Doors Open Ottawa @ the Rideau Library!

I promised some people a full account (+ photos!) and so, forthwith!

We have three (!!) events on Saturday at the library, and I am in Toronto this weekend for an OPLA RA meeting, so my plan for Doors Open is self-serve. I have prepared a historical display, involving themed posters with scans, photos, and newspaper clippings, books relating to local history, and a plexiglass display of "realia" and Ottawa Room historical books.

When you enter the library, you see this on the staircase slatwall, a welcome poster with basic info, our Art brochure (we have art from the city art collection), a bookmark of some of the local history books, and the Doors Open brochures published in the Citizen.
You then make your way into the library. The way I am directing traffic is by using red bristol board circles taped to the carpet (as above on slatwall). The idea is, look for a circle and stand on it to see part of the historic display.

The first one highlights the library itself, and includes articles highlighting:

• Our opening in 1934 (from the Citizen, the Journal, and Le Droit)
• The arrival of the 2nd ERAC (Electronic Resource and Access Centre) computer (1996)
• Our heritage designation (1998)
• The opening of the link to Rideau Gardens (2006)
• The repairs and renovations (2007-2009)
• The re-opening and 75th anniversary (2009)
  

The next display (next 3 photos) features local history of a more general nature, and includes the plexiglass display of "realia" and Ottawa Room historical books.

I ordered 8 or so copies of Capital walks (above) and that's the only thing that has already gone! Good thing I only put 4 out. Ha ha! I don't blame people; it's the book I most enjoyed when I first arrived in Ottawa.

Inside the plexiglass:
Action Sandy Hill. Walking in Sandy Hill, Ottawa. Ottawa: Heritage Ottawa, 1975.
Bonin, Normand. La Basse Ville ouest, c’etait… Ottawa: Comité de citoyens de la Basse Ville ouest, 1977.
St. Brigid's Parish Golden Jubilee, 1889-1939. Ottawa: Le Droit, 1939 (can see best above).
Ribbon from Rideau Library re-opening ceremony, May 19, 2009.
Above the plexiglass:
Circulating copy of Walking in Sandy Hill, Ottawa, Une Bibliothèque Vivante: L'histoire Tant Attendue de la Bibliothèque Publique D'Ottawa, 1906-2001, and The Library Book: An Overdue History of the Ottawa Public Library, 1906-2001 (by Phil Jenkins).
Below the plexiglass:
Books about Elizabeth Bruyère (if you follow that link, scroll down: coding issues...)



Eh bien, dans le quartier, alors.... A charming map of Bytown from the 19th century (street names! Mine was different!), hotels that are now offices, Sussex as a dirt road, Lowertown Market as a wooden barn, and the history of St. Brigid's. The books here are histories of local churches, community centres, the nuns again, and Whiskey and Wickedness thrown in for fun.

Continuing into the annex of the library, a look into Franco-Ontario culture in Ottawa, given that it was the Francophones of Lowertown who advocated for Rideau Library to be built.

Some specific info: reno time! This is pretty much the same stuff from here.

Here's where I really went crazy. Letting patrons provide feedback. Egads! Who knows what horrors await me upon my return from Toronto!