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Some in-branch programs require registration with your library card. Please log in with your library account or follow this link to apply for a card online. You can also apply for a card in person at any of our 33 locations.

  • Library and Archives Canada

    Saturdays, Sep 14, 2024 - Sep 14, 2024
    1:00pm
     minutes

    3 sessions remaining

    Join the Three Sisters Artist Collective, selected artists for Ādisōke, for an hour of creativity and storytelling. They will share how stories from Algonquin territory about birchbark baskets have deeply informed their artistic practice. Participants will then have the unique opportunity to apply these learnings in a hands-on workshop by designing and creating their own paper birchbark basket, inspired by traditional Algonquin craftsmanship and our relationship with the land.

    This program is a preview of the hands-on, creative and inclusive programming that will be offered at Ādisōke, future home of OPL’s Central Branch and LAC’s public services. Have a look at the Ādisōke website to see the spaces and vision for Ādisōke.

    The Three Sisters Artist Collective is composed of Claire, Emily and Mairi Brascoupé, three sisters who collaborate in the public art space. Their multidisciplinary work spans digital and analogue techniques, including birchbark biting, beadwork, printmaking, digital illustration, animation and sculpture. They blend traditional art forms, passed down through generations, with contemporary materials and methods. Their collective practice aims to introduce Algonquin design and knowledge into public spaces, fostering engagement, questions, understanding, connection and inclusion. Claire, Emily and Mairi are members of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg and reside in Ottawa on Algonquin territory.

    Don’t miss this chance to meet the Brascoupé sisters, who are responsible for the window art at Ādisōke. Join them to learn to make a birchbark basket and listen to stories about the significance of basket patterns.

    Workshops are being offered at 1:00 p.m., 2:30 p.m. (Family Session), and 4:00 p.m.

  • Fairmont Chateau Laurier, Adam Room

    Wednesday Sep 18, 2024 at 8:00pm
     minutes

    Former Chief Justice of Canada and #1 bestselling author of Full Disclosure, Beverley McLachlin, discusses her new novel Proof, a razor-sharp thriller featuring defense attorney Jilly Truitt as she defends a high-profile mother accused of kidnapping her own child.

    In partnership with The Ottawa International Writer's Festival. Hosted by Charlotte Gray. 

    Get your free tickets by clicking this link

    Book sales on-site will be handled by Perfect Books. 

  • a beaded orange shirt on a background of birch bark overlayed with green and orange
    Library and Archives Canada - Pellan Room

    Monday Sep 30, 2024 at 7:00pm
     minutes

    QUOTE: “As Tanya Talaga investigates the story of her great-great grandmother's fate, she lays bare the dark history of a nation. This is about a Canada that you do not know, but one we all must confront. The Knowing is harrowing, illuminating and necessary reading.” — Carol Off

    Presented in partnership with the Ottawa International Writers Festival and Library and Archives Canada.

    We are honoured to present an evening with Tanya Talaga, the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of Seven Fallen Feathers. Her new book, The Knowing, is a riveting exploration of her family’s story and a retelling of the history of the country we now call Canada.

    For generations, Indigenous People have known that their family members disappeared, many of them after being sent to residential schools, “Indian hospitals” and asylums through a coordinated system designed to destroy who the First Nations, Métis and Inuit people are. This is one of Canada’s greatest open secrets, an unhealed wound that until recently lay hidden by shame and abandonment.

    Deeply personal and meticulously researched, The Knowing is a seminal unravelling of the centuries-long oppression of Indigenous People that continues to reverberate in these communities today. 

    Hosted by Joy SpearChief-Morris.

  • Decorative - photo of a baby
    Meeting Room B

    Wednesdays, Oct 02, 2024 - Nov 06, 2024
    10:30am
     minutes

    6 sessions remaining

    Pregnancy Circles offer pregnant individuals a place to learn how to care for your baby and to talk about concerns about your pregnancy with a Public Health Nurse. It is also an opportunity to connect with others and share experiences.

