Reading & Literary

Copies of the first book will be available starting August 23. After that, books will be available after book club meetings in print format. All books are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Copies of the books are also available in other formats, such as print, ebook, audiobooks, and more. Ask staff to help you find a copy!

Want to receive meeting reminders and information about the books via email?

CLICK REGISTER above or call 604-929-3727, ext. 8166 to provide your email. 

A full schedule for all branches is available here. 

Do you have a writing project that has been waiting for you to actually start it? Or a writing project that’s stalled out? Think your life is too busy to commit to writing? Come join us to get the motivation, inspiration, and positive peer-pressure to help you go from thinking about writing to actually writing.

November’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is all about trying to finish an entire novel in a month – but April’s Camp NaNoWriMo is the more laid-back, less intimidating version of the program. Pick any kind of writing goal you want and come to our write-ins for motivation and encouragement! Just bring your laptop and/or pen & paper and we’ll provide the inspiration!

Session 1
Tuesday, March 26 | 6:00pm-7:00pm
At the first session, we’ll learn about Camp NaNoWriMo, engage in some writing prompts to get the creativity flowing, make a commitment to our writing goals, and hear from two authors about their writing processes and advice: Rae Knightly, author of The Alien Skill Series, and John Mavin, author of Rage.

Session 2
Wednesday, April 3 | 6:00pm-7:00pm
We’ll check in on our writing progress and celebrate what we have done, write to optional writing prompts, enjoy dedicated, focused writing time (with snacks!).

Session 3
Tuesday, April 23 | 6:00pm-7:00pm
We’ll check in on our writing progress and celebrate what we have done, write to optional writing prompts, enjoy dedicated, focused writing time (with snacks!).

Session 4

Wednesday, May 8 | 6:00pm-7:00pm
We’ll check in on our writing progress, celebrate our accomplishments, share our favorite bit of writing (optional), make commitments to next steps, and get advice from author Janine Cross, author of The Dragon Temple Trilogy, and literary novel, The Footstop Cafe.

Adults, Teens and Tweens are welcome! Attend one or all sessions.

Drop in! Call 604-987-4471, ext. 8175 for information.

Hey, kids in grades 4-7! This Book Club’s for YOU! We’re meeting every other week at Parkgate Library to discuss nominated titles for the Red Cedar Book Awards!

Join the Red Cedar Book Club and choose who wins British Columbia’s Red Cedar Book Award! The Club meets twice a month to discuss the nominated titles, conduct experiments, write reviews and more, and then votes for their favourite books in the spring. Find more information about at www.redcedaraward.ca.

Meeting Dates:

• January 11
• January 25
• February 8
• February 22
• March 8
• March 15
• April 5
• April 26

It's been said that we cannot choose our family members, but what do you do when the drama they bring becomes more than you want to deal with? You hop on the train that will take you to the land of promise, an alluring place called British Columbia.

Local author Karen Harmon will speak about her North Shore childhood and the impetus to write Looking for Normal, a memoir about her dysfunctional family set between the Depression Era of the 1930s all the way to the Free Love of the 1960s and ‘70s. She will talk about her writing process and then read from her memoir, followed by a Q&A.

Karen Harmon has been a BCRPA certified fitness instructor for the past 35 years and was recently awarded the Fitness Instructor of the Year award for BC . Looking for Normal is her first book.

Registration required. Register online or 604-987-4471, ext. 8175.

We’ll supply the books and the tea; you just have to read the book and show up ready for a good discussion! 

Here's what we're reading next: 

• March 14: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
• April 11: Lab Girl by Hope Jahren 

All are welcome to the Afternoon Tea Book Club. Whether you are well-seasoned in Book Clubs or have never been in one, we invite you to participate in our Afternoon Tea Book Club at Parkgate Library.

No registration required. Drop in! Call 604-929-3727, ext. 8166 for more information.  

Does your child need some extra encouragement with their reading? Book Buddies can help!

Book Buddies is a Library program that helps children aged 6-11 who need support and encouragement in maintaining and improving their reading skills. Children are matched with a teen volunteer, and for half an hour each week the Book Buddies read aloud to each other, choose books to take home, and do literacy-based activities, such as word games. This program is a reading mentoring program, it does not teach reading. 

6 sessions of 30 minute timeslots. Registration on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Register at 604-929-3727, ext. 8166.

