The Editor,
Re. “Burned library won’t dissuade supporters” (The Tri-City News, May 2).
Recently, we celebrated our community and the projects that bring us together with the Avenues of Change, so we were especially saddened to hear of the destruction of the Wellington Park little library later that same evening. It was an act of senseless vandalism and was difficult to understand.
But we’ve been heartened to see neighbours and friends rise to the challenge, lending their support for this and other literacy projects in our community. We’re so glad to hear that the stewards of the Wellington Park library have not been discouraged and look forward to helping them rebuild.
In the meantime, more little libraries are popping up all over the area, including one of our own. Through initiatives with the city of Port Coquitlam, the United Way’s Avenues of Change and local schools — yeah, Irvine elementary! — kids on PoCo’s north side will have greater access to books and the joy of reading.
The Lovely Little Library on Liverpool Street, painted and installed earlier this month with the help of our children, is now open for borrowing. We have received positive encouragement from our neighbours along with offers of books or even to help keep an eye on the library when needed. It’s nice to see neighbours pitching in like that.
As Mister Rogers famously said: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” When we look around our neighbourhood, we see lots of helpers and we wanted to give a big thank you to all of them.
Laura Thomas,
Port Coquitlam
