The library response team installs books, shelving, furniture, and equipment your new library. They do this when the earlier construction response team hands off a finished building.
Library response team expertise
These team members have library experience in schools, communities, and universities. They also know how to train volunteers and community members in the day-to-day running of a library.
Here’s the whole process.
- Envision. When you invite us to your community, we’ll begin a discussion to explore your needs and goals. We’ll send a design response team to meet and listen to your team. What challenges, opportunities, and priorities do you have? We’ll gather input and ensure everyone’s voice is heard. Together we’ll capture your vision.
- Design. Using insights from our discussion, we’ll ask the design response team’s architect to develop a library design that reflects your goals, community values, and cultural priorities. The design can use an existing structure or build a new space. Of course we’ll adjust the design and build consensus with you until the design captures what you want.
- Create. Once you’ve agreed on the design, our construction response team figures out the costs. Then we arrange partners, such as Rotary Clubs across BC, to supply the materials and construction equipment. We also find volunteers. In either case, we engage your community to make sure you’re ready for visitors to work with you on the building.
- Install. When the space is ready, our library response team installs the shelving, library furniture, books, and computer equipment. We work with the community members who will run the library to provide training, and support them in bringing your library to life. Then we leave the library in your capable hands.
Wrangling books and computers
Write to Read BC gets donations of thousands of gently used books from private collections, book sales, estate sales, and so on. The team of volunteers processes them.
First, the team sorts, processes, boxes, and prepares the donated books for shipping. Next, they accompany the books to the designated First Nation library. At this point, the team also brings any computer equipment to install. Then they set up the library, with members of the First Nation who will run the library. Once that’s done, the team leaves, and the library is ready for its grand opening.
Obviously, the library response team is an essential component of the Write to Read BC project, since a library can’t function without reading material or computers.
An office in a storage locker
Overall, Write to Read BC has installed two dozen libraries. Since there will always be more, between installations the team prepares donated books for the next library. Sometimes, it feels like a never-ending task because each volunteer contributes time, skill, and effort, usually in the unheated storage locker in South Surrey where Write to Read BC keeps its mammoth collection of donated books.
U-Lock donates the storage space. Enterprise Rentals helps with transport over land, and BC Ferries with transport over water. Windsor Plywood subsidises the bookshelves and tables by providing material at cost. Nanaimo Corrections Centre uses that material to make the shelving and furniture.