During the winter months, instead of just watching television (like I usually do), I am planning to gather some garden craft ideas for the spring. I have a group of friends who are also (fairly) avid gardeners and we like to get together to create some kind of craft now and again. Actually, it’s just a pretence to get together to gab, eat and drink, but surprisingly, we often end up making something worthwhile! This year my plan is to force them all into agreeing to make something out of a mixture called hypertufa.

From September 15 -28, 2007, a group of Master Muralists from Argentina and three from Vancouver came to London to paint a monumental scale mural in the brick tunnel on King Street on the north side of Citi Plaza where the Central Library is located.

The concept was conceived by members of La Raza Group, “an art collective dating back to the 1980s interested in the public and social dimensions of art in the urban landscape”.

We are very pleased to announce that Edeet Ravel, a prize-winning author and finalist for the Governor General’s Award and the Scotiabank Giller Prize, will be London Public Library's 2007 Writer-in-Residence, October 22-26. Edeet will be offering consultations, an author panel and workshops during her time at the Library.

There are so many choices available when it's time to decide which purchase to make and many people have always used the magazine Consumer Reports with their product reviews and ratings to help them make a decision. It's a frequent request at our Help Desks! Did you know that you can search Consumer Reports magazine from the comfort of home via your computer?

A month has passed since school began and that means our children are bringing home homework and project assignments. For some lucky parents, their children are naturally organized and seem to be able to, from grade one, manage their own deadlines and pace their work so that those parents very rarely ever need to get involved in the daily homework routine. But for other parents, our children need a little extra help staying organized and on top of assignment deadlines.

I always enjoy greeting the people who drop in to the Central Library on Wednesday mornings to participate in our  free “Knitters Helping Knitters” program which runs from 10am to noon, every Wednesday until December 12th.

One of the misconceptions that people hold about library employees is that we get to read on the job. Unfortunately, this is not true. You may see us reading, but it’s not a juicy mystery or the latest Oprah pick . More likely it’s a book about books, the latest research or industry news, or a great item we’re skimming so we can recommend it to people like you.

In the past, meditation was seen only as a practice of eastern religions but it has become a popular technique in the west since the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi introduced Transcendental Meditation to the west in the late 1950’s. Now there are many techniques, including Vipassana Meditation that you can study. Millions of people practice some form of meditation every day.

Have you ever judged a book by its cover? Well, I have; I’ll admit it! This is how I chose to read Lost in the Forest by Sue Miller. The cover caught my eye.

When I found out that Frances Itani was coming to the Central library this fall I decided to check out her newest title. I must admit, I’ve never read Frances Itani before, but I truly enjoyed this novel and I think you will too.