Survival Guide to Metro

Terrence Paris is Public Services Librarian at Mount St. Vincent
University in Halifax.

This handbook and directory, a project of the Community Services Office of the Halifax City Regional Library, is designed to appeal to young persons living in the Metro Halifax and Dartmouth area. Appeal is enhanced by several cute cartoons and breezy captions. For instance, “Hey World! I need a job!!!” introduces the section on job search techniques and sources of paid and voluntary employment. Other sections of the “Survival Kit” include guidelines to laws applicable to teens; “Dire Straits,” with capsule descriptions of social concerns like birth control, bullies, rape, V.D., and battering; and finally, a directory of sports, social, and hobby clubs. The advice is sensible, fair-minded, and non-judgmental. A questionnaire was distributed to high school students, so presumably the problems addressed are those most pertinent to the intended readership. Timeliness is the book’s greatest asset. Addresses and phone numbers will soon need revision. Concerns arise that are not mentioned in this book — e.g., anorexia, bulimia, herpes, AIDS. Counsellors, librarians, and teachers in Halifax-Dartmouth need this book if only for the directory of social agencies. Teens will probably find the sample résumé and the employment ideas the most useful of the contents. Librarian participation in the project should have ensured the provision of an index to agencies and associations.