Wait! Are we already saying Goodbyes to 2024?
I just did it. Hoşçakal 2024.
Now you say it: HOSH-CHA-KAL.
Today, I am writing to you from one of Kingston’s many public libraries, the Central Branch.
You may ask Why? Don’t we have wonderful libraries on campus? We do!
Elyse Longair wrote about the things you might do at Queen’s Libraries. Alan Green Fireplace Reading Room at the Stauffer was my favourite ‘purr’ corner in my first year of PhD’ing. Education Library at Duncan McArthur Hall is my pick in the summer. Bracken Health Sciences Library offers space for book clubs and group projects. I am in love with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection on the first floor of Douglas Library. I will share more on this in the new year. You can book a room in any of these libraries.
Students who live at An Clachan may be familiar with the tiny Calvin Park Branch at 88 Wright Crescent. It is my go-to place when I am tired of working from home. I wanted to take my work to another place today.
“Ner(e)de Hareket Or(a)da Bereket,” say Turks. “Where is the hareket there is the bereket” went a sign in a Knick Knack store I visited years ago. That business owner should know something about prosperity. “Where there is action there is abundance.”
Turks also believe “Tebdil i mekanda ferahlık vardır.” Changing one’s physical environment is as good as rest. It should not surprise you that I am heeding good advice and discovering off-campus venues to help me focus.
The one I am discovering this afternoon is the Central Branch at 130 Johnson Street. I am here because I wanted to see their Kingston History collection. Learning more about the city was on my wish list for this year. Here I am at K7L 1X8.
I’ve already browsed their Digital Kingston website. Its key features are indexes to Historic Kingston, the journal of the Kingston Historical Society, historic newspapers, Rideau Heights Oral History, and the “StoryMe” oral history project.
You need to visit the library to enjoy the books and the documents. Are you downtown and have a couple of hours to read about the birds of Kingston? The Bishop Room on the first floor is where you go.
Their Historic Newspapers collection will take you, professional and amateur historians of the city, to the 1800s. A pair of glasses will help.
Rideau Heights Oral History features seven interviews with community members. The interviews were conducted in 2021. I am impressed by the diversity of voices. Why not use those as a holiday watch if you are interested in the city and the folks who made this city their home? You can reach them from your living room. I wondered if I may use the videos in my teaching to newcomers to Kingston.
The “StoryMe” project features twelve audios, each accompanied by one image. One “StoryMe” episode immediately reminded me of my budding “Kingston Blues” project, which you’ll hear about in the new year.
Now I have my FREE membership. I can listen to audiobooks, watch films. If I wanted, I could even use the embroidery machine they have in one of the branches.
My choice of holiday reading is Birds of the Kingston Region, 2nd Edition by Ron Weir.
Let me leave you with a heartfelt New Year’s message.
May 2025 bring you a lot of hareket and Bereket in addition to your dream job, publications in high impact journals, reasonably good health, and joyful moments with friends and family.