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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday February 14, 2007 - 3 Oakville librarian is tops in Ontario Oakville Public Library's Director of E-Services Brian Bell has been named Public Librarian of the Year. The announcement came at the annual Public Library Awards dinner in Toronto on Feb. 1. At the dinner, held in conjunction with the Ontario Library Association Superconference, Bell received the prestigious W.J. Robertson Medallion for his outstanding work. "There is nothing more rewarding or affirming than to have this kind of recognition extended to you by your peers," said Bell. "I was especially gratified to have the opportunity to acknowledge and thank the many colleagues and mentors who have supported me throughout my career. I feel extremely fortunate to have had the encouragement and understanding of Eleanor James, our chief librarian and of the many team members within Oakville Public Library and in our partner libraries throughout Halton." The W.J. Robertson Medallion is presented by the Ontario Library Association to a public librarian who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the advancement of public library service in Ontario. Bell has been actively involved with the library service for more jurisdiction. "In the age of the World Wide Web, libraries need to play a central role in a whole web of information and to do that we need to partner with all types of cultural and educational institutions throughout Oakville and beyond," said Bell. "I found it particularly fulfilling to be able to play a role in facilitating these partnerships throughout Halton, Ontario." Eleanor James, CEO of the Oakville Public Library, described Bell as an invaluable member of her staff. "He never lets difficulties stand in the way for long. He is an adept teacher, explaining complicated aspects of technology in a way that is useful to the discussion at hand," she said. Recently appointed Director of AlouetteCanada, Bell is now charged with fostering collaboration and partnership among libraries, museums, archives, historical societies, art galleries, broadcast and publishing establishments and individual researchers and collectors across Canada. "The goal is to help these organizations digitize their rich collections of material of interest to Canadians," said Bell. LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER AWARD-WINNING LIBRARIAN: Brian Bell, the director of e-services at the Oakville Public Library, shows the W. J. Robertson Medallion he was awarded as Ontario's Public Librarian of the Year. than 27 years, including roles in founding and being a contributing member of several local, provincial and national library and community groups. "Public libraries ensure that everyone has equal and free access to information in a safe and welcoming environment. Libraries are there for us at every stage of our lives and fulfill our needs for recreation and lifelong learning," said Bell. Information sharing among libraries is a theme that has followed Bell throughout his career. As a sales representative for UTLAS International, Bell worked with teacher-librarians across the country to bring machine-readable cataloguing to all schools for efficiency and enhanced access. This allowed school boards to share their materials across their Oakville Images makes town's history alive and accessible By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF A glimpse of Oakville's history is now only a few keystrokes away thanks to a locally designed Internet site. At a presentation held at the Oakville Public Library's Central Branch last Thursday, library officials announced the launching of Oakville Images, a site dedicated to displaying the photos and images of Oakville's past. Recently crowned Public Librarian of the Year, Brian Bell, outlined the purpose of the project. "What we've worked to do is create a sense of online exhibitions that can be up online permanently. It does no damage to the original content. It doesn't get worn or torn through constant usage. People can discover that it's there without getting in a car and driving downtown or halfway across the country," he said. "You know that old saying, `a picture is worth a thousand words,' well they're worth far more than that." Bell showed just how alive the Oakville Images site could make Oakville's history during the presentation when he entered a portion of the site called Oakville at War. From there Bell called up a DAVID LEA / OAKVILLE BEAVER HISTORY IN 3D: Ted Davis wears 3D glasses to look at some of the three-dimensional historical pictures on the Oakville Images site. video interview of local World War II veteran Harry Barrett who captivated the audience with a story about a close call he had during the war. The video interview provoked roaring laughter from the audience as Barrett described an incident where as a soldier in Germany he was scouting a town road when he was confronted by a number of surrendering German soldiers. Barrett was stunned to find that the Germans had been preparing to shoot him, but decided not to because they believed that anyone brazen enough to walk down the middle of a road in an enemy village must have considerable backup. Besides having the living speak about history, the site housed historical items, as well. Digitized images of postcards and letters from the war appear on the site so real and detailed that it was as though one could reach out and touch them. Bell, hearing the murmurs of interest from the crowd, assured them that the site had much more to offer. "This is just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more in this database," he said. Bell showed a seemingly endless number of old black and white photographs of parades, community events, family reunions, buildings and people in clothes from nearly a century ago. Historical librarian, Elise C. Cole, explained some of these photos were taken before the creation of Canada itself. "Right now our oldest dates back to the 1840s and 1850s," she said. Some of the photos show city streets, now congested with traffic, empty of all but the odd horse. Another shows a group of white clad sailors gathered around the guns of a WWII warship. While local historical societies and museums were approached, material for the site did not only come from Oakville, but from all across Canada. "The Glenbow Museum in Calgary has donated a whole set of images about the HMCS Oakville," said Bell. "So, it's kind of cool that across Canada through all this collaboration we can start to find content about our town, our people and where they've moved on to." Bell says this project has been over a decade in the making. Presentation viewers, no doubt, appreciated the time and care that was taken on the site when Bell revealed the site's 3-D portion. At Bell's request attendees put on the 3-D glasses they had been given earlier in the evening. Cole then clicked on a heading marked Oakville sterioviews and called up an image of sailing yachts in Oakville harbour. The photo is dated 1908. An `Aww,' of amazement emerged from the red and blue glasses wearing crowd as the small rowboat in the foreground of the picture appeared to pull away from the screen. By all accounts the presentation was a hit with those who came to see it. "It was an excellent presentation," said Dave Fenwick. "I've submitted some pictures myself and I'm really impressed with what they've come up with. It's exciting to see and there's lots of opportunity to expand it." "I think it's great. I think it's a great opportunity for Oakville to share the history of the town. A lot of people will be able to see this information who otherwise wouldn't be able to see it. I know a lot of people bring laptops into the retirement homes and entertain people that way," said Bob Banting. "These images help not only tell the story of Oakville for the people who live here but also the people who used to live here and the people who are thinking about moving here," said Bell. "It's a great way to promote Oakville." To visit Oakville Images go to http://images.oakville.halinet.on.ca or simply Google Oakville Images and select the first option.