    Specific topics will include:

    • Being pregnant
    • Healthy eating and active living
    • Safe pregnancy
    • Birth basics
    • Feeding your baby
    • Preparing for parenthood
    • And more!

    The program at the North Gloucester location is only being offered in English. The program is offered in 2-hour sessions, weekly, for 6 weeks. All sessions are available at no cost!

    Due to limited space, the sessions are currently for pregnant individuals only.

  • Centre des arts Shenkman

    Wednesday Oct 09, 2024 at 7:00pm
     minutes

    La création d'un livre pour enfant vous semble enfantin? Mais comment communiquer l'émotion, comment développer des personnages et une intrigue, comment inspirer et captiver les enfants en dix mots, cent mots ou six cents mots? 

    Comment, en tant qu'adulte, pouvons-nous créer une voix et une perspective d'enfant? 

    Dans cet atelier nous examinerons le pouvoir des images et des mots dans la littérature pour enfants. 

    Nous explorerons l'importance de la lecture pour enfants qui leur ouvre une fenêtre sur le monde et comment l'accès à une bibliothèque publique peut encourager et enrichir cette possibilité. 

    Nous ferons un court exercice d'écriture sur place pour revisiter l'émotion et l'émerveillement de l'enfance. 

     Célébrez avec nous la joie de lire à l’occasion du mois des bibliothèques. 

     Marie-Louise Gay est l’auteure et l’illustratrice de plus de soixante-dix albums pour enfants, entre autres, la série Stella et Sacha, Caramba, Un Million de Questions!, Mustafa et Où est Sydney?Les trois frères, Zig et Zag et L’arbre de Lily. 

    Ses livres ont été traduits dans une vingtaine de langues. Ses histoires ont été adaptées pour le théâtre, la marionette et pour une série télévisée: Stella et Sacha. 

    Ses livres ont remporté plusieurs prix parmi lesquels, le Prix du Gouverneur Général(deux fois), le prix M. Christie, le prix Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz, le Prix Alvine-Bélisle, le prix Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award. Elle a été deux fois finaliste pour le Prix Hans Christian Andersen et le Prix Astrid Lindgren. www.marielouisegay.com

    Le coin du livre sera présent à l'événement et vendra les livres de Marie-Louise Gay. 

  • Meridian Theatres @ Centrepointe, 101 Centrepointe Drive

    Monday Oct 21, 2024 at 7:00pm
     minutes

    Steve Patterson: Keynote Comedian

    Celebrating the joy of reading and the love of laughter 

    October is Canadian Library Month, where libraries across Canada raise awareness of the valuable role libraries play in Canadians’ lives. This year, Ottawa Public Library is embracing the theme of Joy of Reading/Joie de lire, with comedian and author, Steve Patterson, whose joie de vivre’ is correlated to his joie de lire. As host of The Debaters, now in its 19thseason on CBC Radio One, Steve Patterson brings his award-winning comedy to our keynote stage with a one-of-a-kind performance. Incorporating material from current events, his extensive comedy travels across Canada and the world, and his experience of being an older dad to two young (and vibrant, story-loving) daughters, Steve Patterson: The Keynote Comedian promises to make our Ottawa Public Libraraudience laugh, think, or at least think about laughing while we collectively share in our joy of reading. 

     About the speaker: 

    Steve Patterson is an award-winning comedian with over two decades of international performance experienceBest known as host of the long-running hit radio show and podcast The Debaters and theatre show The Debaters LivePatterson’s brand of comedy is best described as honest and erudite combining well-crafted writing with unparalleled off-the-cuff wit. Twice named Canada’s Best Male Stand-Up at the Canadian Comedy Awards, Steve has also taken his award-winning humour to the literary world with The Book of Letters I Didn’t Know Where to Send and Dad Up!.  

    The Spaniel's Tale will be at the event selling Steve Patterson's books and a catered selection of titles that celebrate reading and libraries.

    Free Admission. 

    For Tickets and Ticketing Questions: