Celebrate library month with countless opportunities
One card, one million possibilities.
The power of what one little library card can offer you and it’s free. The Pictou-antigonish Regional Library (PARL) offers access to more than a million books, movies, magazines, newspapers and audiobooks in print (text and braille), digital text and text to voice. There’s also public computer terminals with free internet access and Wifi hotspots (indoors and outside) with 24/7 service.
In addition, A Library of Things can be borrowed from jigsaw puzzles to Nordic Walking
Poles, telescopes, radon detectors, Fun Fit passes and Decoste Centre Arts are for Everyone passes. Light therapy lamps for use while visiting the library is also available. There are more than 100 free programs every month, for all ages and abilities.
Library staff are participating members of many community organizations and boards. They are trained in First Aid, and several libraries have cardiac defibrillator kits for community access. Public libraries are warm, welcoming places that provide a comfortable experience to shelter from the weather. They sometimes provide snacks to the hungry, water to the thirsty, are locations of community gardens and food pantries, and shelter to homeless.
Also, the public library has public washrooms, with baby changing tables. There are photocopiers, printers, fax machines and card laminators. In addition, it has given away more than 250,000 COVID rapid test kits from PARL locations since December 2021 and countless free COVID masks, hand sanitizers and home crafting Take & Make kits since 2019.
The library also continues to provide curbside service to those who cannot come in. It offers a Borrow-by-mail service to rural library patrons in Pictou and Antigonish counties (library materials are mailed and returned with postage paid). And now, if you need help with technology and accessing online government services, from Virtualcare and MAPLE to finding the online government forms for disaster relief, libraries can help you.
In addition to all that, October is Canadian Library Month. Coming up this month, the Pictou-antigonish Regional Library has fun art workshops from making felted coasters, pebble art, dreamcatchers, all things pumpkin, spooky storywalks and free Halloweenbased workshops with Creative
Pictou County. These include making costumes, applying stage makeup and techniques for writing the horror genre. And all wee trick-o-treaters are welcome to drop by the library from Oct. 22 to 31 to pick up a free children’s book from Adopt-a-library Literacy Program.
All month, the library will also feature displays of Mi’kmaq history and heritage to celebrate October as Mi’kmaq History Month as well.
For more information on all our upcoming library programs and services, call or drop by your local library, follow on Twitter or Facebook, and visit online at www.parl.ns.ca.