News & Events

BC Book Prize winners announced

Mon, 14 May 2012 10:42:53 -0700

Half-Blood Blues and Blood Red Road are two of the winners of this year's BC Book Prizes. View all the winners and finalists here.

Red Cedar winners announced

Mon, 14 May 2012 10:04:44 -0700

The 2011/12 Red Cedar Award winners have been announced. The Fiction Award winner is After the Fire by Becky Citra, and the Information Book Award winner is How to Build Your Own Country by Valerie Wyatt, illustrated by Fred Rix. For a list of past winners click here.

Books for Babies a winner!

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:39:17 -0700

TIMES-COLONIST - Reading is the birthright of every child. And this year, more than 2,000 newborns will receive a book and a CD from the Greater Victoria Public Library's Books for Babies program. Read more of the Times-Colonist article here.

Read a book, share a story during Canadian Children's Book Week!

Tue, 08 May 2012 14:23:36 -0700

May 5-12 is Canadian Children's Book Week! Join in the fun by taking part in our Smarty Pants Canadian book trivia contest, or check out this great booklist of Canadian Fiction for 9-12 year olds! For more information about CCBW, visit bookweek.ca.

Are you prepared for an emergency? Let GVPL help!

Fri, 04 May 2012 14:10:03 -0700

May 6-12, 2012 is Emergency Preparedness Week, a national event coordinated by Public Safety Canada to raise awareness about emergency and disaster planning. To help you and your family get prepared, check out our brand new Emergency Planning and Preparedness Subject Guide. It's full of informative and timely links that will take the guess work out of what to do when emergency strikes. Get prepared today!

Springtime is here, and so are Sunday afternoons in the garden!

Tue, 01 May 2012 11:45:00 -0700

Sunday hours at the library have wrapped up and will resume again in October. Have a great spring and summer from all of us at GVPL!

May is Asian Heritage Month

Tue, 01 May 2012 09:38:14 -0700

Asian Heritage Month is celebrated each May to acknowledge the long and rich history of Asian Canadians and their contributions to the growth and prosperity of Canada. In celebration of 2012 Asian Heritage Month, Greater Victoria Public Library compiled this booklist of recent fiction and non-fiction by Asian authors, or on topics of interest from this vast area.

Making Tomorrow for our Children

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:06:14 -0700

Saturday, April 28, GVPL's Children and Family Literacy Librarians presented 5 Early Literacy Practices at the Making Tomorrow Conference. Attend a GVPL Babytime or Storytime to learn how to foster reading, singing, talking, writing and playing and help your child get ready to read. Check out our booklists!

Asian Heritage Month Booklist

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:00:00 -0700

Asian Heritage Month is celebrated each May to acknowledge the long and rich history of Asian Canadians and their contributions to the growth and prosperity of Canada. In celebration of 2012's Asian Heritage Month, Greater Victoria Public Library compiled this booklist of recent fiction and non-fiction by Asian authors, or on topics of interest from this vast area. All items are available at the Greater Victoria Public Library.

