Dal Libraries exam and holiday hours are now available on our website. Today’s Hours are highlighted on our homepage, and each location page has the current week’s schedule.
Dal Reads Title Announcement!
We are excited to announce that the 2023-2024 book title for Dal Reads is The Boat People by Sharon Bala!
- Free copies of the book will be available at Dalhousie Libraries next week – look for our book stations to grab your copy.
- eBook and audiobook copies are available by searching Novanet or the Libby app. To borrow materials, log in with your Dalhousie NetID and password. Get more information and guidance about borrowing eBooks.
About The Boat People:
In the tradition of Lawrence Hill’s The Illegal, Chris Cleave’s Little Bee, and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, and inspired by a real incident, this high-stakes and increasingly timely novel powerfully evokes what it means to leave behind everything you have ever known to seek out a better life in a strange land.
When the rusty cargo ship carrying Mahindan and five hundred fellow refugees reaches the shores of British Columbia, the young father is overcome with relief: he and his six-year-old son can finally put Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war behind them and begin new lives. Instead, the group is thrown into prison, with government officials and news headlines speculating that hidden among the “boat people” are members of a terrorist militia. As suspicion swirls and interrogation mounts, Mahindan fears the desperate actions he took to survive and escape Sri Lanka now jeopardize his and his son’s chances for asylum.
Told through the alternating perspectives of Mahindan; his lawyer Priya, who reluctantly represents the migrants; and Grace, a third-generation Japanese-Canadian adjudicator who must decide Mahindan’s fate, The Boat People is a high-stakes novel that offers a deeply compassionate lens through which to view the current refugee crisis. Inspired by real events, with vivid scenes that move between the eerie beauty of northern Sri Lanka and combative refugee hearings in Vancouver, where life and death decisions are made, Sharon Bala’s stunning debut is an unforgettable and necessary story for our times.
About Dal Reads:
Dal Reads is designed to encourage people in the Dalhousie community to share their love of books. Launched in 2009, the program brings the Dalhousie community together through the shared experience of reading the same book and taking part in programming related to the book.
Killam Retrofit Update: Second Floor
November 27th marked the beginning of Phase 2 for the Killam Library Deep Energy Retrofit. The company doing construction, MCW, is now working on the second floor of the library.
- Closures: The book stacks, the map room and area with compact shelving, and room 2902 will remain closed until the end of January.
- Borrow requests: Students are asked to use Novanet Express or speak with staff at the Killam Library Service Point (KLSP) for requests from the second-floor areas that are closed.
Music Room Reopening
- The Music Collection room will reopen on Friday, December 1.
Noise and Construction Outside
- Outside the Student Accessibility Centre, MCW will be replacing a concrete slab. Jack hammering, vibrations, and noise are expected between December 20 and January 6, 2024.
Main Stairwell Closure (Phase 2.2)
- To reduce disruption, the Killam’s main stairwell will close over the Christmas holidays. The closure is scheduled from December 23 to January 8, 2024. More information on the logistics of this will be coming soon.
Layers Newsletter 2023 – Issue 10
Check out the November 2023 issue of Layers: A Dalhousie newsletter about Data & GIS.
In this issue:
- GIS Day
- 2021 Census of Population PUMFs and Other Census Releases
- News for the Data Community
- News for the GIS Community
- Educational Resources
- Dates and Events
Layers is produced by James Boxall, Jen Strang, Julie Marcoux, Sai Chua, Thomas Zuberbuehler, and Julie Marcoux.
Killam Library Floors 2-5 Closed on Nov 14 & 15
On Tuesday, November 14, and Wednesday, November 15, floors 2-5 must be closed to remove the vertical plumbing stack that connects those floors.
Students cannot access floors 2 through 5 for those two days. The Killam main floor will remain open. Archives and Special Collections and the GIS Centre will be closed.
Signage will be posted to indicate students can find alternative study space at the Wallace McCain Learning Commons, Kellogg Library or Learning Commons, Sexton Library, or Dunn Law Library.
- Students are urged to use Novanet Express to request to borrow materials.
- If your request is urgent, please see staff at the Killam Library Service Point (KLSP).
- Email archives@dal.ca if you have archival research questions.
- Email spcoll@dal.ca with Special Collections questions.
A Glimpse into Canadian Soldiers’ Educational Journey During WWII
A Canadian Legion Educational Services publication series was identified while processing historical government documents at the MacRae Library. They appear to be unique, with very few copies found elsewhere in Canada.
The University of Fraser Valley’s online resource, The Encyclopedia of Canadian Adult Education, indicates that these items were under the care of the Canadian Legion Educational Services from 1939 to 1946. The series at the MacRae aligns with the Encyclopedia’s records, with imprints of 1945 and 1946.
