This week we got a stamp made so we can put our mark on what has turned into over a couple hundred books about Vancouver, about BC, and about Canada in general that make up the Vancouver Is Awesome collection (which I like to refer to as the "library"). The next step is cataloging, then perhaps putting them somewhere more people than the few who happen to come into our office will be able to enjoy them. We'll see where we go with it from here.
The stamp says "THIS BOOK IS FROM THE COLLECTION OF VANCOUVER IS AWESOME. THANKS FOR RETURNING IT TO WHERE YOU FOUND IT WHEN YOU'RE DONE READING"
The book pictured here is mostly a photographic study of our province published in 1980 by Whitecap Books. It's signed by and has a sticker on it from the former Tourism Minister, Bill Reid (no relation to the artist as far as I know), who served from 1986-1991 and was forced to resign by Premier Bill Vander Zalm due to a controversy where he awarded a $277,065 BC Lottery grant to a former campaign manager and friend. After politics he did a ton of community work and was awarded the Queen's Diamond Jubilee award in 2012, then passed away from cancer in 2013.
I'm not sure how this title came into the collection but it could have been a gift from Jason Vanderhill as he's brought us many a gem over the years. It's just one example in this fairly eclectic collection of ours, which we'll keep you up to speed on in the future.
