~~ Happy Mother's Day ~~

​A celebration of mothers and children all over the world

Hope you will all have a chance to curl up with a few good books, enjoy the sunshine, munch a few snacks, enjoy a tall glass of lemonade and take a few minutes to breathe and watch the sun set over the horizon.
​
In the meantime wish a
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers (past and present) in our lives.

What a better way to celebrate Earth Day and Earth week than to visit your local library and check out books to read. Just think how many things you are keeping from the landfill and how many hours of pure entertainment comes from reading books at no cost. Books that do not need electricity, only a voracious reader to enjoy each word, paragraph and page.

Libraries provide so many great resources. Come and enjoy them. . . .

Learning about new ideas, concepts and thoughts comes from each book. Knowledge knows no bounds. Our libraries are there for all to enjoy. Our libraries are an unbounded treasure for a lifetime of learning.  Be sure to vote.

There is so much happening in the Booknook. Keep up with the latest news by going to the Booknook News site.  Each month we've been having theme-related sales. January is all about those new beginnings. So check it out!  Books at great prices. Who can resist. I know my resolution is to read more, eat less, and use stacks of books as my new found weights!

What lies behind this sheet in front of the Booknook?  Dare you look? 
​Click the image to find out, if you dare  . . .

See the Events page for more information about our book sale

Yes, we are getting back to a certain level of normal. We've had book sales and we are planning more events and activities for the remainder of 2022!

In the meantime, we need more books we can sell to help us with our fundraising efforts. Please donate your books you no longer need to us. We have a slot in the lobby for the Booknook where you can drop off donations. If you have more donations, let us know.

If you have been following the news, then you've heard that Congressman John Lewis passed away on July 17, 2020. This week the nation is celebrating his life and work along with his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. He participated in the March on Washington in 1963. On March 7, 1965, Bloody Sunday, shows him crossing the bridge on his way from Selma to Montgomery.  He and the other protesters were severely beaten by police with billy clubs that fateful Sunday. Yesterday, Sunday, July 26, he crossed that bridge for the very last time in a carriage carrying his coffin.

He wrote a graphic-novel trilogy that describes the movement and what they encountered. The three-volumes make for very fascinating read.                                     -- Zita Podany

The Art, Wine event has been cancelled. It was supposed to take place this weekend, July 25 and July 26, 2020. It will be rescheduled at a later date. Until then, keep supporting your libraries, library foundations, and library friends groups as they strive to meet daily challenges during this pandemic.

The FVRL Foundation is hosting an Art, Wine Fundraising event at Latte Da Coffee House and Wine Bar on Saturday, July 25 (9 am to 5 pm) and Sunday, July 26 (9 am to 4 pm).

Proceeds go to support the FVRL Foundation. At a time when we have the world shut down for an extended period of time, remember to support your library foundation so they can continue to provide great services amidst all the challenges we face.

At this time all 2020 Mini Book Sales have been cancelled.

Due to the COVID-19 situation, and in support of curbing the spread of the virus,  we will not be holding the mini book sales until further notice. Once the library re-opens, we will once again schedule future mini book sales and post the new dates and times.

In the meantime enjoy the books you have purchased in previous book sales. 

 Stay healthy, stay safe, stay in touch. 

The new FOVCL Facebook page is up and running. Kay Ellis and Gretta, a Booknook, volunteer will be updating it on a regular basis. Do take a look and become a friend to find out about the latest news from the Friends of the Vancouver Community Library.

As you look at your blank 2020 calendar, be sure to mark them for the mini book sales  -- we just had one and there were a lot of reading treasures on those tables.  So don't miss the ext one in April!

Be sure to mark your calendars for the exciting 2020 Mini Book Sales. They are held every two months on Fridays and Saturdays. Here is this year's schedule.  Print it out and post it on your refrigerator.  Don't miss out on great finds!

Today is our last day of the
Holiday Book Sale!!!

