Write to Read BC

Tag: reading

  • Oweekeno library opens

    The library opening in Oweekeno was both formal and festive. A Wuikinuxv Elder blessed the building, and Chief Rose Hackett cut the ribbon alongside Judith Guichon, lieutenant-governor of BC and Peter Hansen of Rotary Club Lionsgate.

    Oweekeno volunteers.
    Volunteers in Oweekeno celebrate the Wuikinuxv community’s new library.

    The Chief also presented a ceremonial paddle to the lieutenant-commander of the navy ship HMCS Calgary, at a community dinner with navy crew members, in the Big House.

    Local youth then sailed the Rivers Inlet area aboard HMCS Calgary for four hours, as guests.

    Also in attendance were members of the RCMP on their regular visit to Oweekeno.

    This library was sponsored by the members of the Rotary Club Lionsgate of North Vancouver, who raised the necessary project funds. The modular building was donated by Britco Structures.

    The Oweekeno community will employ a librarian to supervise the building. Write to Read BC’s library response team collaborated with local volunteers on the selection and cataloguing of books.

    Oweekeno is on the BC coast, south of Bella Bella, accessible only by boat or plane.

    The cost of the project was $60,000. Moving the modular building by sea from Vancouver to Rivers Inlet cost $20,000, which the Jack Gin Foundation paid.

  • Nooaitch library opens

    This summer’s grand opening of the Write to Read BC library in Nooaitch was attended by Elders, band members, Judith Guichon, lieutenant-governor of BC, Rotary Club members, Britco Structures, TELUS, and a reporter from Shaw TV.

    The ribbon-cutting at the opening of Nooaitch library.
    Children hold the ribbon tight for the ribbon-cutting at the opening of Nooaitch library.

    Britco donated the modular building that houses the library. Rotary Club raised funds and its members volunteered on the project. TELUS provided the high-speed connection so people can attend courses and conferences online in the library’s learning centre.

  • Quatsino library, daycare open

    Write to Read BC volunteers joined the village of Quatsino to officially open its new library on February 7, 2017. Quatsino community leaders and lieutenant-governor of BC Judith Guichon also joined the ceremony.

    The village is on Vancouver Island, 15km south of Port Hardy. Most of its residents of Quatsino work in forestry, fishing, and eco-tourism.

    Quatsino library and daycare centre.
    The beautiful Quatsino library in ludes a day care centre.

  • Old Massett library seeks partners

    Old Massett band members talked about their concept of an Aboriginal library with Write to Read BC team members, recently. They were joined by Beng Leng Favreau of Literacy Haida Gwaii, and Christoph Neufeld from Britco Structures (now Boxx Modular).

    Britco is providing modular buildings to house a number of Write to Read BC libraries.

    The partnership now needs to find a Rotary Club to adopt this community fundraising project, so work can begin.

    The community is very excited that we are preparing to do that. A visit to the community by Steven Point, the governor-general of BC, has also raised interest.

  • Opening a library in Nooaitch

    A library opening today in Nooaitch, BC, also represented a new kind of library for Write to Read BC. The new facility, near Merritt, BC, not only offers books and recorded media. It also has Internet-connected computers that offer remote access to courses and conferences. The Nooaitch library was Write to Read’s eleventh partnership to install libraries in isolated, Indigenous communities across BC.

    At the Nooaitch opening, Chief Marcell Shackelly said the library is a tool that builds a vision for their band’s future.

    The previous Chief, Joyce Sam, partnered with Write to Read BC to start the Nooaitch project. Sam is excited to see how the band will use the new building. “It’ll get us together,” she told a Merritt Herald reporter, adding that it’s a place for children to read quietly, or for learners to study for an exam. “All the tools are there, the resources are there,” Sam said.

    The opening was a festive event. Judith Guichon, the lieutenant-governor of BC, also attended.

    The ribbon-cutting ceremony at Nooaitch's library opening, near Merritt, BC.
    Two band chiefs and the lieutenant-governor of BC cut a ribbon to open Nooaitch library

  • Libraries for isolated BC areas —CBC

    On 27 May 2014, CBC reported six new libraries have been installed in isolated, Indigenous communities across BC. Each new library adds to the 200 First Nations that already have a library.

    CBC credits Write to Read BC, along with Bob Blacker and former lieutenant-governor of BC, Steven Point.

    At its start, the project recruited retired librarians to solicit book donations. Write to Read BC soon had over 30,000 new and used books to assess and catalogue from their headquarters in a donated storage locker.

    The work is ongoing, with more libraries planned.

  • 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.

  • Yunesit’in library opens

    On September 11, 2012, the BC community of Yunesit’in, Stone, opened a library, thanks to Write to Read BC.

    The Rotary Club of Williams Lake joined the community to install and open the facility. The Rotary Club of Sechelt gave a $15,000 grant for books. Steven Point, the lieutenant-governor of BC, attended the opening.

    Point said the library is an example of what can be accomplished when people work together.

    Britco donated a 10×40-foot trailer that was used during the 2010 Olympics by the media, and transported it to Stone. The Rotary Club Williams Lake purchased a second trailer. The community itself told its partners their vision: a library and a community centre.

    Two connected modules house a library and a community centre for the Yunetsin'in community in Stone.
    People celebrate the opening of a combined library-community centre.