Library Titles
The Recreation Department has a resource of useful materials to read and view on subjects as diverse as games and activities, to fundraising, from recruiting volunteers, to effective ways to run a meeting. The titles in our library are available for loan to community groups.
Please search for information by category, and contact us to see if the book or video is available.
Library Titles
Fun Stuff
A Western Playday
Filled with lots of games and activities to help you plan your own Western themed playday, this handbook is a useful resource and a terrific theme as it has a natural attraction for everyone. Who hasn't dreamed of the cowboy/girl life?
Active Playgrounds
This hands-on guide brings the "Play" back to the playground , providing educators, recreationists and peer leaders with guidelines and instructions to introduce playground games to children. These games are equal opportunity, co-ed, and inclusive (and FUN!). Chapters include Hopscotch, skipping, Four Square, Wall and Ball Games, hand clapping games, and old favorites. Most involve little or no equipment, just children and a willingness to have fun!
Ready to Use Activities for Before and After School Programs
Over 200 exciting, easy-to-do activities for children ages 2 - 12, including arts and crafts, indoor and outdoor games, songs, science projects, healtful snacks and more!
The Outrageous Outdoor Games Book
A book for play leaders who are organizing games for groups of 10 - 30 players, ages 6 - 16. Featuring 133 games, group projects and activities for sunny days, snow shows, air rites, tight spots and wide open spaces, your sure to find inspiration in this ideabook!
Zany Activities with a Rubber Chicken: Improvisation Series - Book 1
From the Foreword: This book was written to push the frontier of what a good time is all about. It goes beyond the ordinary with hopes that it will stretch the imagination of alll who read it. Hopefully, the reader will reach for the land of the Bizarre as they incorporate the activities into their programs. Improvisation can put a jump into your program if you will allow your imagination to create different uses for equipment and spaces. stretch your imagination and expand the capacity for FUN!
Fundraising
60 successful Special Events: How to Plan, organize and conduct outstanding fundraisers
This resource walks you step-by-step through the planning, implementation and follow-up of 60 different special events, from small scale fundraisers to big money makers!
Fundraising for Sport and Recreation: Step-by-Step plans for 70 Successful Events
Filled with fresh ideas for raising money and complete plans for implementation.
Law/Insurance
Atalantic Task Force on Isurance Availability and Affordability Final Report - Nov. 2005
This report is the fianl output of the Atlantic Task Force on Insurance Availability and Affordability (Task Force) formed in Feb. 2005 after a series of informal meetings among stakeholders in 2004, with a mandate to examine the causes of insurance availability and affordability problems for commercial and non-profit organizations in Atlantic Canada and to develop recommendations for improving availability and affordability for these groups.
Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement
The Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement provides voluntary and not-for-profit organizations with a philosophical framework for involving volunteers at the governance, leadership and direct service levels. The Code outlines the values, principles, and standards for effective volunteer practices within organizations.
Grassroots Democracy: Local Government in the Maritimes
From a historical overview of Municipal government in the Maritime provinces, through a discussion of local governments and the law, this book is an excellent reference to understanding local government and how it functions. Produced by Hensen College, Dalhousie University.
Guide to Law for Non-Profit Organizations in Atlantic Canada
This guide will help non-profits increase their knowledge of laws in Atlantic Canada that relate to running an organization. It will help in choosing the right organizational structure for your group, avoid fines and avoid liability charges. This guide contains information about researching legal issues, from developing a constitution to properly preparing tax information. Written primarily in plain language, with legal jargon kept to a minimum. Published in 2004 by the Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia.
Legal Liability and Risk Management: Understanding Directors' Liability
This leaflet, produced by Volunteer Canda and the Government of Ontario, outlines the Liability and leagle duties of directors, as well as providing information on how to avoid liability through risk management.
Recreation and the law
Practical guidance for people interested in legal and practical issues arising in a recreational or sports setting, including negligence, liability for sports injuries, sports activities, hiring staff, insurance coverage, inspection of rtecreation sites, use of volunteers, and recreation management. This is a Canadian publication, published in 1993.
