National Network for Equitable Library Service

Belfast, Prince Edward Island, founded in August 1803, owes its existence to Lord Selkirk. Its bicentennial is a timely reminder of Selkirk’s work in Canada, which extended beyond Belfast to Baldoon (later Wallaceburg) in Ontario, as well as to Red River, the precursor to Winnipeg. Aptly named "The Silver Chief" by the five Indian chiefs with whom he negotiated a land treaty at Red River, the fifth Earl of Selkirk spent an immense fortune in helping Scottish Highlanders relocate themselves in Canada.

In the 1880s the provincial government sent out teams of land surveyors to explore the northern Ontario hinterland. By rail, canoe and on foot they and their crews cut through the forests and across streams, establishing the boundaries for townships in preparation for settlement. Alexander Herkes Telfer was a member of the party led by the Haliburton surveyor Alexander Niven, who was responsible for running the lines for seven townships around the head of Lake Temiskaming. The child of Scottish immigrants who settled in Scarborough, Ontario, A.H.

The Black pioneers (1839-1865) who cleared the land and established the Queen's Bush settlement in that section of unsurveyed land where present-day Waterloo and Wellington counties meet, near Hawkesville, are the focus of this extensively researched book. Linda Brown-Kubisch's attention to detail and commitment to these long-neglected settlers re-establishes their place in Ontario history.

During the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 17 Canadians stood by Lieutenant-Colonel Custer’s side. There were 17 Canadians present when Lieutenant-Colonel George Armstrong Custer made his last stand in the battle at Little Bighorn River in 1876. Some had served in the Civil War, some were close friends or admirers of Custer, and some were mercenaries who just wanted a job with adventure.William Winer Cooke, the scion of two prominent wealthy families in Upper Canada, became Custer’s right-hand man.

A light-hearted and touching memoir of Bill Sherk’s 30-plus-year career as a Toronto high school history teacher with a creative flair and passion for his work. Bill Sherk taught history to Toronto high school students for more than thirty years. With his dynamic, creative, and occasionally unorthodox teaching style, he instilled in his students a passion for history and learning.

Walter Stansell of Straffordville, Dan Sarazin of Golden Lake, and Henry Taylor of Bancroft did what they had to do to preserve some of Canada’s rural history. Stansell preserved the age of steam by building working models of machines used during the past century. Master canoe make Dan Sarazin (Chief White Eagle) has given many hours of his time to the preservation of old Native skills. Taylor still builds hand hewn log cabins, splits his own shingles with pioneer tools and carves reminders of early days in the bush.

For more than thirty years, Toronto psychic medium Carolyn Molnar has been helping people whose friends and loved ones have crossed over. By bringing these people proof of spirit — evidence that life continues past the transition we call death — she has comforted thousands of clients by showing them that their loved ones are still with them. In this book, you’ll read positive, life-affirming true stories about the emotions that touch us all.

Victor Feldbrill is an account of the life and cultural contribution of one of Canada’s most talented conductors. Born in 1924, he made his Toronto Symphony conducting debut at 18. He went on to become the artistic director of the Winnipeg Symphony, a conductor with the Toronto Symphony, and a guest conductor of virtually every major symphony orchestra in Canada. Feldbrill was also the first conductor-in-residence at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music from 1968 to 1982.

Short-listed for the 2010 National Business Book Award Renowned author and journalist Sheila McLeod Arnopoulos uses her talent for investigative reporting to take us deep into the poorest villages in India. Yet, far from being passive victims of their circumstances, the women who live there have joined forces and are making astute use of microcredit to break the cycle of poverty. Microcredit was made famous by Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and consists of very small loans made primarily to women for the production of essential commodities or to start small businesses.

Manitoba's Hayes River runs over six hundred kilometers from near Norway House to Hudson Bay. On its rush to the sea, the Hayes races over forty-five rapids and waterfalls as it drops down from the Precambrian Shield to the Hudson Bay Lowlands. This great waterway, the largest naturally flowing river in Manitoba, served as the highway for settlers bound for the Red River colony, ferrying their worldly goods in York boats and canoes, struggling against the mighty currents.