Ryerson librarian Jane Schmidt wrote last year about Little Free Libraries in an essay The Trouble with Twee that I found recently via William Denton.

It is a lovely piece of library advocacy that cuts to the heart of the fallacy that these “libraries,”  popping up across the countryside, should universally revered, which is tantamount to canon law inside the literacy movement. She concludes:

Do you really just want to share your old books and meet your neighbours? That’s fine – start a book exchange, but please don’t call it a library. Are you a teacher and want to use it as a class project? Fabulous idea, but please ensure advocacy for the public library is part of that learning module. Do you really want to ensure that there is equitable access to reading material and support literacy in your neighbourhood? Maybe your energy is best directed supporting the local public library or grassroots advocacy for universal daycare.

There are many ways to build community – a box of books is one of them, to be sure, but there’s more to the story than appears.

Contrast her words to the mission statement for Reading Town PEI’s little library project:

Reading Town PEI’s Tiny Lending Library legacy project promotes literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges, little houses for books, that are then adopted into communities across PEI. Tiny lending libraries will be adopted into communities from one tip of the Island to the other, each will celebrate reading and promote curbside literacy through community book sharing.

These little community magnets foster a reading culture in whatever neighbourhood they are adopted into. The libraries encourage the development of sharing networks and support universal access to a diversity of literature.

I’ve benefited twice–once when I was about to get on a train in Vermont and once over Christmas when I found a spy thriller in the box pictured below near my in-laws in Napanee–from the presence of Little Free Libraries. And I’ve done what I can to encourage their development here in Charlottetown. But Schmidt makes a strong case for the notion that, by investing efforts in these twee projects, we’re taking our collective eyes off the important ball, which is the nurturing of real public libraries, the continued existence of which is always in some doubt.

One Saturday in October I was charged with being chaperone for Chef Tony Geraci as he made his way around Charlottetown meeting people and talking about school food for the PEI Home and School Federation.

It was a rainy Saturday, and I was concerned that the rain would continue all day, so I brought umbrellas for us.

At the Charlottetown Farmer’s Market, I asked Tony if he wanted one.

“No, that’s okay,” he said, “I’ve got a jacket with a hood.”

It had never occurred to me, until that moment, that a jacket with a hood provided the same service as an umbrella.

But, thinking about it, with the possible exception of some additional trouser protection that a big umbrella might provide, I realized Tony was right: what do you need with an umbrella when you have a hood.

This may seem like an insignificant little realization, but it was one of the most important things I learned last year.

Chinese New Year’s supper at 100 Prince Street: homemade dumplings (made with the help of Oliver’s new dumpling cube) and sticky rice, with pineapple cake for dessert.

鸡年吉祥

Oliver at his usual Saturday morning spot at the market, reading Salty.

In development: an Amazon Alexa skill that delivers information about electricity load, generation and peak on Prince Edward Island.

Spotted earlier in the week on a clear winter day.

It’s unseasonably warm this January in Charlottetown. Or, rather, unseasonably warm, then cold, then warm, then cold. Today is warm. Or warmish. And it is raining. Hard. Here’s the sound I hear in my office of the rain hitting the side of The Guild.

I’m working my way through the final season of The West Wing. Tonight’s episode: The Debate.

It’s remarkable how little has changed in the decade since: fix immigration, cut taxes, tax the rich, close the loopholes, raise test scores, fix health care.

The Debate is an intriguing bit of speculative fiction: in his opening statement Republican candidate Arnold Vinick suggests they throw out the rules and have a “real debate.” Democrat Matt Santos agrees and they’re off. It’s the kind of debate I’d like to see in real life.

The episode was broadcast live in two versions, one to the east coast, one for the west coast.

One of the things they never tell you about in prenatal classes is high school exam week.

Exam week starts tomorrow at Oliver’s Colonel Gray High School. He’s not writing exams, but there’s nothing happening other than exams, so he has what amounts to a late January week off.

Alas we just learned about this two weeks ago, so any “let’s go to Mumbai!” was off the table, replaced with “um, so what’s Oliver going to do all week?!” (we’ve figured it out, thankfully).

One area where our inclusive education system could use some mind-broadening.

Crossword puzzles have always confounded me. But it turns out that my problem was that I hadn’t lived long enough to drink in all the words required to tuck in far enough to be successful.

Now it seems I have. At least at the Tuesday level.