It may have escaped your notice, but the Calgary Public Library has a wonderful collection of comic books and graphic novels -- we call them graphix! Within this collection my personal favourite format is manga, (pronounced mah-n-gah) – or, Japanese comics. I borrowed my first manga nearly a decade ago from the Calgary Public Library, and I’ve been obsessively reading them ever since.

There are so many things that I love about this format: the dynamic art, fascinating stories, and engaging characters, in a wide and varying range of genres: romance, comedy, mystery, horror, science fiction, fantasy, etc. There really is something in it for everyone. If you’re new to the format and interested in giving it a try, here are three suggestions to get you started:

For the Absolute beginner or, if you like to read the “Funny Pages”, you might like: Yotsuba&! By Kiyohiko Azuma. This series has the flavour of comic strips without relying on the regular 3-paneled format. Yotsuba& is named for and follows the small adventures of a happy-go-lucky preschooler. The stories are short, heart-warming and laugh-out-loud funny. And although this series is shelved in the children’s area, I highly recommend this comedy-gem to readers of any age and experience level.	If you dabble in comic books, or enjoy graphic novels, you might like: Black Blizzard by Yoshihiro Tatsumi. Black Blizzard fits into the “Gekiga” tradition of manga. Gekiga, a term coined by this author, refers to “dramatic pictures” and I feel it closely resembles the Western tradition of graphic novels. If you’ve some experience with graphic novels like Maus, Blankets, or Persepolis, this might be the manga to start with. This story follows two criminals who attempt to escape their fate while discovering they have more links in their life than the chains binding them together.	If you’re a regular reader of American-style comic books, you might like: Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo. This is a disturbing psychological sci-fi series set in post-apocalyptic neo-Tokyo. The story follows two orphaned teenagers and their connection with a group of scientifically modified telekinetic children. Akira is one of the children, and his power is believed to be the cause of the first apocalypse and destruction of old Tokyo – if his power reawakens, he could cause a second apocalypse as well. When reading this series, the differences between American-style comics and manga don’t feel quite so obvious: It’s quickly paced, less stylized, and even produced in the familiar left-to-right reading direction. I urge you to give it a try.

On February 14, Volunteer Calgary announced the 97 nominees for their 17th Annual Leadership Awards in a special celebration held at Cardel Theatre. These awards celebrate the contributions and accomplishments of outstanding volunteers in our community. The awards recognize leaders of volunteer programs, outstanding youth volunteers, innovative volunteer programs, exceptional individual volunteers and more.

The Calgary Public Library’s nominees are Maureen Proctor, nominated for the Heart of Calgary Award, and Sarena Dharshi, nominated for the Leaders of Tomorrow Award. Our Learning Advantage program was also nominated by one of our volunteers in the Leaders in Volunteer Engagement Award category.

We would like to congratulate and thank our nominees for their outstanding contributions to the Library and in our communities!

Heart of Calgary nominee Maureen Proctor (left) and Volunteer Calgary staff Lori Deluca, and Leaders of Tomorrow nominee Sarena Dharshi

For most people, February is that time of the year when we all must prepare ourselves for the dreaded tax season ahead, but for all you fashionistas and Project Runway fans out there, it is also a month when the new fashion trends for the Fall/Winter 2013 season are put out on display during New York Fashion Week and London Fashion Week.

For the month of February in London and New York, big name designers from Valentino to Ralph Lauren, as well as the more avant-garde, showcase their designs to the world, while fashion magazines and blogs comment on what they see as the emerging or repeating trends of the upcoming season. From what I’ve read in the blogosphere, leather, animal print, and androgynous looks paired with more feminine elements are big trends for 2013.

While I can’t experience the glamour of New York or London Fashion Week in person, I can live fashion vicariously through the Internet, and so can you! Now available on the Calgary Public Library website in the E-Library, is the Vogue Archive which contains all issues of the magazine (US edition) from its beginnings in 1892 to the current month. Access to the Vogue Archive is available with your Calgary Public Library card and can be found in the Arts & Music section and Newspapers & Magazines section of the E-Library.

This virtual archive includes every page, cover, and advertisement that has been published by Vogue, all of which are searchable by photographer/illustrator, fashion item, company/brand, and much, much more. The archive also allows readers to browse by issue as well as by subject area.

What I find most impressive with the Vogue Archive is the quality of the images. As I was browsing through the January 2013 issue on my computer, I was blown away by the high-resolution and bright colours of each image. The only drawback that some readers may come across is that the Flash Image Viewer format will not be compatible on certain devices such as an iPad. The Flash Image Viewer allows viewers to manipulate a page such as zooming in and rotating the picture. Fortunately, for iPad users the regular Full Text format with images is also available, although the reading experience is not as interactive as it would be with Flash.

Not only is it an enjoyable experience to have over 100 year’s worth of the Vogue collection at my fingertips, but the Vogue Archive is also a valuable resource for those studying fashion or who are interested in fashion history, the arts, design and fashion journalism.

