It was a warm and sunny day on October 3rd when Her Honour Judy Guichon, the Lt. Governor of BC, arrived to open the 11th Write to Read library in the community of Nooaitch, near Merritt. A large crowd of dignitaries and local folks was on hand to witness the ribbon cutting, including Meriko Kubota, the Director of Strategic Partnerships for TELUS, the telecommunications company that will be supplying fibre optic service to the library in the near future. Also on hand were Nooaitch elders, chief and council members, Rotarians from several clubs and one young Interact member from the Merritt club.
The library is fully stocked with a wide variety of books including children, adult and aboriginal titles, all hand picked by the LRT group, the reliable Library Response Team that chooses titles for all W2R libraries. Computers were supplied, as always, by London Drugs and Hewlitt Packard. The modular building was donated, as always, by Britco Structures who have been supportive of the literacy initiative from the very beginning.
Her Honour seemed especially delighted to be on hand for the ceremony, the 8th library she has opened, because she calls the Nicola Valley region her own home. All the children that attended seemed delighted with the opportunity to access the computers. Nooaitch seniors touring the library were delighted that there was now an opportunity to record native history and language that could be passed on to future generations via video.
The next step will be to hire and train a librarian, install fibre optic wiring, open the library to the community, and see how use of the building evolves. The partnership between all parties involved is a relationship that requires First Nations communities to operate the library on a standard community library basis, with books and materials checked out and due back on a set date. The Nooaitch community now has a fully stocked building and everyone is looking forward to hear how events proceed from here.
