All posts by Adam

About Adam

The Digital Literacy Specialist with VPL, Adam never has enough shelf space for his board game collection, wall space for his photographs, or stomach space for his baking. Once he’s got a book in his clutches (preferably a fantasy, or humorous non-fiction one) absolutely nothing else is getting done that day. Working in a library is a blessing and a curse to his free time.  |  Meet the team

MakerFest 2025 is coming at Vaughan Public Libraries!

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The Epilog laser engraver in action. See it in person during MakerFest, or by paying a visit to Pierre Berton Resource Library's Make It! space.

Guess who’s back?1 If you’re a fan of my general nerdery, this post might scratch that itch a little bit, but it’s not my standard style. I’m posting today to let you all know about Vaughan Public Libraries’ MakerFest on Saturday, September 20, 2025, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Pierre Berton Resource Library. MakerFest will be a celebration of creativity, innovation, and hands-on learning that takes place in our creation spaces at Vaughan Public Libraries, as well as within the broader maker community.

This event will feature:

  • A Maker Market for which we are currently recruiting vendors until August 31. You can apply here. Tables are free this year, and we’re seeking a diverse range of makers.
  • Demos of the Epilog laser engraver/cutter and Cricut machines with our Make It!2 Staff.
  • Headshots and voice analysis with Create It!3 equipment and staff. Find out if you have a voice for podcasting!
  • Build and play with Learn It!4  Our Rigamagjig Jr, and iPads with fun and educational apps will be available for drop-in play.
  • A talk and demonstration from VEX robotics club Caution Tape Robotics.
  • A musical performance and talk from Pink Moth, who has used our creation spaces to help create his albums.
  • A button-making station with special MakerFest images.
  • And more! I’ll be editing this post as we get closer to the 20th, so check in here once in a while. You can also check the event page on our website or watch for our marketing for further updates.
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Untitled Blog Post

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The goose from Untitled Goose Game, hiding under a table and holding a butter knife in its beak.
The Goose from Untitled Goose Game ©House House

It’s a lovely day in the library, and you are a horrible goose. Wait… something about that doesn’t seem quite right. Ah! It’s the redundancy of ‘horrible goose’ that’s bothering me. Goose alone would get the point across just fine. For anyone wondering what I’m on about, way back in the before-times of 2019, Aussie indie game developer, House House, released a silly little game about a goose. A goose that terrorizes a small English village with slapstick antics, copious honking, and, occasionally, a butter knife. The butter knife image (and the game in general) went on to become a bit of an internet sensation, so you’ve probably seen that goose on the left before. Likely combined with the ‘peace was never an option‘ meme. If you haven’t played the game, it’s a simplistic puzzler with a great premise and a soundtrack that reacts to your antics in real-time, using piano music —specifically, rearranged versions of Debussy’s Preludes. Here’s a trailer to hear it in action. We’ve got the Switch and PlayStation 4 versions on our shelves.

But wait, if that was the first paragraph, what’s this blog post actually about? Make your guess, then click ‘Read More’ below to find out.

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Judging a Book by its Title: Romantasy/Sci-fi Edition

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The cover of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

It’s possible I had too much fun with the last one of these, so I’m back with another one. The original intent was just to keep it to pure fantasy books because I read a lot of fantasy, but many of those titles don’t strike me as silly or on-the-nose enough to run with for my fake blurbs. I suppose I could pick many of Sir Pterry’s books, but they’re invalidated by the fact that I’ve either read it or know enough of his style to potentially have a decent guess as to what he was getting at. Branching back into romance got me marginally closer to the kinds of titles I need to really make a post like this work. Also, full disclosure: I picked a sci-fi book because it has the exact style and title I’m looking for. Also, unless it’s hard sci-fi, there are a lot of similarities between fantasy and sci-fi anyway.

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