	Ru By Thúy, Kim In Vietnamese “ru” means lullaby; in French it is a small stream, but also signifies a flow - of tears, blood, and money. Ru is the poetic, meditative story of Nguyên An Trinh, a girl who escaped Vietnam with her family and came to live in Quebec. The Governor General's Literary Award-winning title is a lullaby for Vietnam and a love letter to a new homeland. (Adult Fiction)
	Shanghai Girls By See, Lisa This book is about the complex relationship between two sisters, Pearl and May, as they go through great pain and suffering in leaving war-torn Shanghai and trying to adjust to their difficult roles as wives in arranged marriages and Chinese immigrants to the U.S. (Adult Fiction)
	Please Look After Mom By Shin, Kyung-Sook This novel from widely-acclaimed Korean author Shin follows the efforts of a family to find their mother who went missing from Seoul Station and also their sobering realizations that she may not have been happy. This best-selling story of triumph, set in South Korea, transcends culture. (Adult Fiction)
	I Hotel By Yamashita, Karen Tei In this 2010 National Book Award-nominated novel, Yamashita describes a motley cast of characters making their way through the history of the day, becoming caught in a riptide of politics and passion, clashing ideologies and personal turmoil that culminate in their effort to save the International Hotel - epicentre of the Yellow Power Movement in 1969. (Adult Fiction)
	The Panic Button By Kankesan, Koom Thambi is a young Tamil man living in Scarborough. He does his best to be a dutiful son, but he is also having a lustful affair with a Canadian woman at work who is white. He struggles to find a way out of his upcoming arranged marriage. (Adult Fiction)
	Secret Daughter By Gowda, Shilpi Somaya Raised by an adoptive family in the United States, Asta returns to India in search of her birth family and her cultural roots. This poignant novel explores the contrasting lives of women in North America and India. (Adult Fiction)
	Inside Chinatown: Ancient Culture in A New World By Amos, Robert Victoria's Chinatown is Canada's oldest Chinese neighbourhood and has a lineage unbroken since 1858. Through stunning pictures and text in both Chinese and English, you will take an inside look at the culture of this complex community. (Adult Non-fiction)
	Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother By Chua, Amy This controversial book traces the rewards and pitfalls of a Chinese American mother’s exercise in extreme parenting, describing the exacting standards she applies to grades, music lessons, and avoidance of Western cultural practices. (Adult Non-fiction)
	After Tehran: A life Reclaimed Nemat, Marina. This is Nemat’s sequel to the memoir of her incarceration in Evin prision, Prisoner of Tehran. She recounts her journey to Canada via Hungary and her struggle to break the silence surrounding her captivity and forced marriage to one of her interrogators. (Adult Non-fiction)
	The Lady and the Peacock: the Life of Aung San Suu Kyi By Popham, Peter Until she was released in November 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi had been under house arrest in Burma for fourteen of the previous twenty years. Brought up mostly in India, and settled in North Oxford with her English scholar husband and two sons, she was called back to Burma to look after her sick mother, and was then caught up in a revolutionary uprising - never to see her husband again. (Adult Non-fiction)
	At Home with Madhur Jaffrey: Simple, Delectable Dishes from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka By Jaffrey, Madhur For all who love the magical flavors of good Indian cooking and want to easily reproduce some of the delectable dishes from that part of the world, here is a groundbreaking book from the incomparable Madhur Jaffrey that makes it possible. (Adult Non-fiction)
	Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History By Huang, Yunte This biography of Charlie Chan presents American history in a way that it has never been told before. Huang ingeniously traces Charlie Chan from his real beginnings as a bullwhip-wielding detective in territorial Hawaii to his reinvention as a literary sleuth and Hollywood film icon. (Adult Non-fiction)
	Inside Out & Back Again By Lai, Thanhha Through a series of poems, a young girl chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when she, her mother, and her brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama. It is the winner of a National Book Award and a Newbery Honor book. (Children Fiction)
	Everything Asian By Woo, Sung J In this charming tale of family, community and the struggle for understanding, young Korean immigrant David Kim learns to acculturate to a new American life. This debut novel captures the struggle of contemporary immigrants in America. (Children Fiction)
	Big Red Lollipop By Khan, Rukhsana Rubina is invited to her first birthday party. Her mother, Ami insists that she must take her little sister despite her protests that they don’t do that here in Canada. (Children Picture Book)
	The Beckoning Cat Nishizuka, Koko The book is based on a traditional Japanese folktale and describes the origins of the beckoning cat and how it came to be a symbol of good luck. (Children Non-fiction)
	Nearly Nonsense: Hoja Tales from Turkey This is a collection of Turkish folktales featuring Nasrudin Hoja and lessons taken from his experiences with his family, at the market, and with animals. (Children Non-fiction)
	Bringing in the New Year Lin, Grace This exuberant story follows a Chinese American family as they prepare for the Lunar New Year. It discusses the customs and traditions of Chinese New Year. (Children Non-fiction)

Poetry Month Wraps Up with Random Acts of Poetry!