One and Only Ivan

A week ago in Seattle over 10,000 librarians, exhibitors and book lovers gathered together for the American Library Association’s Midwinter meeting in Seattle, WA. One of Midwinter’s highlights was the Youth Media Awards, naming some of the year’s best books, audiobooks and videos for children.

This year’s awards provide some wonderful books for children, not the least of which is the John Newbery Medal winner, Katherine Applegate’s The One and Only Ivan. Ivan is a silverback gorilla living in the Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. He is also an artist who is just as likely to eat his crayons as draw with them, and his charm will capture readers as surely as it does Ruby, the baby elephant in the cage beside him, and Julia, who delivers him crayons and finger paints. This is a book that is worth sharing, savoring, or reading aloud.

This Is Not My Hat

The Randolph Caldecott medalist for the most distinguished picture book for children was awarded to Jon Klassen, author/illustrator of This Is Not My Hat, the charming and sly story of a minnow with a stolen chapeau, oblivious to his misdeeds. Mr. Klassen, who was born in Manitoba and grew up in Ontario, also wrote the text for one of this year’s Caldecott honor books, Extra Yarn, illustrated by Mac Barnett.

R. Hartman (on the left) at the ALA Midwinter conferenceAnother Canadian author did very well at the awards; it was my great pleasure to congratulate Rachel Hartman in person just before she was awarded the Morris Award for the best YA book by a debut author for Seraphina. Seraphina was also voted to the lists of Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults and Notable Children’s books. Seraphina Dombegh is a talented musician living in a world where dragons can take human form, and the two have had a peace treaty for 40 years. Seraphina’s mother, also a musician, died in childbirth, and Seraphina has been keeping a dangerous secret ever since. When a prince is murdered, a dragon is immediately suspected of being the killer, and Seraphina’s unique position in the court makes her the ideal person to investigate and possibly prevent war.
Congratulations to all of the winners and honorees!

One of my favorite collections to work with at the Library is the music collection. I love finding out what new releases are coming out and new artists to check out. Last fall was a good season for music releases with new music by Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Aerosmith and many more. In the early part of 2013 things have slowed down a bit, but there are some big artists coming out with new albums early on.

Destiny's Child - Love Songs

Earlier this year Destiny's Child announced a reunion after an eight year hiatus. Of course Beyonce has been busy in the last eight years, but the other girls in the group have held their own with solo releases, although it can't be easy being in Beyonce's shadow. Love Songs is almost exculsively made up of older material, but does feature a new song by the group called Nuclear. The song is produced by Pharell Williams and I was surprised how upbeat and catchy it is. Likely the song will be showcased if the rumors are true and the group takes the stage during the Superbowl Half-time show.

Tim McGraw - Two Lanes of Freedom

If you are a country music fan then you’ll definitely want to listen to Tim McGraw’s latest release. Another singer turned actor this is his newest release after Emotional Traffic which came out just last year. Don’t be fooled by Two Lanes of Freedom when you are listening to it though. The last song on the album is called Highway Don’t Care and features Taylor Swift and Keith Urban; as an ode to Swift the song is listed as track 13 (she has of often said 13 is her lucky number), but there is no track 11 or 12.

Tegan and Sara - Heartthrob

Last but not least is some Canadian (and local) content, Tegan and Sara’s seventh album is my most anticipated album of 2013 so far (it is only February though). I have had the first single, Closer, off the album on constant replay and can’t wait to listen to the full album. With every album the group’s popularity and profile seems to increase, so here’s hoping that Heartthrob continues that trend.

OverDrive now has a fresh new face for e-books and e-audiobooks. The upgrade, which OverDrive is calling Next Generation, includes a cosmetic redesign of the interface as well as search and navigation improvements such as “One-Step Checkout” and ”OverDrive Read” (for browser-based eBooks).

OverDrive's new features and layout reduce the number of steps to find, borrow and enjoy an e-book or e-audiobook on most major devices including Android, iPad and Nook. New “responsive design” allows the mobile and desktop experience to be the same—optimized for any screen size regardless of the user’s device.

Interestingly, the re-design also includes a format choice called “OverDrive Read” which is their new browser-based eBook reading option. This option does not change the way the existing services work but provides additional functionality. You will see ‘READ’ as another choice for format (such as epub or pdf) when available on a title. Using the Read format requires a device or computer with a modern web browser (like Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari).

So far, I'm enjoying the clean layout and attractive visuals. I like the banner at the top that lists the various categories so I can easily navigate to my favourite genres (biography) or find titles I can share with my kids. And, once I've selected a category, I like the highly visible " Available Now" button so I can filter my results to items I can check out immediately.

I think I'm starting to find my way around! If you need any help finding your way around, watch this video on OverDrive's Next Generation, or talk to staff at your local branch, use the Info Chat service on our homepage, or call us at 403-260-2600.