Understanding Police Records Checks (flyer)
Police Records Check (PRC) is a Criminal Records Check, as well as a search of the records held in the information database of a local police agency. The Police Records Check is one of the steps in Volunteer Canada’s Safe Steps screening program. Published by Volunteer Canada.
Leadership
Advocacy on the Agenda: Preparing Voluntary Boards for Public Policy Participation
Increasingly, voluntary organizations recognize that playing an active role in influencing government policy is key to achieving their missions. At the same time, government acknowledges that the voluntary sector has a valuable and crucial role to play in shaping effective public policy. Yet many voluntary boards of directors face challenges regarding how to engage in policy dialogue and often lack in the skill set to do so successfully.
In response to this need Volunteer Canada has developed Advocacy on the Agenda: Preparing voluntary boards for public policy participation to build capacity and support voluntary organizations and their boards of directors in their policy dialogue efforts.
Coaching, Enhanced Productivity and Motivated Workgroups
This book covers a wide range of topics, including chapters on time management techniques for the supervisor, the best supervisors are also great coaches, people skills - taking action for success, working through difficult situations, the supervisor as a role model, building winning attitudes, why six heads are better than one, the vital link to supervisory success, and what drives the "Whatever it takes" attitude. The premise of this book is that good supervisors aren't born ... they develop through constant practice, perserverance and dedication.
Getting Started: A Guide for Community Leaders
Prioduced by the Rural and small Town Programme at Mount Allison University, this booklet recognizes the changing role of community organizations in this world of government cut-backs. It is a guide that provides community leaders with a bottom-up approach to community development and capacity building.
Other
A Physical Activity Capacity Building Tool
The main objective of this document is to encourage community capacity building initiatives directed toward increasing physical activity and improving the health and well-being of our communities. It contains a listing of resources that are available locally, provincially, regionally, and nationally.
Active Living Resource Kit - Building Active Living in Your Community
This Community Resource Kit represents a collection of provacative thinking and innovative ideas about ACTIVE LIVING, a concept fro quality living that characterizes the way Canadians will view physical activity in the 90's and beyond (produced in 1992). The elements are: Federal Ministers Message, Provincial/Territorial Minister's Message,The Activist - a video about active living, and Building Active Living in your Community .
Assessing Self-Help Community Development Planning Tools - Fianl Report March 2001
Community Capacity buidling is a growing trend in community economic development with regard to planning for sustainable communiyt futures. This report is based on a study conducted by Mount Allision University to assess how communities and organizations in Atlantic Canada have made use of self-help planning tools for community capacity building, and the usefulness of such tools in developing community action plans.
Everybody Gets to Play: Recreation without barriers
This Toolkit, designed by the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA), gives you the resources to mobilize your community to provide barrier free access to recreational opportunities for low-income families. It serves as a guide to setting up and maintaining support systems to assist low-income families in accessing recreational opportunies, so everyone gets to play!
How to Run Seminars and Workshops: presentation Skills for Consultants, Trainers, and Teachers
A book that guides you through planning the program, selling your message and captivating your audience. Research and preparation, questioning techniques, pacing, visual aids, interest holding, evaluation and support, feedback and more are all covered; this book is filled with real-life examples, humerous anecdotes and tricks of the trade from the former head of Xerox's "Train the Trainer" program.
Integrating Young Children with Disabilities into Community Programs
Each chapter of this book offers a review of the literature research and best-practice examples for intergration, to help bridge the gap between research and practice.
Measuring Community Capacity Resource Kit
This tool is intended to help community groups with a desire to improve the lves of community members by allowing the group to reflect on, identify and build on existing strengths to make their community healthy. It contains a survey and detailed questions to assist groups in identifying their strengths and areas to improve upon. Complete with overheads and a cdrom, all the tools are there to help your group reflect on the way you do your work and figure out the community capacity of your organization and its place in the community.
