work break or a study break and head over to our St. Patrick’s Day celebration page on the Library Leisure guide. Learn about the history of the day, listen to Irish and Celtic music, watch a great Irish cinema selection, enjoy leisure reading with an Irish author (Dracula was a character from Transylvania, but Bram Stoker was Irish!), and even discover some traditional Irish recipes to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in style.
Freedom To Read week is a celebration of reading, and the acknowledgement of ongoing conversation regarding “censorship, freedom of expression and access to information”. February 21-27 is a dedication to reader autonomy, discussion of challenged books (both current and through history), and much more.
At the Freedom To Read website, one can discover lists of challenged books, discussions about hot topics, media resources and a great selection of activity and engagement suggestions.
With this freezing weather, what better time to enjoy a cozy movie, curl up with a good book, and take a peak at some real vintage greeting cards?! Courtesy of University of Regina Archives & Special Collections, we’ve posted three charming Victorian Greeting Cards on our Library Leisure Guide. Check out the cards, all kinds of romantic films, some classic reads, and much more here.
Valentine’s Day not your jam? Our guide also has colouring pages (Heavy Metal and Punk Rock!), tons of leisure reading ideas, games and quizzes, an escape room, and even films that have NOTHING to do with “true love” and Cupid (Doctor Sleep, anyone?!). Enjoy!
We hope everyone has a restful Reading Week!
Image credit: U of R Archives 2011-39 Box 1 File 6 Victorian Greeting Cards
There’s still time to register for this month’s virtual book club! We will be discussing Susan Power’s Sacred Wilderness, a novel which “explores the lives of four women of different eras and backgrounds who come together to restore foundation to a mixed-up, mixed-blood woman—a woman who had been living the American dream, and found it a great maw of emptiness” (Michigan State University Press, 2021).
You can learn more about this book by visiting our book club guide. We will be meeting on Wednesday, February 24th at 12:00 pm.
This week is Archives Week. Check out the Saskatchewan Council For Archives and Archivists interactive map at https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer… for virtual events that are happening across the province.
Of special note is a talk by Interim University Archivist Crista Bradley, who will be speaking about her new picture book, If These Places Could Talk: Snapshots of Saskatchewan. Written for children ages 4 & up, it has also been garnering significant attention among teachers and history lovers. The book features 100+ historic and contemporary images of Saskatchewan places, past and present, drawn from the collections of archives, museums and libraries around the province. It also includes vibrant original artwork by Wendi Nordell. Crista will speak about the fun she has had on the journey from initial book concept to publication. This event is part of a series of presentations hosted by the Saskatchewan Seniors’ Association. It is free and open to the general public.
TELECONFERENCE: Friday, February 12, 2021 at 2:00PM
