The BC Library Bulletin (BCLB) is a roundup of library-related news and events in brief. Recognizing that not everyone has time to pen a lengthy piece for BCLA Perspectives, the editors have launched the BCLB as a platform for information professionals to share short news pieces (100- to 300 words) about significant events. Have a news item that you would like to include in the next Bulletin? Send details to [email protected].
Children’s librarian Linda Lines retires
Linda Lines, longtime children’s librarian extraordinaire, retired on April 1, 2017, after 35 years of providing library services to children. Linda worked for many years at Vancouver Public Library (VPL), but her wide-ranging experience included time working in Prince George as well as Surrey public libraries. Linda is a voracious reader and enthusiast of children’s and young adult literature and her knowledge is legendary within the local library community. Children, parents, educators, and the many library professionals that Linda has mentored over the years will miss her dearly!
-Jillian Guilmant-Smith (VPL)
Retirement party for longtime librarian Yukiko Tosa
After nearly four decades at Vancouver Public Library, Britannia Branch Head Yukiko Tosa will retire in September 2017. Yukiko, who is known for her kind nature, keen origami skills, and deftness at delivering children’s programming, spent 16 years of her VPL tenure as a children’s librarian and nine as a Branch Head. “I’ve seen a lot of changes,” she says of her career. “As a part-time LA2 I got to ride on the bookmobile, and during my early years worked with a physical card catalogue system before the system migrated to the online one.” The Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable (VCLR) will host a retirement party for Yukiko at the University Golf Club on Thursday, May 25, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. ($25). More details can be found here.
-Cassie McFadden (BCLA)
LAB launches fundraiser
Libraries Across Borders is pleased to announce a partnership with the DTES Literacy Roundtable for our 2017 spring fundraiser.
The Literacy Roundtable is a coalition of adult educators working to improve reading and writing skills in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES). The group has been collaborating since 2006 to share skills, ideas, and information with a goal towards helping the community at large.
Over the coming months our goal at Libraries Across Borders is to raise $5,000, which will be distributed between four organizations that operate under the umbrella of the Roundtable:
The Writers’ Exchange gets inner-city kids excited about reading and writing. Kids read books, complete creative literacy projects, and receive individualized attention from volunteer mentors. Most programs end in the kids’ work being published in professionally designed and edited publications. About 600 kids participate in Writers’ Exchange programs each year, and all programs are free for the kids, youth and families involved.
The Community Action Program for Children (CAPC) offers resources to support and grow healthier connections within the family unit and among the greater community at large. Funding would go directly towards purchasing books for parents to take home to their families to promote literacy through play-based styles introduced at CAPC.
The WISH project aims to help women who are working in the survival sex-trade, including many who have grown up without family support and who now have children in the foster care system. WISH strives to make sure that all women have access to opportunities to make free, healthy and positive choices.
Finally, the Oppenheimer Park Tech Café gives residents of the DTES a chance to seek technical support for their electronic devices as well as providing an opportunity to improve general tech literacy. The café takes place every Friday afternoon at Oppenheimer Park.
To donate, simply head to the BCLA donations page, select Special Projects and type Libraries Across Borders. We will do the rest!
Stay tuned for upcoming fundraising initiatives and if you’d like to get involved or become a member of the board, email us at [email protected]
Thank you for your interest.
-Nolan Kelly (LAB)
Project Coordinator, BCLA