Speakers and Magicians and Ventiloquists - Oh, My!

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve last taken the time to compose and post a blog. My intentions were good, my schedule was uncooperative! But here I am – finally! – with something to say and the time to say it.

Things have been hopping at HPL. Last month I attended the BCLA conference in Victoria along with about 500 other library employees and trustees. This annual gathering of Libraryland citizens is a jam-packed two days of workshops, speeches, award ceremonies, vendors, dinners, and, of course the requisite schmoozing between directors, coordinators and trustees. Here we put faces to names and names to faces. We learn together, make contacts and come home exhausted from the whirlwind activity and information overload.



Paul Whitney



My favourite part of the conference is the key-note speaker. This year we gathered in the theatre at the Victoria Conference Centre next to the Empress Hotel to listen to Paul Whitney’s address entitled: The Times They Are Always A-Changin’. Paul Whitney reflected on library history and development in the province, from his perspective as a library leader and innovator. During his 36-year library career Paul was Chief Librarian for both the Burnaby and Vancouver public libraries. He served as president of BCLA and of CLA and was actively involved in countless national and international committees such as copyright, public lending right, and accessible services to the print disabled, to name just a few. Paul's reflection on his remarkable library career was nostalgic for long-serving members of the library community and inspirational for newer generations.

 

But, alas, all good things come to an end. All too soon the conference was over and it was time to head back to the office to pick up where I had left off – namely, getting organized for the summer. Planning events, hiring summer students, completing the annual PLSB survey and the submitting the Statement of Financial Information, were all on my plate waiting for me upon my return, along with the back-log of e-mails, statistics, and other day-to-day stuff that needed to be attended to. Oddly, I managed to catch up and get back into the swing of things in only a couple of days.

 

Norden the Magician



So now we are looking forward to some fun things, like Norden the Magician, who will be visiting us on May 26th. Mike Norden is a comedic magician who has won several awards, including Children’s Magician of the Year five years in a row. His show promises to be fun for the whole family! It’s also free and everyone is welcome. The show starts at 3:30! Many thanks go out to the North Coast Library Federation for sponsoring this event.



Val Hiliker

Then in June, we will welcome Val Hiliker from Calgary, Alberta. Val is a ventriloquist specializing in children’s entertainment. She learned ventriloquism in 1977 and has been performing since 1979. We partnered with Houston Link to Learning and the Early Childhood Development Committee to bring Ms. Hiliker to Houston. Her performance starts at 6 p.m. on Friday June 10th, right after the FREE Family Night BBQ.

It’s always exciting to be able to provide quality programming for our patrons and the community and we are looking forward to sharing a few good laughs with them at these events.