This location was chosen as the home for our first library as it is my home. The Riverbend Community has been mine and my son’s home for over 27 years, it has been a place of safety, community and friendship providing a solid foothold for my children in their early years. The Quayside Community is evergrowing, a place of apartments, cooperative housing and condominiums, a place for young families and the perfect space for a library. Much of the funding for this library was provided by myself with partial funding being provided by the GoFundMe campaign.
This library was completely built by Kaius Cooper, painted by David Adetola, branded by Erica Cheng with art by Bianca Hsing. The colour of the library was chosen by my Dad, Terry Bucknell, who chose a colour that honours the Fraser River which flows so closely by. I decided that the common theme of daisies would be pivotal in this first library and so they are large and bold. I also decided to highlight the now destroyed Wow Westminster sculpture once in place at Pier Park; this beloved part of New Westminster History was removed in 2020 due to extensive structural damage resulting from the Pier Park fire.
The Queen’s Park Library for Children is hosted by the Kovac’s Family at their home on 4th Street in Queen’s Park. The Kovac’s children are very near and dear to my heart and their generous parents were happy to not only host a library but also to sponsor its entire build, art work and branding.
The Kovac’s chose paint which duplicates the colours of their home and continued with the daisy theme with a more delicate field of daisies. Once again this library was completely built by Kaius Cooper, painted by David Adetola, branded by Erica Cheng and artwork by Bianca Hsing.
I feel a great connection to the space occupied by this library, because when I owned my child care centre in New Westminster, I took my school age children to Ecole Qayqayt every day. In fact, my story and relationship with the school goes back even further to my times of being PAC President at John Robson Elementary where I was integral in the development of the new elementary school. Being given an opportunity to place a library so close to the school was a distinct privilege for me.
The Qayqayt Library for Children was a joint effort between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - Burnaby Ward Primary Children and my team. The children worked to create the structure, design and decor of the library and my team continued with some adjustments for branding and practical purposes. I am extremely grateful to the congregation for their support.
It is important to note that I also received permission from Rhonda Larrabee (Qayqayt First Nation) to use their name, she says “It is a testament that our community is embracing reconciliation and honouring and respecting First Nation’s Culture" The library also bears the logo of Qayqayt first nation along with the traditional daisies.
The Yellow House Library for Children was another joint venture with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, along with Kaius Cooper (carpentry and installations) and Erica Cheng (branding). They have helped to provide such a generous gift to our communities.
The library is hosted by Clare McCaughren and her family at their beautiful yellow house in Sapperton, they like to call it their Mr. Men house. As soon as I saw the house, I knew it was the perfect location, nestled close to Royal Columbian Hospital and in a beautiful neighbourhood, plus the house is my favourite colour.
The host family decided on the name for this library and I think they made a beautiful choice.
Ronald McDonald House at 4567 Heather Street Vancouver, BC
This little library is located just outside the Ronald McDonald House in the B.C. Children’s Hospital complex in Vancouver. I am not sure who the steward is of this library but I do like to treat it as if it were one of my own. I have a weekly volunteer shift at the Ronald McDonald house and whenever I am there I make sure to bring along children’s books and treats (usually the same as I add to my own libraries) as well as some adult books as this library services both age groups. Even though the house itself has an extensive lending library, I know that this little library is a comfort to the community.