Month: February 2017

International Mother Language Day

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Is your mother language shown on the display in the City campus Atrium?

 

The language you speak is part of who you are so here at Ara we like to celebrate that. International Mother Language Day (IMLD) is celebrated globally on the 21st of February to promote cultural and language diversity.

The date represents the day in 1952 when students demonstrating for recognition of their language, Bangla, as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan, were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, the capital of what is now Bangladesh.

United Nations. (n.d.). International Mother Language Day [Website]. Retrieved February 20, 2017, from http://www.un.org/en/events/motherlanguageday/ , para. 4

People celebrate in many different ways including festivals, online blogs, conferences and more. This year UNESCO are holding a celebration on the theme of “Towards Sustainable Futures through Multilingual Education” in Paris.

Here at Ara Library we will be sharing some videos on our Facebook page of staff and students speaking their mother language – please check it out and add your own video or comment in your mother language.

We also have an area in the library at the City and Timaru campus libraries for you to show us where you’re from, and to share a greeting or comment in your mother language.

 

 

 

 

 

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The three Rs

paperThis is the paper that was left in the printers in the library over just two days! It’s nearly 500 sheets, and it’s all wasted. Here’s what Shaun Bowler, Ara Sustainability manager, has to say:

Some people here at Ara think that the three R’s mean ‘Reading, ‘Riting and ‘Rithmetic’. In my book these things mean ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ – IN THAT ORDER! What this means we need to reduce our use of paper (think before you print), and if we can’t do that, re-use what paper we do use. Recycling should be the last resort, because the paper that comes from that will never be the same quality – most recycling is in effect ‘downcycling’. The opportunity for paper reduction is huge – every year the world produces more than 300 million tons of paper. Printing and writing papers typically found in a school or office environment such as copier paper, comprise the largest category of paper product consumption. Ara is part of the problem but we can also be part of the solution – and it can save money!

To help save paper, and your print balance, try these tips:

  • Use FollowYou print and collect your printouts from any printer.
  • Download and save documents from Moodle before trying to print them.
  • If printing multiple copies, try one first to make sure it’s right.
  • If it doesn’t print immediately, wait a bit before trying again – it may just be slow.
  • If you’re not sure, ask a librarian before you print.

Help us reduce our waste paper.