Emergency Preparedness Week 2025 takes place from May 4 to 10, encouraging Canadians to understand local risks and learn how to protect themselves and their families. With all that we have seen in our province in recent years, this has become a relevant issue. The Sheep River Library, in collaboration with Diamond Valley Emergency Management and Alberta Emergency Management Agency, is hosting three evening sessions to help residents prepare for any emergency. The first session, FireSmart: Protecting Your Property from Wildfires takes place on Tuesday, May 6. This is definitely a hot topic these days (pun intended). There will be an overview of the FireSmart program, principles for property owners and communities, and a look at some case studies. The second session, on Wednesday, May 7, the Alberta BePrepared Team and Diamond Valley Emergency Management will present Be Prepared: 72- hour Kits and Emergency Planning. Come and find out why preparedness matters, how to build your own 72-hour emergency kit, vehicle emergency kits, preparing your pets, and contingency planning. The series ends on Thursday, May 8, with Insurance: Preparing and Recovering from Disasters. Information will be provided on what to do before and after a disaster strikes, disaster recovery and financial resilience, and community and insurance support resources. For specific times, please go to sheepriverlibrary.ca/News and click on the links in this month’s article.
As part of our Hollywood Got it Wrong series, two of our presenters will be available after their talks, to share about getting the qualifications needed to work in their fields. Professor Brandon Karchewski will be discussing careers in geoscience and geology after his talk on the “science” in the movie San Andreas on Saturday, April 12. Professional nurse, Kerri Alderson, will share about careers in nursing on Saturday, April 26, after her talk about the depiction of nursing in On Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. While drop-ins are welcome, please register online or call 403-933-3278 to make sure our speakers bring enough handouts.
Tech Talk Café resumes Thursdays at 10:30 from April 3 to May 8. Bring your own smart phones, tablets and laptops, curiosity and questions. Geri from Literacy for Life will help you to navigate your way so that you are getting the most out of your devices. Two other Tech classes are available from May 15 to June 19: Tech Talk Beginner (Thursdays at 10:30) and Tech Talk Plus (Thursdays at 1:15). These sessions are deigned for people starting from scratch as far as technology goes. If you need one, a limited number of laptops can be provided. Registration is required.
The final Income Tax Clinic for this year is on Tuesday, April 1 starting at 10 am. This program offers free tax filing for residents with a simple tax situation and a modest income. Maximum income levels are $35,000 for a single person, $45,000 for a couple, and $40,000 for a single parent with one child and an additional $2,500 for each additional family member. Clients will be dealt with on a first come, first served basis. If you have to wait, you can always avail yourself of the abundance of reading material, puzzles and more that we have in the library.
As the academic year draws to a close, please remember that the library does offer free proctoring services for those distance students who need to have exams invigilated. Please call the library to set up your examination time.
The Library will be closed April 18 for Good Friday but will be open Saturday, April 19 and Monday, April 21.
