Well, the Hastings Elementary Diversity Book Drive has come to an end and what a fantastic success it’s been!

The book suggestions came in fast and furious in the last week and a total of 211 incredible books were suggested!! The link to the list is below. Included on the list is the title, author, intended age level and a little about why it’s included on the list. If you suggested a book and it’s not on the list, don’t worry – it’s already in the library! We encourage you to take a look through and use it as a resource to find your next favorite books.

Check out the suggested titles here!

As for the donation side of things, not only did we meet our fundraising goal of $4000, we FAR exceeded it – a total of $5791.24 was raised!!!!

Here’s a breakdown of the donations:School Cash Online – $4325Iron Dog – $1266.24 ($548.38 in books purchased + $717.86 donated to the book drive account) Orca Publishing donation – $200

Our librarian, Erin, is already hard at work ordering books from the list and although there will be a new librarian at Hastings next year, they will start the year putting many of the suggested books on to the library shelves for the first time. We would like to thank Erin for all her enthusiastic and hard work on this project. We wish her all the best at her next school! Thank you, Erin!!

And a special thanks goes to our community bookstore partner, Iron Dog Books – whoot, whoot! They have been a fantastic resource and support for the book drive and we know that many people enjoyed purchasing books at the store that will go directly on to the Hastings library shelves. If you haven’t been to Iron Dog yet, GO and say hi to Hilary and her fantastic staff. They also have a rich selection of puzzles for all you puzzlers. Iron Dog Books – 2671 E. Hastings St

Good work, Hastings Elementary community! So many people were involved – from those setting up the online polls, making and hanging posters, making donations, making suggestions. Thank you to everyone who contributed to make this a success!

Wishing you all a lovely and sunny long weekend!

Ways to donate:
    1.    Visit Iron Dog Books at 2671 E Hastings St and purchase one of the librarian pre-selected books OR contribute to the in-store Hastings Book Drive account (no donation is too small!).
    2.    Contribute using the School Cash Online donation form (select Hastings PAC as the fund destination and note that it is for the book drive in the message section).
And keep those book suggestions coming, by using this form!
A huge THANK YOU to everyone that has participated and supported this meaningful and important initiative for our school!

And please join us for the next general PAC meeting where our Teacher Librarian Erin Rickbeil @crafty_librarian_teaches will give us the scoop on the challenges and successes of the Book Drive as well as the process of removing offensive and appropriated content from our library shelves…

It’s been another great week for the book drive and we only have a few days left. So far, over 150 book suggestions have come in and over $1800 has been raised! Great work so far, Hastings – can we reach our goal of $4000 by the end of the week?!

We were in the news, again – this time with CBC Radio-Canada!
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1790603/hastings-elementary-diversite-livres-racise-collecte

And make sure to follow librarian Erin on Insta to see some of the new books being added to the library – @crafty_librarian_teaches.

May is Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, with many fantastic events happening online and throughout the city. Here are a few of the book drive suggestions and recent additions to the library by Asian authors…..

Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang – Amy loves to make bao with her family. But it takes skill to make the bao taste and look delicious. And her bao keep coming out all wrong. Then she has an idea that may give her a second chance…Will Amy ever make the perfect bao?

Ho’onani: Hula Warrior by Heather Gale – Based on a true story, Ho’onani: Hula Warrior is a celebration of Hawaiian culture and an empowering story of a girl who learns to lead and learns to accept who she really is–and in doing so, gains the respect of all those around her.

Stand Up, Yumi Chung! by Jessica Kim – One lie snowballs into a full-blown double life in this irresistible story about an aspiring stand-up comedian. On the outside, Yumi Chung suffers from #shygirlproblems, a perm-gone-wrong, and kids calling her “Yu-MEAT” because she smells like her family’s Korean barbecue restaurant. On the inside, Yumi is ready for her Netflix stand-up special. Her notebook is filled with mortifying memories that she’s reworked into comedy gold. All she needs is a stage and courage.

Last Night At the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo – America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father–despite his hard-won citizenship–Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.

Ways to donate:
1. Visit Iron Dog Books at 2671 E Hastings St and purchase one of the librarian pre-selected books OR contribute to the in-store Hastings Book Drive account (no donation is too small!).
2. Contribute using the School Cash Online donation form (select Hastings PAC as the fund destination and note that it is for the book drive in the message section).
And keep those book suggestions coming, by using this form!

Ways to celebrate Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month….

Speaking of our favorite local book store, they are the official bookstore for LiterAsian – a festival celebrating Asian writers.
https://literasian.com/

VIFF is streaming five movies by Asian Canadians filmmakers.
https://viff.org/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=2021-asian-heritage-month&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=

In the early to mid-20th century, the Powell Street corridor was the home of 8000 Japanese Canadians and over 400 businesses in Vancouver. Take a socially-distanced walking tour of historic Powell St and learn more!
https://youtu.be/Aiaj1L60_Bg

Don’t forget – the last day of the book drive is THIS FRIDAY!!! ❤?❤?

Well, it’s been an exciting week for the Hastings Diversity Book Drive – let’s get updated on all that’s happened….

https://www.citynews1130.com/2021/05/01/hastings-diversity-book-drive/

Orca Book Publishers heard about our book drive and has donated $200 for our librarian to use toward any of the books that they publish! https://www.orcabook.com/Home.aspx 

And local, young author Esabella Strickland, has donated a signed copy of her fantasy novel about a girl with a learning disability to our library! https://www.genzpublishing.org/product/orabella-the-oracle-1-then-and-there-here-and-where/ 

Our total funds raised so far is $1100(!!), including the donation from Orca Books. Our goal is $4000 by May 14th – that’s the end of next week! Let’s see if we can get there!
 

Ways to donate:
    1.    Visit Iron Dog Books at 2671 E Hastings St and purchase one of the librarian pre-selected books OR contribute to the in-store Hastings Book Drive account (no donation is too small!).
    2.    Contribute using the School Cash Online donation form (select Hastings PAC as the fund destination and note that it is for the book drive in the message section).
And keep those book suggestions coming, by using this form! Over 140 incredible books have been suggested so far. Wow – what a week! Let’s keep it up Hastings!