Wait! Are we already saying Goodbyes to 2024?
I just did it. Ho艧莽akal 2024.
Now you say it: HOSH-CHA-KAL.
Today, I am writing to you from one of , the Central Branch.
You may ask Why? Don鈥檛 we have wonderful libraries on campus? We do!
Elyse Longair wrote about the things you might do at Queen鈥檚 Libraries. Alan Green Fireplace Reading Room at the Stauffer was my favourite 鈥榩urr鈥 corner in my first year of PhD鈥檌ng. 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 on the first floor of Douglas Library. I will share more on this in the new year. You can in any of these libraries.
Students who live at An Clachan may be familiar with the tiny 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.
鈥淣er(e)de Hareket Or(a)da Bereket,鈥 say Turks. 鈥淲here is the hareket there is the bereket鈥 went a sign in a Knick Knack store I visited years ago. That business owner should know something about prosperity. 鈥淲here there is action there is abundance.鈥
Turks also believe 鈥淭ebdil i mekanda ferahl谋k vard谋r.鈥 Changing one鈥檚 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 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鈥檝e already browsed their . Its key features are indexes to Historic Kingston, the journal of the Kingston Historical Society, historic newspapers, Rideau Heights Oral History, and the 鈥淪toryMe鈥 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 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 ? You can reach them from your living room. I wondered if I may use the videos in my teaching to newcomers to Kingston.
The 鈥溾 project features twelve audios, each accompanied by one image. One 鈥淪toryMe鈥 episode immediately reminded me of my budding 鈥淜ingston Blues鈥 project, which you鈥檒l hear about in the new year.
Now I have my FREE . 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鈥檚 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.