Browser Briefs
Compiled by Leanna Jantzi.
Provinces declares BC Book Day
The Province of BC declared April 9, 2014 to be BC Book Day. "On behalf of our government, it is my pleasure to recognize the significant contribution authors, publishers, librarians, booksellers and cultural workers are making to individuals and communities throughout the province," read a statement from Coralee Oakes, Minister of Culture, Sport and Community Development.
Greater Victoria Public Library was very pleased to represent the British Columbia Library Association and all BC public libraries at an event at the legislature to promote BC books to MLAs and their staff. We received terrific feedback from MLAs from across the province who expressed gratitude for the role libraries play in their communities and in supporting the provincial publishing industry.
The inaugural BC Book Day was organized by the Association of Book Publishers of BC. It is hoped that this will become an annual event and will expand with celebrations across the province. http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2014/04/bc-book-day-recognized.html
Submitted by Alyssa Polinsky,Greater Victoria Public Library.
First winner of the BC Summer Reading Club Community Story Award announced
BCLA is delighted to announce that Beverley Rintoul of Rossland Public Library is the first winner of the BC Summer Reading Club (BC SRC) Community Story Award.
BC SRC strives to provide kids with an opportunity to visit public libraries over the summer and to develop a lifelong appreciation and joy of reading. The BC SRC has been a uniquely provincial program for over 25 years.
This year, with the financial support of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), the BC SRC launched the Community Story Award. We encouraged library staff from across the province to write about their observations of the effects of the BC SRC on community members. We think you'll agree that Beverley's story perfectly captures not only the deep impact of the SRC program, but also the commitment and care that library workers bring to their communities.
Beverly describes BC SRC in Rossland saying: It's a big deal here — 120 kids in a community of 3500.”
Beverly’s winning story:
All summer we had a delightful 8 year-old boy attend the Summer Reading Club. He came every time, took part in everything, helped with clean-up and almost cried when told our student was going back to university.
However, he struggled to read. We spent time finding books that were interesting but not difficult to read. And still he struggled.
Last week I ran into his mum and we talked about what fun he'd had. She said she was frustrated by the lack of improvement in his reading until the day before, when suddenly, out of a clear blue sky, he read recipe instructions to his dad without stumbling or stopping to sound out words.
She believes it was because we spent the time, making him believe that there were books out there for him.
The BC SRC is a British Columbia Library Association program tailored and delivered by public libraries across the Province. The SRC program would not be possible without support from the Ministry of Education, Libraries Branch, The Honourable Peter Fassbender, Minister, and the RBC Foundation.
BCLA extends grateful thanks to our funders and to libraries across the province that bring BC SRC to children and families in their communities.