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:07:51 -0700

Have you ever been Poemed? This Saturday, April 28th, be among the pleasantly surprised and entertained by poet Wendy Morton as she delivers her trademark "Random Acts of Poetry". Tell her a story and she'll quickly turn it into a personalized gift of verse! Visit her in the Central Library Rotunda from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, and at the Oak Bay Branch from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. Sponsored by ABE Books. Everyone welcome! No registration required.

Summer Jobs at GVPL!

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:15:58 -0700

Are you interested in working with kids and becoming a Summer Reading Club or a Reading Buddies Assistant? We have 7 positions available at the Library this summer. Find out more, here >>

GVPL Celebrates Earth Day!

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:20:29 -0700

This Sunday, April 22, 12:00-2:30 pm at Tillicum Centre, Lower Level. GVPL is joining Tillicum Centre's Earth Day celebration! Visit the library table on the lower level from 12:00 to 2:30 pm. We'll have simple nature crafts for kids, a book draw, nifty giveaways, and a wheelbarrow full of environmental-themed materials to borrow. Don't have a card? Our nearby Saanich Centennial Branch is open too!

A Tale of "Trutchery" ... A New Tale Emerges!

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:36:56 -0700

Why is Sir Joseph Trutch considered to be one of the worst people in Canadian history? This Tale tells all. Enter if you dare >>

GVPL Wins 2012 Award for Favourite Free Service/Outing!

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:33:11 -0700

GVPL has received the 2012 Early Years Award for Favourite Free Service/Outing! This award is the result of an annual survey conducted by Success By 6 that solicits community feedback about the most child-friendly services, businesses, workplaces, and parks in Victoria, and is sponsored by the Queen Alexandra Foundation. This is the fourth time GVPL has been recognized.

Power outage disrupts phone service at GVPL

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:29:20 -0700

Last week's power outage that affected areas in our region continues to disrupt telephone service at the Central Branch. For information and connection to staff and service desks please call our main switch board number at 250-382-7241. Have a question? You can call any of our other branches for help or try Ask Now, our live chat service!

Volunteers: Inspiring, Engaging, Caring

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:21:55 -0700

In celebration of National Volunteer Week, the Greater Victoria Public Library thanks the volunteers of all ages who donate their time to make our community a better place. Volunteers are one of the library’s largest assets and not only do they help make our programs successful, they enrich our communities, raise funds to support library services, provide access to our collections to shut-ins, contribute to our high quality of service and help us to imagine the future.

Every day our volunteers help to improve the lives of our citizens and we are so grateful for their dedication and efforts.

GVPL in the News: Library budgets altered to keep users logged on

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 15:51:44 -0700

TIMES-COLONIST - GVPL will adjust our budget to keep free Internet access alive now that federal funding for the service has been cut. Read the Times-Colonist article here (requires login with library card and password).

Titanic: The 100th Anniversary

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:14:31 -0700

This weekend marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic. Here is a selection of links including a booklist for younger readers to recognize the occasion and honour the lives lost.

GVPL's Titanic Fiction for 7-12 Year Olds

Expedition Titanic:Return to the Deep

CBC's Titanic features

Job Posting - Manager of Communications and Community Development

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:12:23 -0700

GVPL is currently searching for a Manager of Communications and Community Development. The ideal candidate is a highly motivated individual and creative thinker with a thorough understanding of public relations, media and marketing strategies. This position will be responsible for directing marketing and communications projects, developing GVPL’s fundraising initiatives, as well as developing and maintaining community partnerships and other programs according to GVPL’s strategic plans.
More >>

GVPL in the News: Poetry Power!

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:31:54 -0700

TIMES-COLONIST - Two poetry articles in honour of National Poetry Month:

Poetry surviving rumours of its demise; Vibrant local community celebrates the joys of the written and spoken word.
Read more of the Times-Colonist article here (requires login with library card and password).

Poetry for kids is timeless
Children's poetry is the one constant in the ever-evolving world of literature. Nursery rhymes have that evergreen quality that seems to attract kids and parents alike. (including Library staff-recommended Poetry Anthologies for Children and Adults)
Read more of the Times-Colonist article here (requires login with library card and password).