We’re celebrating nearly a century of library services throughout the region!

Saturday, May 30, 12-2pm at the Cortes branch (bottom floor of the Linnaea Farm education building, 1255 Seaford Rd)

Eat cupcakes, decorate a party favour, share some memories, and get a library card (if you don’t already have one ;)

Keep the party going: Starting May 30, visit any of our branches to pick up your special 90th Anniversary VIRL passport. Each library branch has its own unique stamp – try to collect them all this summer! 5 or more stamps gets you an entry into our draw to win some fun prizes.

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Did you know…

Vancouver Island Regional Library opened in 1936 with:
• 6 library branches + 28 sub-branches + 7 van routes
• 6,100 members + 12,648 books

90 years later we have:
• 39 library branches + 24/7 eLibrary
• 2,596,832 visitors + 5,084,711 items circulated annually

Cortes got its first library in 1935 when the Whaletown Women’s Institute transformed the Farmer's Institute building into the Louisa Tooker Library. This library is still in use in its original spot down by the Whaletown Dock, maintained by the Whaletown Community Club.

In 1980, Manson’s Hall was renovated to include space for a post office, playschool, cafe, offices, a pottery studio, and… a new library! May Ellingsen, one of the founders of the Cortes Island Museum and Archives, ran this library for many years and helped shepherd its inclusion into the Vancouver Island Regional Library fold in 1998. By 2009, the branch had grown too big (and all the books weighed too much!) for the room at the hall and so VIRL started looking for a new location. In 2013, the branch moved to the Linnaea Farm education center where we continue to operate today.

All 39 VIRL branches share a “floating” collection. We each store a portion of circulating materials, and customers can request, borrow, and return items from any of our locations. This means that even small communities (like us!) have access to thousands of books, movies, tv shows, magazines, video games, and more. We’re also connected to a large team of experienced and knowledgeable library workers who keep everything running smoothly behind the scenes.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have worked to keep libraries open on Cortes Island. Here’s to another 90 years of service!

If you want to learn more about libraries on Cortes, read or listen to this article on Cortes Currents.

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Open: Tues/Fri/Sat 10am-2:30pm, Wed/Thurs 2:30-7pm
Closed: Sun/Mon

ci1virl.bc.ca
250-935-6566