What’s New in Open Shelf? September 1, 2015

What’s New in Open Shelf? is a Table of Contents of sorts. Open Shelf publishes when we have compelling new material. Every two weeks is our plan.

In this release we feature buildings, space, snow, teachable moments, business faculty, professional development, and life coaching. 

Each year the Ontario Library Association hosts the Annual Institute for the Library as Place. It’s a forum to celebrate, explore, and challenge the idea of space and design in our field. The OLA Library Building Awards are announced at this event. This year the awards recognized renovations and Annesha Hutchinson gives us an overview (with lots of photos!) in House for Books No More.

At the same conference Colin Ellard from the University of Waterloo gave the keynote address. In an audio edition of  The Interview I talk to Prof. Ellard about his ideas on space and navigation, especially as they apply to libraries.

Sometimes our space is dominated by snow (yes, I know it’s too early to be thinking about winter). However, in the latest instalment of Random Library Generator, Adele Georgievski talks with Jeremy Clark about his experiences in Nunavut. Unsurprisingly, snow features prominently.

In The Guelph Library Project I pose a challenge to Open Shelf readers: to participate in an undergraduate course about libraries and to assist students as they explore the nature and future of the public library in Guelph. Learning is a contact sport; want to mix it up with some eager learners? Here’s how.

And finally, this release of Open Shelf includes InsideOCULA for September 2015. The newsletter of the Ontario College and University Libraries Association includes stories about making the transition from librarian to life coach, professional development in a snappy way, and the needs of business faculty.

As always, let us know what you think of Open Shelf.

…Mike Ridley
Editor-in-Chief, Open Shelf
@OpenShelfOLA