I was aware that Vancouver has a reputation for its spectacular setting, but I had forgotten about its reputation for rain. In the course of a few days here the sky has gone from sulky and inky purple, to deep blue with fluffy clouds and visibility from a clear, strong light that shows off the lush greenery to great effect, to such low scudding cloud and heavy rain that the city’s setting all but disappeared.
But it’s not only the weather that contributes to astonishing visual juxtapositions. On the one hand, parts of Downtown comprise numerous sleek, predominantly glass towers that all appear to have sprouted in the course of the last five years. The population of the metropolitan area, according to the 2001 census, has risen by over 14 per cent since 1996 and has almost certainly risen sharply again since then. I imagine this probably makes it one of, if not the, fastest growing metropolitan area in the whole of north America. On the other hand, parts of the city are decidedly run-down with all-too-obvious drugs, homelessness and other social problems.
Jan Fu, the multicultural librarian at Vancouver Public Library, told me that, according to the 2001 census, 26.1% of the population is Chinese and this is also likely to grow in the next census. Chinatown here is extensive. Just wandering in the city, it’s impossible to ignore the city’s relationship to the Far East – there are also numerous Japanese and Korean restaurants for example. This is not to forget about the numerous other ethnic communities – Jan told me that there are around 60 languages spoken here, of which 21 are represented in the library’s collections and 14 are actively being collected.
The central Vancouver Public Library, which opened in 1995, makes a bold statement quite unlike anything else in the city, in a form reminiscent of the Colosseum. The covered promenade, lined with cafes and shops, which curves around one side of the building, forms a natural way through to streets at both ends and to the library itself. Judging by the number of people using the space this is clearly a popular meeting spot. After Toronto, I was prepared for the scale of what is inside – and although I only undertook a fairly swift tour, it was highly impressive.
Most of my time was spent with Annette De Faveri, who is the Co-ordinator of the national Working Together project and with Randy Gatley the Community Development Librarian also working on the project in Vancouver. It was uncanny how the exact same issues with which we are grappling in the Welcome To Your Library project are replicated in this project.
Unlike Welcome To Your Library, Working Together is funded with 1.8 million Canadian Dollars from the federal government (Human Resources and Social Development Canada) with additional funding in kind. It is the largest such project in Canada. Also unlike Welcome To Your Library, the budget does not include funding for library staff training. Much of the funding is for five full-time positions across the four cities where the project is active.
Simply having the opportunity to share and exchange experiences was valuable and we will certainly be looking to share some of our respective project documentation, including evaluation and reports at the end of the projects. Working Together is due to come to a close in spring 2008.
