So, one thing, one thing for Calgary. This is a thing that I'm doing
as part of my three things for Calgary, my husband and I actually,
and we decided that a fun thing to do in our neighbourhood would be
to install a little free library. Now, a little free library, this is not our idea.
We stole it from the web, from this lovely website called
littlefreelibrary.org
I encourage you all to go there and see the wonderful stuff that
Todd Bol and Rick Brooks are doing.
It started down in Wisconsin, it's spreading across the world, it's magic!
So, we got this idea from these guys, built this little free library in the winter time
and installed it in our front yard.
So, down at the base of our front yard, right where the yard meets the sidewalk,
we've added a red box, a little bigger than a bread box, full of books.
And we thought that when we put this out here,
that if all that happen was neighbours came by
and they screwed up their courage to take a book eventually
and maybe occasionally drop a book off
to share with each other, that would be pretty cool.
Wow! We had no idea!
So much more than that!
So, what we actually discovered is that we've created this incredible public space
right on the sidewalk, in front of our yard.
We get people coming by every day, all day long.
We love to watch them with binoculars out of the window, like birdwatching!
(Laughter)
So, we've got people coming by on their bikes, we've got people pushing strollers,
we've got kids coming by after school,
we've got all kinds of people stopping by everyday.
And they're talking to us, when Rob and I are in the front yard,
but they are also talking to each other,
so this little box of books has become a community bumping space,
a little community meeting place for everybody right on the sidewalk,
in the middle of Brentwood, and we're thrilled about that.
One of the most incredible things that's happened is
we've had complete strangers come
─ and you saw Cindy's "Please disturb" door hanger sign in the last video ─
complete strangers come ring our door bell to talk to us
about the little free library. Think about that!
Complete strangers ring our door bell to have a conversation.
It's a wonderful, wonderful ice breaker.
So, but why am I up here today? I want to talk to you about
why it's important to meet today and all the work I do
around my neighbourhood and across the city;
I see people that are really, really hungry for a sense of connection
and for a sense of community belonging
and I think coming on the heels of all the presenters today,
I don't need to tell you why that's important.
But an incredible thing I learned a couple of weeks ago was
when the Calgary Foundation released their Vital Signs survey for 2012,
they told us that only 60% of Calgarians feel a sense of community belonging.
Think about that. Only 60%!
That's not a great number and when I tell you that 64% of Albertans and 66% of Canadians
feel that sense of belonging,
we're significantly behind the rest of Alberta and the rest of Canada, in the city of Calgary.
Now, that number is going up, it needs to go higher. 60% is not great.
Room for improvement.
So, what I want to ask you all to do today is think about ways that we can all bring
that number up across the city; it's very, very important
and if the little free library has taught Rob and I nothing,
it's taught us that the small, small things can have a big impact
far beyond what we realize
and you got to put it out there and see what comes back to you.
Thanks very much! (Applause)