After a long drive from Prince George, the installation team arrived in Gitsegukla at 2:45pm on a Tuesday, ready to install a library for the school and community.
The installation took 3 days, while the school was closed for holidays. To comply with COVID-19 restrictions, the out-of-town volunteers obviously could not socialise or stay with community members. The efforts of the volunteers, including members of Write to Read BC’s library response team, were planned from start to finish.
On arrival, the library response team swung into action, with the school staff and principal Louise Ormerod. Once the furniture was unloaded, the library response team started organizing the layout of the learning centre, with its internet connection that allows remote attendance at courses and conferences..
Fetching sponsors
On Day 1, the team started early and progressed well. Total Support Services Chief executive officer Chris Gillen made a “quick” 3-hour return trip to Terrace to fetch more shelving tabs and an HDMI cable for the TV.
How Total Support Services joined Write to Read BC
For a Victoria-Harbourside Rotary Club meeting a few weeks before the Gitsegukla library were installed, Write to Read BC co-lead Bob Blacker gave a presentation about the program, by video call. One of the audience members mentioned that her son-in-law was working with First Nations to provide computers, IT solutions, and training. A few days later Bob received a call from Chris at Total Support, expressing interest. As a result of this connection, Write to Read BC now has a supplier of computers and related hardware needed for learning centres. In addition, Total Support will, at no cost to the libraries—provide online support for any computer problems that surface. This has been huge for Write to Read BC, as support for computers has always been a concern; now we do not have to worry about that.
After 3 days of hard work, the Write to Read BC team, along with principal Ormerod and her staff, completed Write to Read’s very first “version 3” learning centre.
We had some hiccups over the three days, which is to be expected, but we were able to prevail. The new library and resource centre looks great.
Preceded by planning and design
The team leads recalled the process that led to the installation of this library.
The Write to Read BC team met with Chief Willie and three council members, overlooking Princess Lake. This meeting allowed members of the team to chat with key members of the community. The evening ended with a handshake between Chief Willie and Write to Read BC team co-lead, Bob Blacker, cementing the agreement and the blossoming friendship and trust with Gitsegukla.
As one of the team members said: “This is what makes it all worth it.”
The evening was topped off with an imagineering session, lead by design response team member, Scott Kemp. This was also a new experience for the Write to Read BC team.
