July 2022

Julie, a circulation supervisor at the Nanaimo North branch, smiles as she holds up the Adult Summer Reading Challenge BINGO card. She's wearing large, round pink, blue, yellow and white sunglasses and leaning against a book shelf.

Take the Adult Summer Reading Challenge 

Adult Summer Reading Challenge is your ticket to fun and prizes this summer.

The challenge launched on June 28 and runs until August 31. To start, download our printable BINGO sheet, pick up material at your local branch or play online. Then, complete BINGO squares, lines or even the whole card for the chance to win a $100 gift card to a bookstore of your choice and other cool prizes.

Click on the link below for details and find great recommendations to help you complete your BINGO card.

Tell me more
A teenager, with a round beige hat, smiles as she holds black binoculars and peeks through paper jungle foilage. Library books are in the background.

Coming soon: Teen Summer Challenge 

Explore the jungle world of VIRLmanji during Teen Summer Challenge.

Beginning July 5, teens aged 12 to 18, can complete fun activities on our VIRLmanji activity board to enter to win prizes like a Canon Ivy Mini Photo Printer with extra paper, AirPods, a JBL Go2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker, a jungle-themed home escape room kit and books!

This fun summer adventure ends August 31. 

Get started

Five smiling elementary-school students pose in a school hallway. Two students are kneeling and one is holding up a wood trophy. Three are standing and one is holding a light blue neck ribbon from the Reading Link Challenge.
Four smiling students stand in front of green foilage. Three of them are holding a wood trophy for winning second place in the Reading Link Challenge.

Congratulations to our Reading Link Challenge winners!

Comox Valley's Reading Racoons took top spot in this year's Reading Link Challenge.

Reading Link Challenge is a book-based trivia game for Grade 4 and 5 students across Vancouver Island. Students also have the option of participating in a cover art challenge, where they do an art project based on the cover of one of the six books they've read during the challenge.

It was a very close and exciting final round in June, with the School District 71's Reading Raccoons (left) coming in first and School District 63's KELSET Tree Snakes (right) taking second place. Congratulations to both teams and great work by all of the students who took part this year. 
First Nations author Kung Jaadee smiles as she holds up her book, Raven's Feast
A 3D, blue sandcastle mould shaped like a rocket, with a triangle top and tall hexagon body, sits on a log next to a sandcastle in its shape
A copy of video game Mario Kart Deluxe 8 is propped up against a 3D trophy, with a black stand and a bright yellow star on top.

Summer Reading Club kick off! 

Summer Reading Club starts July 5! Join us for our free kick off event with First Nations author Kung Jaadee.

Kung Jaadee will read from her book Raven's Feast, share songs and hold a regalia show and tell, beginning at 6 pm. 

This event is free.Click on the link below to register and explore other great SRC events. 

Register now

Succeed with container gardens

Learn to succeed with container gardens during our Virtual Gardening Series event, at 6:30 pm on July 11. 

During this free virtual event, you will learn how plants respond to containers, the most suitable soils to use, irrigation needs and how to choose the best varieties for annuals and perennials. 

This event is in partnership with the Vancouver Island Master Gardeners Association.

Register now

Create a 3D sandcastle mould 

We are putting your sandcastle mould-building skills to the test in our Summer Sandcastle 3D Print Challenge. 

For this all-ages event, you design a sandcastle mould. We'll even show you how to do it! The winners will have their designs printed for FREE on our 3D printer at the Creativity Commons in Nanaimo and they will be shipped to local branches for pick up. 

Get started

Play our Mario Kart tournament 

We’re back with another Mario Kart tournament as part of Summer Reading Club.

Kids, get your engines ready and race with us every Thursday at 4-5pm from June 23 to August 18. Rack up points each week and the three players with the most points by the end of Summer Reading Club will win a sweet prize! To play, you'll need a Nintendo Switch, a copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and a Nintendo online subscription. 

Learn more
Taurus biblioscope

Hey Book Lover! What's Your Sign? 

Hey Cancer! Summer is here and horoscopes suggest this is the time when calm and quiet comes into your lives and that innovation, creativity, good luck and new directions are key words defining your year. This month, kick back and enjoy some great titles we've chosen just for you. 

Biblioscope
Legit Librarian Hack

Learn a new language!

Have you always wanted to learn a new language, but had trouble finding the time to take classes? Or are you taking a class and looking for a chance to practice? Mango Languages is a fun, interactive resource that lets you learn a new language from your computer or mobile device. All you need is your library card.

Mango Languages includes beginner-level instruction in dozens of languages from around the world. Learners are able to practice listening, speaking, reading, and writing in their chosen language. Lessons are focused on essential skills such as greetings and introductions, shopping and eating out, small talk, and more.

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The book cover of Hunting By Stars by Cherie Dimaline.

Indigenous Collection

Hunting By Stars (a Marrow Thieves novel), by Cherie Dimaline, Oct. 2021

From the publisher, Penguin Random House Canada:

The thrilling follow-up to the bestselling, award-winning novel The Marrow Thieves, about a dystopian world where the Indigenous people of North America are being hunted for their bone marrow and ability to dream.

This engrossing, action-packed, deftly-drawn novel expands on the world of Cherie Dimaline’s award-winning The Marrow Thieves, and it will haunt readers long after they’ve turned the final page.


Place a hold now

Vancouver Island Regional Library   |    90 Commercial St. Nanaimo BC  |   info@virl.bc.ca