The newsletter’s editorial team is pleased to welcome two new members: Nolan Kelly joins us as an editor and Kristina McGuirk as the editorial board’s new student representative. Both Nolan and Kristina have backgrounds in journalism and will no doubt be a...
BCLA Perspectives

Issue 1
A tribute to library leader Brian Campbell
The recent death of Brian Campbell, a strong proponent of intellectual freedom and access to information, has been felt by many in the British Columbia library community and indeed beyond. Campbell was an early organizer of the Vancouver Regional FreeNet, a strong...
BCIT Library serves as successful, albeit unlikely storytime setting
A few years ago, when I heard that the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s (BCIT) Student Association was opening a daycare on campus, the former children’s librarian in me wondered if I could suggest holding storytimes in the library. It was a fleeting thought...
Broadband internet as a basic service for Canadians: Implications of the recent CRTC ruling
Do you have fast internet at home? In your public library? Able to watch Netflix, YouTube, or use Skype with the video turned on? Listen to a music streaming service? Game online? If so, consider yourself lucky--and likely a resident of one of British Columbia's...
A celebration of books: The Guadalajara International Book Fair
When was the last time you heard that the physical book is dead? If you’re afraid this might be true, you need to visit the International Book Fair that takes place every year at the end of November in Guadalajara, Mexico. It’s the largest celebration of writing,...
Truth and Reconciliation: The inaugural committee of the Canadian Federation of Library Associations
Something very exciting is happening quietly across Canada. Librarians representing every region of the country are working together on the Canadian Federation of Library Associations-Fédération Canadienne des Associations de Bibliothèques’ (CFLA-FCAB) first...
Readers’ Advisory Interest Group: Titles to talk about
The BCLA Reader’s Advisory Interest Group (RAIG) is pleased to share these titles with you and your voracious readers. We’re All in This Together by Amy Jones This family drama is set in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The matriarch of the dysfunctional Parker family plunges...
Libraries Across Borders: Books that Trump will never read—but you should
Libraries Across Borders celebrates seven books written by exiled or refugee authors from the seven countries whose passports were recently banned from travel to the U.S. by the Trump administration. 1. IRAN Censoring an Iranian Love Story, by Shahriar Mandanipour...
Lower Mainland meetups bring information professionals ‘Out of the Stacks’
The seed for Out of the Stacks, a semi-regular meetup for information professionals, was planted at the University of British Columbia’s School of Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS) back in 2009, after a bunch of SLAIS students started meeting up for...
Getting to know 2017 BC SRC artist Darlene Gait
Artist Darlene Gait credits her grandmother Cooper as the most significant creative inspiration in her life. “She told me that if you look into nature, you can see patterns up in the sky and on the earth, and you can also see them within yourself. “We would be on the...