Money Isn't Everything: A Survival manual for Nonprofit Organizations
Published by the Institute for Nonprofit Organizations, this book should be of interest to individuals who involved in nonprofit organizations, as it is a reference for all aspects of operating a group. It offers direction in all areas of concern to groups, from strting a group, getting an organizational structure, planning, fundraising, management, recruiting volunteers, committees, networking and preventing burn-out.
Recreation programs that Work for At-Risk Youth: The Challenge of Shaping the Future
Best-practice models are showcased of how different communities are assisting their at-risk youth.
Rising Tide: Community Development tools, models and Processses
A resource filled with Community modela and frameworks, policy issues, and practices. Provides an opportunity to learn about emerging approaches to community develpoment models, policies and practices, and how to bridge the gap between the sometimes disparate discussions of community development. Provides insights and tools to expand your capacity to make a difference in communities, at whichever level they function.
The Community Development Handbook: A Tool to Build Community Capacity
This handbook was developed to support the understanding and effective application of community Development. Community Development is one of sveral vital tools used in the building of the capacity in communities across Canada; increased development often results in increased capaacity, making them interrelated, but distinct.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Meeting and Event Planning
Plan ahead for success in your meeting or event ... learn tips on how to keep expenses under control, setting up and breaking down meeting spaces, smart food choices, gettingthe most from your a/v equipment and how to handle event emergencies.
Volunteering - A Booming Trend
Targets Canadian baby boomers and seniors. Its purpose is to educate these audiences about the overall importance of volunteerism in the community and how they can get involved. Published by Volunteer Canada.
Volunteers at Work: How Canadian Businesses Encourage and Support Volunteerism
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, this description of 24 'best case' scenarios from the corporate community may generate a lot of copying. Volunteers at Work profiles the employee volunteerism programs and activities of 24 leading Canadian companies. Highlighting the diversity of approaches and activities that employee volunteer programs can take, this is an excellent resource for companies developing, expanding, or redesigning their programs. Published by Volunteer Canada
Workshop winners: developing Creative and Dynamic Workshops
This book is a resource filled with topics, techniques and other tools to help you create dynamic, unforgettable training experiences. Written in a scripted style, guiding the reader step-by-step through different types of workshops, this book will help bring new excitement and personal growth to peer leadership training, staff development, parent education, and life skills training.
Planning
A Matter of Design: Job design theory and application to the voluntary sector
Volunteers have changed. Voluntary organizations have changed. Access to information, the expectations of funders, the way we define communities, contextual impacts of security, economy, health, environment are all in flux. How many organizations are engaging volunteers to do the same job, in the same way, that it has been done for years? A Matter of Design challenges organizations to fundamentally re-think the involvement of volunteers, starting with an examination of mission and moving through the elements of volunteer involvement. Published by Volunteer Canada.
Facillitated Discussions: A Volunteer Management Workbook
Voluntary organizations often identify the need to consult stakeholders in the development, design, delivery or review of service and programs. The Hosting a Facilitated Discussion workbook has been developed as a tool to assist organizations in collecting stakeholder information and comments in a practical way. By following the steps in this workbook, voluntary organization staff and/or volunteers can systematically capture stakeholder comments, data and develop strategies for integrating this information into program design and delivery. Published by Volunteer Canada.
So You Want to hold a Festival? - the A- Z of Festival and Special event organization
Produced by Agriculture and Agrifood Canada. This guide walks you through the steps to organizing and implementing a successful festival.
Value Added Workbook - Gearing up for Partnerships with Business
Value Added is designed for all individuals involved in generating funds and resources for non-profits. Through a series of steps that will help your organization develop successful relationships with businesses, this workbook explains how to ready your organization for dealings with business, research potential partners, develop proposals, and create a contract to seal the deal.
Volunteer Connections: new Strategies for involving older adults
This manual explores the questions and the answers to recruiting and retaining the older adult volunteer - better known as the baby boomer.
