Welcome back!

Two days ago, the temperature reached 30, today it’s cloudy and cool.  Autumn is coming and school is here.  It has been wonderful to see so many of you over the past week, taking books out, working on computers, playing board games… Speaking of board games, there are loads of things to do in the library learning commons.  As well as over 12,000 different books, we have a puzzle board, Read More …

Earth Day 2024 www.earthday.org/earth-day-2024/

I think that we can all agree that the weather is (and has been) doing weird and wacky things.  Dry springs and summers leading to devastating wildfires, crazy storms, extreme temperatures.  Sometimes it is scary and I wonder (and worry) about the future.  Something is definitely going on with our environment. The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970 in the US.  In the more than 50 years since then, Read More …

Library Monitors

Did you know that our Library Learning Commons has over 13,000 unique titles?  And more items than that.  Fiction, non-fiction, DVDs, magazines. We have a great collection!  But what happens when you want to find something specific?  Without good organization, it could be really difficult to find that particular book you’re looking for.  When items are returned, they have to go back on the shelf – in their proper place.  Read More …

Local History or History in Your Backyard

As a community, we are more purposefully looking at our history.  Here in Burnaby, history did not begin with the first white settlers.  Well before the late 1800s, when Europeans started settling here, from time immemorial, this land was home to others.  What do you know about them?  Looking for a place to start?  Burnaby Village Museum has done some research for you:Others have come and settled here as well.  Read More …

BMSS’s Own Published Author

We have a newly arrived book in our library, authored by our own grade 9 student, Cara.  Like many others, Cara sometimes found learning online during Covid tiring and frustrating.  Her story, Rainbow Puppy Daycare, came out of that experience.  When she needed breaks, she would make up stories about her favourite things – rainbows, unicorns, and her EA’s dogs.  Mr. Laroque, her EA, helped her develop these into the Read More …

Autumn

has arrived! After maybe the longest ever summer, autumn arrived this week.  We’ve already had a few cool mornings, but the sun has been shining everyday and it’s usually been really warm walking home after school.  But now the rain has come, and with it, that cold to your bones feeling.  While I don’t like the cold, I do like woolly clothes.  And we really need the rain.  The changes Read More …

Day for Truth & Reconciliation

This week we are taking time to stop and consider what Truth & Reconciliation means and why it is important.  What are truth and reconciliation?  What do they have to do with me?  Why wear an orange shirt?  These are all important questions and each one of us needs to contemplate our own role.  When it feels too big, too difficult, think on these words of Lee Maracle, a local Read More …

Happy New Year!

Another new school year has begun.  The sun is still shining but it’s chilly in the mornings as I walk to school.  As I was considering what to do for my first book display, I thought about the books I love and how I like to share them with others.  So… Ms. Griffith and I pulled some of the Books We’ve Read; We’ve Loved & [have] Given Us Joy.  What Read More …

Booksellers and Libraries

This Saturday was Independent Booksellers Day and I went over to one of my favourite, Iron Dog Books.  This is a small, but busy, bookstore.  The owners started with a bus, but now have this great little shop on Hastings.  I have other favourites as well.  Over in North Van, Edgemont Village, a great little community, is bookended by 2 stores; on the north end, 32 Books, and at the Read More …