The text on the back of the series instructs students enrolled in courses to carry their textbooks with them while traveling overseas. Upon arrival at their new stations, they were encouraged to promptly connect with the Education Officer or Naval Schoolmaster.
These agricultural textbooks were not just academic resources; they were intended to travel with soldiers during the peak of World War II. They provide powerful insight into the hopes and dreams these students had for their futures.
Visit the MacRae Library to view this publication series.
National Medical Librarians Month
It’s National Medical Librarians Month, and we want to take this opportunity to introduce our specialists and let you know how they can help you.
The library supports faculty and student research through consultation and reference services, and teaching and learning opportunities through workshops and seminars on effective literature search techniques.
Reference and research services are available virtually, by booking an appointment online, and in person at our service points:
- the W. K. Kellogg Library on the first floor of the Tupper building, or
- the Kellogg Library Learning Commons on the second floor of the Collaborative Health Education Building (CHEB).
To contact us, you can:
- call our reference desk at 902-717-5244 – our hours are 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. with voicemail after hour,
- email kellogg.library@dal.ca to request help or be connected with your liaison librarian, or
- book a virtual meeting with a specific librarian through our website.
New Hand-Crafted Table in the Ko’jua Okuom
On Wednesday, October 18, a blessing took place in the Ko’jua Okuom at the Killam Library for the recently completed hand-crafted table created by Jim and Cheryl Walsh.
The bench-style, wood slab table was designed and constructed by Jim and Cheryl, who worked with raw materials from their own saw mill. They inlaid items in memory of past elders into the many natural crevices and contours, honouring and memorializing them into the wood slabs. It was a labour of love for Jim and Cheryl, and their dedication to the project is apparent in all its intricacies and details.
“This bench-style table was lovingly and painstakingly worked from raw materials cut with our saw mill, flattened using a router and router sled, and hand-sanded with an orbital sander using 40-grit sandpaper going up to 3000 grit. Then many items were epoxyed into the natural crevices in the wood. These items reflect the lives of past elders, immortalized into the wood slabs.
Knowing the depths of the honour they bestowed for the white birch tree, we could start with no other base. Some locally sourced items were meticulously layered into the wood: a feather, porcupine quills, pebbles from Partridge Island, a variety of shells, sweetgrass, and other stones and crystals.
The lightning figures were burnt into the wood to create the patterns using a tool known as a Lichtenberg wood burner. Here 10,000 volts of electricity travels from probe to probe, determining the path the figure takes. Research on Mi’kmaq Petroglyphs determined the symbols used. Then a storyline was wood-burnt along the Lichtenberg figures on each side of the table.
The painstaking process of protecting the wood with seven coats of polyurethane was next. Once the table was assembled, it was worked on tirelessly to ensure such a heavy object as this hardwood table with cast iron legs remains solid and sturdy. Many add-ons were added to ensure the table’s structural integrity. As we were working on the middle section of the table, we both saw a Mother Crane and under her is a faint image of a baby crane… all in the natural fibers of the wood.
This truly was a labour of love. We both were thrilled to have the opportunity to do such a project which reflects our love and appreciation for all the elders, current and past. I personally leaned into their support for the artistic component of this project. We do home to make them proud and bless all that sit around her. Wela’lin”
– Jim and Cheryl Walsh
Featured in the above photo: Nancy Melvin, Susan Hagen, Nellie Renzelli, Florence Walsh, Catherine Martin, Jim and Cheryl Walsh, Elaine MacInnis, Samantha Adema, Sarah and Malachi Knowles, Sandra Dwyer, and Michael Vandenburg.
Join us for Scary Stories at Shirreff Hall
In partnership with the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia, Dal Libraries presents scary storytelling in the Victorian Lounge at Shirreff Hall, featuring professional storytellers Cindy Campbell-Stone, Dan Conlin, and Steve Vernon.
Join us for this spooky, free event on Monday, October 30 at 7:00 p.m. in the Victorian Lounge at Shirreff Hall! We hope to see you there.
Free! Two-Part Workshop: Make a Poppy Pin
In recognition of and preparation for Remembrance Day and on November 11, Dal Libraries presents a free two-part workshop to make a poppy pin.
Instructional Support Technician Michelle McDonald, a beader from Sipekne’katik, is offering a two-part, in-person beading workshop where participants will learn how to bead their own pins.
- Free! All materials are supplied.
- Sign-up required: You must attend both workshops in person in the Ko’jua Okuom at the Killam Memorial Library.
- Beginners welcome! It is also very helpful if you have sewing or embroidery experience.
- Tools to bring: (Suggested) Due to the bead size, it may be helpful to bring a pair of magnifying glasses.
When? October 26 & November 2, 10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
REGISTER NOW!