August 2023

Not just for kids!

Adult Summer Reading Challenge July 3–August 31

It’s time travel bingo time for all our adult summer readers and activity seekers! Every bingo square you complete improves your chances of winning some amazing prizes, so start thinking about books and movies that bend time, contemplate time, or that you’ve always wished you had time enough to read or watch.

The ASC runs July 4 – August 31. Full contest details, with everything you need to participate are available below!

Sign up here!

Summer Reading Club Drag Storytime 

Our Summer Reading Club (SRC) team is excited to announce our upcoming virtual Drag Extravaganza for our 2023 SRC wrap-up event on Tuesday, August 22 at 6pm.

Drag Storytimes are popular events and great opportunities for everyone to have fun reading children’s stories, singing songs, playing together, and challenging gender norms.

“Storytellers using the art of drag to read books to kids in libraries, schools, and bookstores...capture the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and give kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models." www.dragqueenstoryhour.org.

Join in the fun and register for this popular Zoom event!

Sign up here

Peter Puffin LIVE

No summer on Vancouver Island would be complete without a BC Summer Reading Club (SRC) party, and this year is no exception! Juno award winning children’s singer/songwriter, Peter Puffin, will be singing, dancing and engaging audiences of every age in many of our branches and communities.

“If you’ve never seen Peter Puffin perform before, you’re in for a treat,” says Vancouver Island Regional Library Librarian, Virginia MacLeod. “His energy is infectious, his messages are encouraging and important, and his shows are a lot of fun. Everyone will be up and dancing from the moment Peter hits the stage to the final song of his set.”

Catch the next LIVE Peter Puffin performance at your local branch here!

Locations and dates

What's happening

Teen Summer Challenge Kicks Off!

Hey teens :)

Interested in winning a Nintendo Switch and crushing a series of do-it-yourself challenges (each one more clever than the last)?

Teens aged 12 – 18 are invited to take part in all sorts of time travel themed activities and challenges for the chance to win.

All you need to do is find the nearest VIRL branch and pick up a challenge booklet. Then, start tracking your TSC activities across the time space continuum.

Registration opened June 20 and the TSC runs July 4 – August 31.

Get started

Storywalk at the Ladysmith Museum

Put on your sneakers and take part in this tree-themed reading experience! In celebration of the Ladysmith Museum’s exciting Tree-Mendous exhibit, starting June 17 and for the duration of the summer, there will be a tree-themed Pop-Up Storybook Walk in front of the museum.

After doing the Storybook Walk, head inside the museum to take in the exhibit and a hands-on, book themed game. Before you leave kids can pick up a fun-filled activity sheet courtesy of the library. Each completed challenge on the sheet is worth one entry into a draw for a prize!

August 9 and throughout the summer.

Sign up now

Stuffie Sleepover at Gabriola

What do you think your stuffie would get up to if it slept over at the library?? Find out by dropping off your stuffie on August 16 (maybe not the one you sleep with EVERY night!) for a sleepover with lots of new stuffie friends at the library then pick him/her up the following Saturday (Aug 19) between 10 and 5:00. Why not come to Family Storytime (11-11:30) while you’re at it! Your stuffie will have a mini diary with lots of photos of the sleepover activities that went on at night when the library was closed.

All ages are welcome to drop off a stuffie any time during our open hours Wednesday August 16.

Learn more

Taurus biblioscope

Hey Book Lover! What's Your Sign? 

Every month we search for the perfect book pairing for each zodiac sign. This August, Leo has the limelight with these recommendations. Need a great read, Leo? We've got you covered!  

What's my biblioscope

Legit Librarian Hack

Crafting with Library eResources

Arts and crafts books and magazines are perennially popular items to check-out of the library. We also offer a fantastic collection of electronic resources on crafting, available online from anywhere with your library card.

CreativeBug offers video tutorials for many popular arts and crafts, including fibre arts, sewing, drawing and painting, calligraphy, and much more. It includes content for all ages and skill levels. For sewists, CreativeBug includes PDF patterns that can be printed on a home or library printer. Those who are new to a craft may be interested in “Daily Practice” courses, which are a series of videos that work on building new crafting skills one day at a time.

Can’t make it to the library or bookstore to pick up the latest issue of your favourite crafting magazine? Our PressReader and OverDrive electronic collections include the latest issues of knitting, quilting, and other crafting magazines, and OverDrive also includes a selection of popular crafting books. Try out the PressReader App or Libby App for OverDrive for easy viewing on your iPad or tablet.

For an easily searchable resource that includes craft magazines, books, and videos, try EBSCO Hobbies and Crafts Reference Center. Here finding projects in your favourite medium is as simple as typing in a few keywords.

Happy crafting!

Get started right now. 

Click here to get more great hacks

Indigenous Collection 

Stand in the Joy, by William Prince, April 2023

Description from Six Shooter Records:

On his fourth album, William Prince makes a declaration of joy. Leading with gratitude, Prince offers his perspective on what it feels like, for him, to love and be loved wholeheartedly.

To introduce the new album, and his current state of mind, Prince shares two new songs. On album opener “When You Miss Someone,” Prince describes the physical hallmarks of longing. You might not relate exactly to Prince’s example: “you can stand in front of the Eiffel Tower and wish you were in Winnipeg,” but you know the feeling. The twist, Prince’s realization, is that this is just a feeling, and it need not hold you back.

Alongside also comes “Tanqueray,” a song that captures the head rush of new love, the kind that sets larger things – including the story of this album – in motion. “I want to be like Johnny Cash, an artist for the people,” says William. And the people drink Tanqueray.

Dappled, grassy and lush, Stand in the Joy emanates warmth and light. Produced by Dave Cobb, the album was recorded in the Grammy-winner’s studio, Low Country South in Savannah, Georgia, which became the perfect backdrop for the decidedly Spring-like optimism that permeates the collection. Stand in the Joy is a graceful work shaped by Prince and Cobb, lead guitarist and frequent Prince player Mike T. Kerr, and a roomful of talented musicians including Chris Powell (drums), Brian Allen (base), Paul Franklin (pedal steel), Lee Pardini (keyboard), and the exquisite backing vocals of fiancée and album inspiration Alyshia Grace. Stand in the Joy was mixed and recorded by Brandon Bell and mastered by Peter Lyman.

As he continues to build his body of work, Prince’s music stands shoulder to shoulder with the upper echelons of songwriters, artists who are at once his heroes and his peers. Through his first three full-length albums, William Prince traced a personal journey through struggle and sorrow, and his songs have been there for people when they need it most. With his new album, the songwriter now makes a statement about happiness, generously sharing his own in the same way that he has shared everything that has come before. Prince is in a good place, and he worked very hard to get here.

Place a hold now

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