Have you set your New Year’s resolution yet? Whether you use the dawn of a new year as the opportunity to create lasting change in yourself, or forget it by February, the library can help you meet your resolutions. One common resolution is to learn something new in the new year.

If you would like to learn a new language, why not try Mango Languages? This online language learning tool is free to access with your library card and PIN and it has many different languages for you to experiment with. It’s very user-friendly and teaches you in part by having you experience realistic conversations. You can find it online from our website (peclibrary.org) and if you would like help using it our tech help team are standing by to work with you on getting set up. You can use it from anywhere you have internet access!

If you are learning a language because you have planned a trip, you might be interested to know that we just added some new travel books to the library’s collection including destinations such as Caribbean Islands, Italy, Honolulu, Waikiki and O’ahu, Toyko, and more. We also added a few more general travel books to inspire you – Lonely Planet’s Atlas of Adventure: Discover a World of Thrilling Outdoor Activities, Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel: 850 Trends, Destinations, Journeys & Experiences For the Year Ahead, Lonely Planet’s Where To Go When: the Ultimate Trip Planner For Every Month of the Year by Sarah Baxter, National Geographic Guide to the National Historic Sites of Canada, National Geographic Visual Atlas of the World and The World’s Most Travelled Man: a Twenty-Three-Year Odyssey To and Through Every Country on the Planet by Mike Spencer Bown.

If you are planning to stay a little closer to home this year, you might be interested in The Hygge Life: Embracing the Nordic Art of Coziness Through Recipes, Entertaining, Decorating, Simple Rituals and Family Traditions by Gunnar Karl Gislason or Grace Not Perfection: Embracing Simplicity, Celebrating Joy by Emily Ley. You might also be interested in A Touch of Farmhouse Charm: Easy DIY Projects To Add a Warm and Rustic Feel To Any Room by Liz Fourez.

We just added Celebrate Everything! Fun Ideas to Bring Your Parties to Life by Darcy Miller. Avid Martha Stewart Magazine readers will recognize  Miller’s name as she has been with the magazine since 1992 and is described as their “resident celebrations expert.”

While you’re celebrating, you might find Paper Craft: 50 Projects Including Card Making, Gift Wrapping, Scrapbooking, and Beautiful Paper Flowers helpful.

All of these titles and many others are available at the library. If they are not at your neighbourhood branch, request them and we will send them there for you. If you are interested in receiving a weekly email detailing the latest new books, visit peclibrary.org/new and register. It’s a great way to keep up to date on the new books that are arriving at the library.

-Liz Zylstra