Paws 4 Stories is a St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Community Service that is designed to assist in helping to improve reading skills of children. In this program, children have the opportunity to read to a friendly, certified therapy dog. Reading to a therapy dog can be motivating and especially beneficial for children who are hesitant or anxious about reading. 

Ages 6 -12. Sessions are 20 minutes in length. Children can sign up for a maximum of three sessions each.

Registration is first-come, first-served, though priority will be given to those who have not participated before.

Registration required. Call 604-984-0286, ext. 8141 or visit the Lynn Valley Children’s Desk. 

Do you have a writing project that has been waiting for you to actually start it? Or a writing project that’s stalled out? Think your life is too busy to commit to writing? Come join us to get the motivation, inspiration, and positive peer-pressure to help you go from thinking about writing to actually writing.

November’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is all about trying to finish an entire novel in a month – but April’s Camp NaNoWriMo is the more laid-back, less intimidating version of the program. Pick any kind of writing goal you want and come to our write-ins for motivation and encouragement! Just bring your laptop and/or pen & paper and we’ll provide the inspiration!

Session 1
Tuesday, March 26 | 6:00pm-7:00pm
At the first session, we’ll learn about Camp NaNoWriMo, engage in some writing prompts to get the creativity flowing, make a commitment to our writing goals, and hear from two authors about their writing processes and advice: Rae Knightly, author of The Alien Skill Series, and John Mavin, author of Rage.

Session 2
Wednesday, April 3 | 6:00pm-7:00pm
We’ll check in on our writing progress and celebrate what we have done, write to optional writing prompts, enjoy dedicated, focused writing time (with snacks!).

Session 3
Tuesday, April 23 | 6:00pm-7:00pm
We’ll check in on our writing progress and celebrate what we have done, write to optional writing prompts, enjoy dedicated, focused writing time (with snacks!).

Session 4

Wednesday, May 8 | 6:00pm-7:00pm
We’ll check in on our writing progress, celebrate our accomplishments, share our favorite bit of writing (optional), make commitments to next steps, and get advice from author Janine Cross, author of The Dragon Temple Trilogy, and literary novel, The Footstop Cafe.

Adults, Teens and Tweens are welcome! Attend one or all sessions.

Drop in! Call 604-987-4471, ext. 8175 for information.

Paws 4 Stories is a St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Community Service that is designed to assist in helping to improve reading skills of children. In this program, children have the opportunity to read to a friendly, certified therapy dog. Reading to a therapy dog can be motivating and especially beneficial for children who are hesitant or anxious about reading. 

Ages 6 -12. Sessions are 20 minutes in length. Children can sign up for a maximum of three sessions each.

Registration is first-come, first-served, though priority will be given to those who have not participated before.

Registration required. Call 604-984-0286, ext. 8141 or visit the Lynn Valley Children’s Desk. 

The Canadian Federation of University Women welcome anyone (you don’t have to be a female university graduate!) to drop-in and join their book club discussion.  Everyone is invited to join the discussion!Simply read the book before each meeting and drop in.

Check out what’s next on the reading list!

• January: The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King
  Tuesday, January 29 | 12:30pm—1:30pm
   
• February: Easter Island by Jennifer Vanderbes
  Tuesday, February 26 | 12:30pm—1:30pm
   
• March: Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James
  Tuesday, March 26  | 12:30pm—1:30pm
   
• April: A Man Called Ove by Frederick Blackman
  Tuesday, April 30 | 12:30pm—1:30pm
   
• May: Forgiveness by Mark Sakamoto
  Tuesday, May 28 | 12:30pm—1:30pm
   
• June: The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys 
• Tuesday, June 25 | 12:30pm—1:30pm

No registration required. Call 604-984-0286, ext. 8144 for information.

Come and read to Virgil, the friendly Basset Hound!

Paws 4 Stories is a St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Community Service  program that is designed to assist in helping to improve reading skills of children.

In this program, children have the opportunity to read to a friendly, certified therapy dog. Reading to a therapy dog can be motivating and especially beneficial for children who are hesitant or anxious about reading.

Recommended for children ages 6 -12. Sessions are 20 minutes in length. Children can sign up for a maximum of three sessions each. Space is limited.

Registration required. Call 604-987-4471, ext. 8175 or visit the Capilano Information Desk. Call to register today!