Don't miss out on some of the great items in this sale.
Just yesterday I spotted customers buying all of sorts of great books for a bargain. Coffee Table books on submarines, lighthouses and history of trains! Wow, as the cashier I was absolutely envious of some of the great finds people found!

All books will be $1.00 today!  

There are many wonderful books left, which will make great presents and many hours of good reading.  Come early for the best selections! 

We will open at 10:30 am , and sell until 5:00 pm. 

If you want to get more books for your buck you can purchase a bag of books for $10 from 4-5 pm.

We are located in the main library on C Street and Evergreen in Vancouver, Washington.

Thank you for supporting our library!

Mark your calendars for the annual holiday book sale at the library. Download the flyer and post it on your refrigerator. Spread the word.                                             PDF flyer

Happy 50th Anniversary Apollo 11!
Launched July 16, 1969
Moon Walk July 19, 1969

A handful of good books to read:

The library building will be 8 years old on Sunday, July 14, 2019. A fun-filled Milky Way Ice Cream party will be held in the Columbia Room from 1 pm to 4pm.  It will be out of this world with sprinkles, and fluffy whipped cream clouds and free books for children.  Enter a raffle to win a free book on the universe. Budding astronauts can decorate their ice cream planets any way they want --- so come and join the fun!

Mark those calendars for the mini book sales for the rest of 2019.

Great way to pick up bargains and stock up for that summer reading!!!  Tell all your friends, neighbors and anyone you see about these mini book sales located in the lobby of the library. Treasures abound!

Last December 31st we fired up the twin Yamaha 115HP engines aboard Great Ambition and complied with Washington State DNR's order to vacate the state, despite paying tens of thousands of dollars in taxes and fees over the last 10 years. You don't want me around? Fine, you don't have to tell me twice! And it wasn't the first time DNR kicked us out, so we should have known better, but sometimes you just don't learn the first time.
That said, it turns out the whole thing was a blessing in disguise. Our new moorage is great! We have an unfettered view of every sunrise right off our front deck, we are right next to the West Hills so we have mountains right out our back door. We are just 3 miles from Scappoose (instead of 8 miles from Vancouver) and 8 miles from Portland. We are patrons of two libraries that serve all our needs, and we have been grandfathered in to our very livable liveaboard marina for life, so we'll never be kicked out again. The owner recently told the marina manager, "If everyone who lived here was like Dan and April, this place would be great!" Sometimes when bad things happen to you, you just need to do what's required (it was a ton of work and money to get re-integrated back into Oregon) and hope for the best. Now, we couldn't be more pleased. It makes us wonder why we didn't make this move years ago.

Several years ago I befriended a female cat, who (as Charity Payne put it) was sorely in need of a friend. She had been dumped at the end of Lower River Road by the Humane Society  and left to be eaten by the coyotes (how humane is that?!!!). She moved into the marina we were at, but the residents didn't like her living there, so they trapped her and moved her by boat to Caterpillar Island. Very much like the Indian woman who lived all alone on San Nicolas Island (where I served in the US Navy) and fictionalized in the book, Island Of The Blue Dolphins, Gracie had a hard time living all alone on Caterpillar Island. No humans, no other cats, and hungry coyotes everywhere. No structures to escape the cold, snow or rain, no warm saucers of milk, just moles (which she was really good at catching) to eat. I built her a warm, cozy and coyote-safe home and made daily trips out to the island to feed her hot chicken broth, scraps, even salmon, turkey and once a whole goose! She loved me, and I her, but I couldn't let her live aboard my houseboat, it was just too small for a cat that was used to living out doors. One day I took her for a boat ride over to Reeder Beach on Sauvie Island where I used to patrol the beach looking for coal from old steamship wrecks. Gracie dutifully followed me along the beach, but in an act of exploration, climbed to the top of a hill, looked out and saw in the distance an unlimited number of homes, farms and barns to live in. Without even a "meow" she took off and I never saw her again. When I tell people that story, I imply that she died by saying that "she went to a better place ... Oregon." And now I'm there too. A better place, and just like Gracie, I'll never look back.