At a glance:
Greater Victoria Public Library (GVPL) in British Columbia builds community and supports literacy and lifelong learning through their 11 library branches and more than 250 staff. They offer free access to learning materials, be they books, computers or otherwise, as well as the space, tools and expertise to explore them.
Programs of note:
The Victoria Seed Library grew out of a partnership with LifeCycles Project Society, an organization that educates Victorians about accessing, growing and preserving local food. "Victoria is a very passionate gardening city," explains Jennifer Rowan, GVPL’s Adult Services and Programs Coordinator, "and our patrons expect innovative programming from us. We knew there would be interest in a program like this." After a few preliminary tester programs, LifeCycles coordinated an initial donation of seeds and built a catalogue and curriculum around them. In the spring of 2014, the Victoria Seed Library took root and has been blossoming ever since.
Right now, the Victoria Seed Library has 340 members and 1500 other community members who have participated in one-off workshops and community events. Members can attend educational workshops, sign out up to six varieties of seeds at a time, and gather at the twice-monthly drop-in events to share findings and talk seeds. The venture is also sustainable, since members are coached on how to harvest seeds from the plants they've grown and return them to the library’s stock for others to borrow.
Community-building is a huge part of what makes the Victoria Seed Library work. New gardeners benefit from the expertise of their neighbours. Members learn about plants and Victoria's climate and geography, and practice problem solving skills together to come up with solutions to their gardening conundrums. And of course, there are the library's gardening-related books and magazines, which are displayed at every meeting to encourage Seed Library members to explore the library's diverse non-seed collections.
New projects:
GVPL is at the start of a new strategic plan (2016-2020), so it's a time of new ventures and forward thinking. One new project is OLiVe, the new Outreach Library Vehicle. It's a van with library-branded wrapping that allows the library to take books and services, like the creation of library cards, on the road. OLiVe joins a tradition of GVPL’s outreach vehicles that includes the Bikemobile, a book-filled cart that attaches to the bicycles of library staff and delivers GVPL’s resources to off-site community events.
Coming up next:
Supporting Syrian refugees is top of mind for GVPL. Greater Victoria will soon be home to both privately and government sponsored refugees, and half of them will be children. Accordingly, the library is building its Arabic collection, including e-books and Stories-to-Go kits for families, and is planning tours of their facilities for newcomers. They'll also be celebrating World Refugee Day on June 20th by hosting events with other community groups.
Want to learn more? Check them out on their website, Facebook, and Twitter.
