Write to Read BC

Tag: literacy

  • Lax Kw’alaams shelving, furniture

    Write to Read BC partner, Nanaimo Correctional Centre, has finished an order of library furniture for the Lax Kw’alaams Tsimshian Academy and Community Library. This shipment of shelves, bound for Metlakatla Pass, is now being trucked to Prince Rupert by project partner, Bandstra Transportation. Bandstra provides Write to Read BC with free trucking.

    These shelves follow an earlier shipment in late 2016. The arrival of those shelves were accompanied by Write to Read BC’s library response team and Rotary Club of Mission BC volunteers. Together with Lax Kw’alaams community members and academy librarian Naomi White, they sorted and placed books onto the first batch of shelves.

    There were many books left over, and the second furniture shipment to the academy will help get most of those books onto shelves. A third shipment of shelves is scheduled for the end of June 2017. Mission Rotary Club volunteers will pick up the shelving in Nanaimo, drive it to Port Hardy, and then take it to Prince Rupert on the overnight ferry.

    Learning centre equipment

    Also in June, Write to Read BC will ship four Hewlett Packard all-in-one computers and 4 mini pads (tablets). This will allow the academy to offer remote attendance to courses and conferences, online, from its learning centre.

    Volunteers sitting between the shelves and books of the Lax Kw'alaam library.
    An example of installed shelves in a Write to Read BC library by its library response team.

    Once the library response team has finished with the library, and the computers and tablets are installed, the library will be ready for its formal opening ceremony. It’s been operating in Metlakatla since early 2015. It is 11th Write to Read BC library and learning centre.

  • Planning a Klemtu visit

    Write to Read BC volunteers intend to visit Klemtu, BC, and are enthusiastic about the chance to meet with the community to learn about their vision and their library needs.

    The volunteers are currently arranging transportation and funding for the trip, which they want to do when the weather is fair.

    We hope our funder will be able to participate in the building of a Version 4 library—one that’s built on site rather than prebuilt. and then shipped.

  • Ditidaht library opened by royals

    The village of Ditidaht opened its library in mid-September 2014, with community fanfare and visiting dignitaries. The library is the result of a partnership with Write to Read BC.

    Cutting the ribbon were British royals, Prince Edward and Princess Sophie. Edward formally asked the permission to be on Ditidaht titled lands. Sophie was given a cedar band for her head, which had been woven for the occasion by one of Ditidaht’s eldest citizens, Sophie wore the headband throughout the visit. The royals were accompanied by the lieutenant-governor of BC Judith Guichon.

    In addition to celebrating the library, the ceremony honoured Ditidaht schoolteacher Eva Clarke for envisioning a space for storytelling, theatre, and reading aloud. Clarke, with the Rotary Club and Write to Read BC, was instrumental in getting the library installed.

    With this new library and community gathering place, the community hopes to promote literacy and learning for its younger members.

    Ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Ditidaht library opening in September, 2014 on Vancouver Island, BC.

  • Write to Read BC keeps sponsor

    In her 2013 annual statement, Judith Guichon, lieutenant-governor of BC, said she will continue to build on the literacy program developed by Steven Point, the preceding lieutenant-governor of BC.

    Point developed the Write to Read BC project by partnering with several Rotary Clubs in the province.

    Steven Point was Lieutenant Governor of BC from September 2007 to November 2012.
    Steven Point (middle) pictured in a newly installed library. Point was lieutenant-governor of BC from September 2007 to November 2012.