The library has so much more to offer than just books, especially given that there are a bunch of fun courses you can take — and they’re free!
Whether you are a parent looking to help your kids out with school or are an adult looking to brush up on your language skills, there is something for everyone.
Here are six of the best courses available for free with your Calgary Library card.
Rosetta Stone
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Whether you want to brush up on what you already know or are trying to learn a new language entirely, you can do so with Rosetta Stone from the Calgary Library.
Anne Marie Fryer, the manager of digital resources with the Calgary Library, says it is a great resource to cover everything you need to learn a new language.
“It does have the focus either on reading and writing, and it also can be a focus on speaking and listening. I think we see people using it when they’re travelling and they want to acquire some vocabulary for their destination or simply just want to learn a language but also practice learning English,” Fryer explained. “Over the last year, there’s been about 6,300 hours of use. The primary use there has been number one French, and then the next one that was most popular was English.”
Libby app
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The Libby app has several great resources. You can check out eBooks as well as audiobooks. Fryer said this is their most popular free resource.
“We are expecting to do over four million checkouts this year, so we’re really into that. That’s something that has lots of information, and I can’t think of a time in the winter in Calgary, like the days that we’re having here, that could be any better for at-home learning.”
But there are more than just eBooks on the app — it also offers a video streaming service called Kanopy. You can learn about a wide range of topics with episodic videos that are about 30 minutes in length. There are science courses, some cooking classes, and history lessons.
Code Combat
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If you want to learn the basics of coding, the Calgary Library has you covered with the Code Combat game. Fryer says the game was meant for kids, but it helps everyone.
“We brought it in primarily for kids learning to code or young people learning to code, but in actual fact, it doesn’t matter what your age is if you’re learning to code,” she explained. “It’s for JavaScript and Python. And so it’s just a really introductory tool in the sense that it’s kind of a game, and it has about… 500 levels in it.”
Fryer admitted she’s tried it a few times but has stalled, so it’s definitely not just for kids.
Brainfuse/Solaro
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The Calgary Library offers a few resources to help students. One is Brainfuse, which is connected to the Alberta curriculum from kindergarten to Grade 12. But according to Fryer, it is not just for kids.
“It also has college prep in it, and it also has adult use. So I think in October alone, we had over 3,000 people using Brainfuse… it also has online tutoring, which we offer between 2 and 11 pm every day, and those are really heavily used. So we’re really appreciative. That was a huge benefit during the time that we were closed,” Fryer says, referring to the lockdowns throughout the pandemic.
Fryer says the average time for a tutoring session is 15 minutes. There is also an option to learn chess on the service.
Another great resource is Solaro, which is also connected to the Alberta curriculum. You can take practice tests and work on different unit exercises, all while customizing them to your needs. Fryer says Solaro was used 4,000 times in October.
Cypress Résumé
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This has been a hit at the library since it was released in April. It helps you create a professional quality résumé in three steps. This is a good starting place for everyone looking to find themselves their ideal next job.
LOTE4Kids
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Read and listen to picture books in over 50 languages, including English, French, Spanish, Ukrainian, Punjabi, Tagalog, Arabic, German, and Russian. The library says there has been a spike in Ukrainian learning in the last few months.
All of these courses and resources are included with a Calgary Library card and are available online now.
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