The Moose Jaw Public Library (MJPL) is mixing virtual youth programming with adult in-person activities in February, and encouraging locals to fall in love with knowledge and learning for Valentine’s.
Adult programming (in-person)
The Avid Knitters club will be meeting for two Tuesdays in February, on Feb. 1 and 15. Meetings will be at 2:30 p.m. Wear a mask and bring your needles and yarn. Everyone from beginners to veteran fibre artists is welcome. The library is unable to offer refreshments at this time, so bring a water bottle.
John Sergeant of Bridges Communications Group, a Moose Jaw mediation service, will be holding a workshop at the library on Thursday, Feb. 3 at 2:30 p.m. Sergeant will be offering guidance on family conflict issues such as estrangement, sibling conflict, and other emotional complications. There will also be an opportunity to learn to navigate disputes surrounding estate planning, long-term care options, and home care.
On Wednesday Feb 9 at 2:30 p.m., the MJPL Book Club will meet to discuss Lorna Crozier’s Small Beneath the Sky: A Prairie Memoir. The book is a collection of poetic recollections from Crozier’s childhood in Swift Current. Crozier has written 15 books of poetry, won awards and entered Halls of Fame around the world. She was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2011.
Saturdays are about Magic: the Gathering, one of the most popular card-collecting games in the world. Magic is known as the most complex game in the world due to its yearly rule updates and additions. Players build their own decks using a variety of rule sets, including historic, standard, modern, and challenger. Decks can have very different themes, such as all-out aggression, defensive capturing and neutralizing, “ramping” up to over-powering final assaults, and many decks which try to find middle ground.
Magic will be played on Feb. 12 and 26 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Challenger decks are usual, but anyone can come and try the game out – the library has spare decks for beginners.
The MJPL movie club is meeting on Feb. 14 at 6:00 p.m. to watch Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise (1995). Discussion of the film will follow. Before Sunrise is an indie film starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy as two young tourists who spend a single day together in Vienna.
Lastly, the Purely Canadian book club will meet on Thursday, Feb. 17 at 2:30 p.m. to discuss Regina author Zarqa Nawaz’s Laughing all the Way to the Mosque: The Misadventures of a Muslim Woman. Nawaz is known as the creator of the sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie, which debuted in 2007 and ran for six seasons. Nawaz breaks down the life of a Canadian Muslim woman with humour, affection, and a mild irreverence that has drawn some controversy.
Youth programming through Discord
Dungeons and Dragons for teens continues to be a draw at the library. Registration is required to allow time for character-building. If an epic adventure without leaving your home appeals to you, this adaptable, roll-with-the-punches, often hilariously improvisational game may be for you.
The game takes place every Friday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. for ages 13-19. Email youth@moosejawlibrary.ca or join the Discord server (https://discord.gg/HAs8rff) to register or for more information.
The Teen Digital Anime Club will be meeting on the library Discord server (same as above) on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 7:00 p.m. to watch The Satellite Girl and Milk Cow (2014). This Korean movie is about a satellite who transform into a girl, and a musician who transforms into a cow. They join forces with a talking toilet paper roll. Yes, actually.
Finally, on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 4:00 p.m., the Teen eBook Club will discuss Before the Coffee gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. The book tells the story of a café where patrons can travel in time using a certain seat – but only while the ghost who normally sits there goes to the bathroom. Oh, and you have to come back from time traveling before your coffee gets cold.
