Happy 1,000!!

The Meet Me in the Stacks team is celebrating a milestone with 1,000 downloads since June. 

Meet Me in the Stacks, a podcast for bookish people, already has 11 episodes, with topics ranging from interviews with authors to hidden-gem reading recommendations.

You don’t have to be an avid reader to find enjoyment in this show, but of course if you are, you definitely don’t want to miss an episode.

Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts or find it on our website. 

Listen now

VIRL teams up with community partners on financial literacy 

Learn tools to survive and thrive after job loss, protect your money and boost your savings during Financial Literacy Month. 

We have teamed up with community partners like the Chartered Professional Accountants on a series of free events to help you with your money. 

Kicking off this month's events is a workshop on Nov.10 about surviving and thriving after job loss. Participants will learn about budgeting, how to deal with debt and options like becoming a contractor or starting a business. On Nov.16, join the Chartered Professional Accountants to learn about saving strategies. 

We've also teamed up with the Senior's Health and Wellness Institute to bring you a financial literacy workshop for seniors on Nov. 16.

Follow the link below for the full calendar of events and registration.

Read more

It's National Novel Writing Month

National Novel Writing Month kicked off on November 1. 

The annual Internet-based creative writing project sees writers from across the globe take up the challenge to write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days. 

At Vancouver Island Regional Library, we have pulled together resources to help writers master their manuscripts. We also have the VIRL NaNoWriMo Challenge, with fun prompts to inspire writers and boost creativity. 

Check it out

Auto Repair Source 

Home mechanics know all about the challenges of finding good instructions to keep their vehicles in tip-top shape. While print repair manuals can be difficult to find and some are no longer being published, the library offers repair materials in our electronic collections.

Auto Repair Source is a fantastic resource which includes shop manuals and parts lists for many makes and models of vehicles going back to 1974. 

For those with smaller engines to repair, Small Engine Repair Center offers specifications and repair instructions for small engines. 

Keep reading

Book lover, what's your sign?

No need to worry about the sting of finances, Scorpio. This is your month.

Biblioscope

Indigenous Collection 

Every month we spotlight a recently-published Indigenous title available in our collection. Our featured book for November is A Girl Called Echo. It's a four-part young adult novel series by Katherena Vermette.

From the publisher, HighWater Press:

Echo Desjardins, a 13-year-old Métis girl adjusting to a new home and school, is struggling with loneliness while separated from her mother. Then an ordinary day in Mr. Bee’s history class turns extraordinary, and Echo’s life will never be the same. During Mr. Bee’s lecture, Echo finds herself transported to another time and place—a bison hunt on the Saskatchewan prairie—and back again to the present. In the following weeks, Echo slips back and forth in time. She visits a Métis camp, travels the old fur-trade routes, and experiences the perilous and bygone era of the Pemmican Wars.

Reserve your copy