Library Stuff

“Vancouver’s downtown library — a nine-storey “Colosseum” that holds 1.3 million items and covers a full block at Georgia and Homer — is approaching its 20th anniversary, and with that will come some significant changes. The downtown branch, which is known as the Central Library, is being rearranged to make it easier for people to find books, as well as to create space for a new Inspiration Lab.” (via Vancouver Sun)

“Every year the Vancouver Public Library is asked by members of the public to remove some books from its shelves, books that have upset someone’s sensibilities, and in 2013 a children’s book by Dr. Seuss was among them. There aren’t a lot of formal requests for removal and they are almost always denied, but not before VPL takes a long, serious look at the book involved. Take the Dr. Seuss book If I Ran the Zoo, for instance. It seems laughable that a Seuss book, loved by parents and children alike, could offend anyone.” (via The Province)

“Sandra Singh would not describe herself as a futurist but the Vancouver Public Library’s chief librarian does not hesitate to contradict those who peer into the future and predict the death of the printed word. Such a death also hints at the possible redundancy of such beautiful edifices as the main Vancouver Library, the ninestorey Colosseum that holds 1.3 million items and covers a full block at Georgia and Homer.” (via Vancouver Sun)

“In our technological age, many people probably would probably think of the Vancouver Public Library like an iPad — great if you want to consume content but not the go-to resource for creating it. That’s about the change with TOUCH, an event Oct. 4 that will combine interactive innovation and entertainment, giving attendees an idea of what they can expect in 2014 when the library opens its new Inspiration Lab — a space where people will be able to tell stories, edit videos, record sound and find all the digital resources they need to transform their creative ideas into reality and collaborate with others. Touch will be a lesson in libraries 3.0, and it’s the kickoff for a $250,000 fundraiser that will see 3,000 square feet on the central library’s third floor in downtown Vancouver transformed.” (via )

“A Canada Revenue Agency audit of the Richmond Public Library has raised no concerns about the $1.2 million in tax receipts the institution issued to a donor in 2011 for a blockbuster in-kind donation of 47,000 Chinese-language books, the chief librarian reports.

Greg Buss included a copy of the CRA audit report in a memo to the library board, which highlighted reporting practices the library needs to tighten up, but made no mention of the receipts issued in relation to the big donation from Kwok Chu-Lee and his wife Grace. The Sun had earlier raised concerns about the value the Richmond Public Library placed on the books for purpose of issuing tax receipts because the appraisal the library relied on contained little detail about the methodology appraiser Bjarne Tokerud used. (via Vancouver Sun)

VPL Branch Project – “Did you know that the Vancouver Public Library has 22 different branches around the city? I recently realized how few of the branches I’d visited, and I made it my mission during this summer to visit every single one of them. This is how the VPL Branch Project began and I hope you’ll join me as I travel across the city and discover which branch is best.”