Your Library

Once again, I`ve been wandering through the internet and found this, the most amazing (personal) library. How brilliant! How divine! Because even if you have not been blessed with a house with a spare room that can serve as a library, you can convert a closet into a magical space. A home for your most precious printed material. (No doubt even you non-book-worm friends would admire it`s cleverness.)

Source

A Few Little Free Libraries

littlefreelibrary.org

U.S. Trend of “Little Libraries” Comes North

Picture source: Google images

Books from the Colosseum

A few pics of the bookstore in the Colosseum (so nicknamed since it stood by the colossal statue of Nero).

The Vatican Library

So, this is the library in the Vatican. All kinds of amazing and wonderful books are stored there, but good luck trying to get at them. Even if you are a university student in Rome and have a note from your prof. asking to access a specific volume, you won’t have an easy time.

P. S. Check out this virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel…I suspect it’s better than the real thing.

Library of Parliament, Sparks Street Branch

I didn’t make it to Doors Open Ottawa, but I did get my hands on a few pics of the Library of Parliament on Sparks Street. So, since it is a library and in the tradition of posting all about things that you already know, here are a few of those pics:

(Doors Open Ottawa continues today.)

The Board Room

The Book Room

The building used to be the Bank of Nova Scotia and, if you look veeeery closely, you’ll be able to read the words “Safety Deposit” on the wall…the money vaults were kept down the stairs, in the basement.

The End

Octopus Books on Third Avenue, Part 2

Well, I did get to learn more about Octopus Books. I spoke briefly with David Robbins, Communications & Marketing Coordinator at Octopus Books, and this is the result:

What is Octopus Books about?

Since its beginnings as a radical newspaper in 1969, Octopus has worked to create space for alternate views on the issues of the day, support movements for social change and serve its immediate neighbours and customers alike.

The store has long fostered relationships with community movements by hosting events and promoting critical books on politics, international affairs and current events. It is known as a welcoming place for new and emerging writers of all kinds of books, including fiction, poetry and nonfiction.

It has been a hub for new ideas, books and discussions and debates on how to make our world more fair, inclusive and ecologically sustainable. Plus it has the best kids’ books section in town, with books by and about children and their lives around the world and here in Canada.

What kind of a response is the store getting? 

The response to our new, second location has been wonderful, and we’re thrilled to be in a new space where we can host larger events and make new partnerships with organizations and community groups.

What are some of the upcoming book titles or events at Octopus Books?

We have events all the time – almost weekly, these days. The next three book launches are:

Book launch for “Omar Khadr, Oh Canada“

Wednesday, May 30, 7:00 PM

Octopus Books Centretown, 251 Bank St, 2nd Floor, Under One Roof

Book launch for “A Healthy Society“

Tuesday, June 5, 5:00 PM

Octopus Books Centretown, 251 Bank St, 2nd Floor, Under One Roof

Book launch for “Warrior Nation“

Thursday, June 14, 5:30 PM

Octopus Books Centretown, 251 Bank St, 2nd Floor, Under One Roof

Octopus Books on Third Avenue

Recently, I dropped by Octopus Books…a funky, independent book store, with a socialist bent, located nearly on the corner of Third and Bank. The store has been around since the late 60’s and has opened a second location on Bank Street earlier this year. (Unfortunately, because I have not been careful, I’ve fallen into loitering only the giant bookstores like Chapters (my only saving grace is that I still shun Starbucks, most of the time) and have missed out on small, independent books store such as Octopus. I shall be wiser next time.)

Octopus Books also has an on-line book store; both the online and actual store have many unusual book titles and  book sections…Political Action, Globalization, Race, Unusual Histories…and some standard sort of sections, such as Kid’s Books, Cookbooks and Feminism. But, even the usual sections tend to have unusual titles. (I’ll be reviewing one soon.)

The store also has bumper stickers, cards and small posters (the stickers and posters generally have some kind of political statement written on them).

And they always have something going on, such as a number of upcoming book launches.

Really, I need to learn more about this place.