July Draw Winners

Thank you to everyone who is participating but a special congratulations go out to our three draw winners for the month of July. These three lucky winners can drop by the Library at any time to claim their prize.

First place with a $10.00 gift card for Dee Gee's Confectionery is Jenna B.

Second place is Emma K. and her prize of Playing with Fire (Book 1 - Little Secrets) by Emily Blake.

Third place winner is Emily M. with her Library pen.

Gearing up for the August Draw we have a first place gift certificate valued at $10.00 for Your Break Billards and Amanda's Pizza, second place is the book Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel, and third place is a Library pen.

So read lots of pages and hand in your Reading Logs every Friday to have your name entered in the August Draw! I wish the best of luck to everyone!

Now I'm Stopped in Russia

The total distance traveled has grown from 17,498 to a total of 20,662 kilometers with the addition of 3,164 pages this eight week.

So well, now I'm really on a stay over in the forests of Russia. I'm in the eastern part of the country above Mongolia at 53 N 98 E in the Tuva Republic, a Russian federal subject.

Now just a little bit about this republic:

There are over 9,000 rivers in the republic. The area includes the upper course of the Yenisei River, the 5th longest river in the world. The Saskatchewan River is the 36th with the branch the North Sasktachewan River being 123rd of 165 "long" rivers around the world.

Tuva is located in the Krasnoyarsk Time Zone (KRAT) is 7 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and Krasnoyarsk Summer Time (KRAST) is 8 hours ahead. Which means that when it is 10:00 am in Shellbrook, it's is 9:00 pm here.

Tuva has no railway yet. Shellbrook had it's C.N. Railway Station (currently our museum) constructed in 1909 and the first train came through in January 1910.

The present flag of Tuva was adopted on September 17, 1992. Saskatchewan's flag was was officially adopted on September 22, 1969.

Visiting the Republic of Kazakhstan

Well I've passed through eastern Russia to reach the country of Kazakhstan! So this seventh week, the total kilometers traveled is 17,498 as 4,095 pages were added to last weeks total of 13,403.

Kazakhstan is ranked as the ninth largest country in the world as well as the world's largest landlocked country. Landlocked means of course that none of Earth's oceans touch it's land. I think that's pretty impressive. Also part of it its western territory is considered to be in Europe while the rest is considered to be in Asia.

Kazakhstan as a country is also much younger then Shellbrook! We're celebrating our 100th birthday on November 18th and they declared themselves an independent country on December 16, 1991 which means this year they're only turning 18! Who do you know that is 18?

If you want to learn more, check out Kazakhstan on Wikipedia.

June Draw Winners

The wait is over! The prize books have arrived at the library so the draw can finally be made! (Ms. Carswell says sorry lots and lots!) Thank you to everyone who is participating but a special congratulations go out to our three draw winners for the month of June. These three lucky winners can drop by the Library at any time to claim their prize.

First place with a $10.00 gift card for Subway is Shaylyn K.

Second place is Tyra G. and her prize of Mister Monday (Book 1 - The Keys to the Kingdom) by Garth Nix.

Third place winner is Emma K. with her Library pen.

Gearing up for the July Draw we have a first place gift certificate valued at $10.00 for Dee Gee's Confectionery, second place is the book Playing with Fire (Book 1 - Little Secrets) by Emily Blake, and third place is a Library pen. So read lots of pages and hand in your Reading Logs every Friday to have your name entered in the July Draw! I wish the best of luck to everyone!

(And don't worry, the next draw will be done sharply on Friday, July 31 as soon as the last of the Reading Logs are handed in and tallied up. I'll make sure Ms. Carswell doesn't leave the Library until she does so!)

I've Crossed the Prime Meridian

The fifth Friday has rolled past with 4,168 pages added to the Reading Log count of 7,680 bringing the kilometres I've travelled to 11,848! So I've breezed through Ireland, England and other European nations and have crossed the border into Russia!

I've also crossed the Prime Meridian -- at which longitude is defined to be 0° -- which means I'm my longitude is no longer 'west' but 'east'! Because the Prime Meridian is arbitrary by international convention the modern Prime Meridian passes through the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, in east London, United Kingdom which is why it is also known as the International Meridian or Greenwich Meridian.

So to find out where in Russia I am go to Google maps and enter "53 N 40 E" and it will show the Russian towns and national forest range around me. While here I think I'll pick up a matryoshka doll, which are the Russian nested doll, and listen to some really good Russian fairytales, like the Firebird and The Little Hunchback Horse. Do you think that while I'm in Russian you could find and read one Russian fairytale for your Reading Log? All the Russian bugs I'm meeting would really like that!

Keep up on your reading! I can't wait to see where I go next!

Whee!

Well this is the fourth Friday of my project and I'm gleefully swimming in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!

4,511 pages were added to the Reading Log count of 3,169 meaning I've now travelled 7,680 kilometres. That's a fantastic amount and thanks to everyone who's gotten me this far.

Not much to see here but water and more water! And honestly that's all I want to see! So before I get too nervous centipede-paddling along and see a triangle shaped fin cutting through the surface of the water, read lots and lots and let's see where in Europe I'm going to next!

Reading in Belarus

So for this sixth week of my project, we've added 1,555 kilometers to last weeks total of 11,848 bringing the total to 13,403 and my location is the country of Belarus.

I'm not near any cities or towns at the moment, as my location is 53 N 27 E, so I'll tell you a little bit about the literature of the country I'm visiting:

Belarusian literature began with 11th- to 13th century religious writing; the 12th century poetry of Cyril of Turaw is representative. By the 16th century, Polotsk resident Francysk Skaryna translated the Bible into Belarusian. It was published in Prague and Vilnius between 1517 and 1525, making it the first book printed in Belarus or anywhere in Eastern Europe.

After Belarus was incorporated into the Soviet Union, the Soviet government took control of the Republic's cultural affairs. The free development of literature occurred only in Polish-held territory until Soviet occupation in 1939. Several poets and authors went into exile after the Nazi occupation of Belarus, not to return until the 1960s. The last major revival of Belarusian literature occurred in the 1960s with novels published by Vasil Bykaŭ and Uładzimir Karatkievič.

It's sad to learn that even though they started writing and reading here a thousand years ago, it wasn't until forty-nine years ago that they were able to read like we read in Shellbrook. We're very lucky to had the freedom to read what we want to. So give thanks and sign out those books!

Stop Walking! What Happened to Germany?

Oops. We've uncovered a math error in our calculations. You know during the fifth week of my journey I said I was in Russia? Well I wasn't there yet. I'd actually stopped in Germany!

At 53 N 12 E, right beside the town of Grube. To find it in an atlas or on a globe, it's sort of on a line between the two cities of Hamburg and Berlin.

So, now that the error has been caught and corrected, onward we go!