Write to Read BC

Tag: learning centre

  • Thistalalh Memorial Library opens

    The Heiltsuk First Nation and the Qqs Projects Society officially opened the Thistalalh Memorial Library in Bella Bella on March 26, 2014. Qqs is pronounced kuks, means eyes, and refers to the community’s watchful stewardship of the area.

    The portable building that now houses the library was renovated and shipped to Bella Bella complete with shelving and computers thanks to a unique partnership between Write to Read BC and its partners. The Rotary Club led the project’s fundraising. Britco Structures (now Boxx Modular) provided the portable building. Nanaimo Correctional Centre built the shelving. London Drugs provided computers that allow the library to offer remote attendance in courses and conferences online, in its learning centre. Other supporters provided shipping, books, and volunteers.

    The library is home to books donated from around the world after the town’s previous building burned down. “We are incredibly moved by the upwelling of support from strangers and booklovers who want to help us get back on our feet and put books back in the hands of our community members,” said library curator Jessie Housty. She told The Tyee news that the library is “a gathering space around stories.”

    A reader and a computer user in the library at Bella Bella.
    Cozy, curved shelves create the illusion of space inside the portable building that houses the library.

    Housty added: “Stories are sacred things. As Heiltsuk people, we really are nothing more than the sum of the stories we have lived in.” In addition to books and stories important to its culture, the library and its learning centre form an online bridge to other places and cultures.

    Opening ceremony for the library in Bella Bella.
    Community members and lieutenant-governor of BC Judith Guichon stand in front of the Write to Read BC library at its opening ceremony.

    The Write to Read BC library has a beautiful view of the Inside Passage, the sheltered waterway between the BC mainland and Vancouver Island. Travel to Bella Bella is only by sea and air.

    The original library was built in 2007 by Qqs Projects Society, a Heiltsuk First Nation non-profit organization.

  • Fort Rupert library opens

    For Rupert celebrated the grand opening of a library, on August 20, 2013. Fort Rupert is a west-coast, First Nation community located next to Port Hardy, BC. This is the 8th library installed in an isolated community by Write to Read BC.

    This library was a collaborative effort between participating partners. Three Rotary Clubs—Burnaby Metrotown, Port McNeill, and Port Hardy—worked in partnership with the Kwakiutl band of Port Rupert. Britco Structures (now Boxx Modular) donated the modular building, and BC Ferries assisted with its delivery. TLD Computers, with London Drugs and Hewlett Packard, donated the computers.

    The contents of the library—the books, cataloguing, computer systems, and shelves—were assembled by Write to Read BC’s library response team, Carol and Barbara. In what was a truly cooperative effort, they were joined by Bonnie Sutherland of North Delta Rotary Club and Afroteck, and Marion Hunt, Carole Ford, and many other Fort Rupert community volunteers.

    Dignitaries at the opening of Fort Rupert libraru.

    Lieutenant-governor of BC Judith Guichon opened the library. Also in attendance at the opening were Rotary District Governor Ken Wilson (D5040) and Peggy, along with Gloria Wing Stadt, Bala Naidoo, Elizabeth Cheung, and Darlene Broadhead of the Burnaby Metrotown Club.