Volunteer Connections: New Strategies for involving youth
Youth volunteers bring a fresh and energetic perspective to voluntary organizations and programs and yet young people--and voluntary organizations--often report how challenging it is to find the 'right' volunteer fit. This 'how to' manual provides hints, sample job descriptions, and general guidelines about working with youth. The manual also offers strategies and suggestions to develop youth-friendly volunteer opportunities, and covers everything from recruitment to recognition.
Volunteer Connections: The benefits and challenges of employer-supported volunteerism
This resource addresses the impact, opportunities and challenges that not-for-profits face when they involve employer-supported volunteers. It is also designed to teach voluntary organizations how to understand, and respond to, the emerging trend of employer-supported volunteerism. This manual offers ideas, tips and strategies on how not-for-profits can incorporate employer-supported volunteers into their operations and consider the benefits and challenges of including Canadian companies in a vision of giving. It also presents many questions that each not-for-profit must consider in light of its own needs and goals. Published by Volunteer Canada.
Volunteer Management Audit: The Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement
The Volunteer Management Audit: Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement has been developed as a tool for nonprofit and charitable organizations to assess their volunteer resources program. This audit tool is composed of seven sections which will provide important information about volunteer involvement and management practices within your organization. Please note that it is not necessary for your organization to have adopted the Canadian Code for Volunteer Involvement in order to complete the audit. Published by Volunteer Canada.
Recruitment/Retention
Family volunteering: A Discussion Paper
This discussion paper examines family volunteering in Canada by presenting the key issues and opportunities for the voluntary sector. Published by Volunteer Canada
Playing It Safe: Safe Steps Volunteer Screening Program
This workbook has been designed specifically for individuals within public service or not-for-profit organizations who are in charge of setting policy or will be directly involved with the screening process at the national, provincial or local level, with a recreation focus. This is a hands-on, practical guide for members of organizations who want to proceed from the theory of screening to the practical application.
Rural Suppliment: Safe Steps Volunteer Screening Workbook
Published by Volunteer Canada
This resource has been developed to address the need for screening and the challenges inherent in providing screening in rural communities. The Rural Supplement reviews the Safe Steps and offers examples to help organizations with the process of screening.
Voluntary Connections: Family Volunteering - Making It Official
This manual was developed to help guide volunteer-involving organizations in the development of effective strategies to proactively reach out to and engage family groups as a new source of volunteer help. The manual presents both the challenges and the benefits of using family groups within an organization, and provides a series of valuable tools for organizations that are considering opening up to family volunteers.
Volunteer Connections: Creating an accessible and inclusive environment
Accessibility can be created through the cultural and physical environment of voluntary organizations. Guide your organization through an in-depth examination of the issues and barriers related to involving people with disabilities as volunteers. Offering useful information, practical tips and advice, this manual provides a framework to help organizations create an accessible and welcoming workplace. It also assists organizations in developing partnerships with organizations that serve the disability community. Published by Volunteer Canada.
Volunteering Works! a facillitators guide to youth volunteering
A Facilitator's Guide to support the teachers, counsellors and others who assist youth. Since many schools have encouraged their students to seek out agencies or volunteer centres directly, external facilitators and school staff need to know how to answer youth's questions about where to find appropriate placements, how to identify the skills learned through their volunteer placement and how to integrate these skills into their resumes.
Volunteers Wanted - A Practical Guide to Finding and Keeping Good Volunteers
Filled with tips and pointers on recruiting, training, motivating and retaining volunteers, this book is a great resource for community groups of all kinds.
Youth Works! Creating and developing youth-led volunteer projects
Young people can use this fun and helpful guide to get a youth-run community project or volunteer activity off the ground. All the components for a successful project are brought together in this useful resource. Project ideas, practical tips, teambuilding, winning support from community partners and promoting your event are included in this informative kit.
Published by Volunteer Canada.