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Check This Out: You say you want a resolution?

Anne DeGrace is the Adult Services Coordinator at the Nelson Public Library. Check This Out runs every other week.
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The New Year’s baby is an optimistic creature. Leaping into 2019, she embraces the hopefulness we all feel: This year we will get fit, be kinder, manage our money better, find happiness, save the planet.

Whatever your New Year’s resolutions, the library offers opportunities to appease those metaphorical new-year-heralding ankle-biters. So before you start your own list, take a look at ours and see if you can tick off some boxes (perhaps some you hadn’t even thought of).

Develop better understanding: Join us in a Blanket Exercise on Thursday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. Developed with Indigenous partners by KAIROS, the Blanket Exercise has become an important tool to explore shared history between indigenous and non-indigenous people in a safe, welcoming environment. We’re collaborating with Touchstones Nelson to host community leaders Toni Appleby and Donna Wright as they take us through the Blanket Exercise, an opportunity for a clearer take on where we’ve been and where we want to go as we live together on this land we all call home.

Reach beyond our borders: On Thursday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m., join us for a presentation by Dorje Dolma about her book Yak Girl: Growing Up in the Remote Dolpa Region of Nepal. Sponsored by the Altitude Project (which raises funds for education in Nepal), this presentation offers a window into a place most of us will never see.

Develop resilience: Be a better parent with help from a series of free, drop-in parenting workshops at the library. Parenting 101 follows Gordon Neufeld’s mini-series, facilitated by parenting educator Liz Amaral. The series runs four consecutive Fridays beginning Jan. 25 from 10:30 a.m. to noon and explores themes of attachment, polarization, frustration, and counterwill.

Get ready for the next chapter: Get a grip on retirement planning with help from coach Wendy Lacroix on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. It’s a free drop-in, and yes, everything old is new again.

Get your house in order: High circulation of the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo suggests that we have aspirations to de-clutter. Take it a step further with Feng Shui consultant Charlyne Chaisson’s presentation about her beautiful new book Elemental Feng Shui on Thursday, April 11 at 7 p.m.

Strengthen ties: with Mother-Daughter Book clubs on the last Tuesday of each month. Teen services coordinator Melodie Rae Storey ensures there are plenty of copies on hand, and because we’re talking teens, there’s pizza. Bring your smaller ones to Baby Time, Family Storytime, Playgroup, and Lego Club; meet other parents while the kids make new friends.

Build community: The New to Nelson Potluck brings people together: on the last Friday of each month bring a dish to share and join us downstairs at 5pm. Don’t let the title fool you: this is for people who are new to Nelson AND people who want to meet the new people! Kids are welcome, and there’s always a short community presentation. On Jan. 25 the Civic Theatre is our guest presenter.

Develop empathy: Learn someone’s story. Join us for the Human Library in fall 2019 and check out a real human being for a 25-minute conversation. Last year’s Human Books came with titles such as Dyslexia in the Real World, Homeless to Homeowner, and Non-binary World-Bridger, among others.

Get creative: Learn about World Music with John Galm on Thursday, March 14 at 7 p.m., then try to make some yourself on one of our 10 colourful ukuleles you can take home for three weeks! Watch for classes in the new year.

Self-improvement is easy through our online opportunities, including language-learning through Pronunciator and everything-learning through Gale Courses. There’s more, but that should be enough to keep our New Year’s baby happy, because whatever you do, 2019 holds 365 days of promise.

Anne DeGrace is the Adult Services Coordinator at the Nelson Public Library. Check This Out runs every other week. For more info on Library programs go to nelsonlibrary.ca.