The Bowen Island Library’s first Living Library, held Saturday August 13, was a success by all measures. Four Bowen islanders generously offered their afternoon to tell library patrons about their lives. On the library lawn, in four intimate café-style settings, families, small groups of friends, and individuals “checked out” these books for a half hour, to hear tales of travel, adventure, careers, and creativity.
Kami Kanetsuka told eager listeners the story of her first travel adventure, which began in a bus in London exactly 50 years ago, and ended up in Kathmandu three months later. Ron Woodall shared tales of his lifetime in marketing and art, complete with full show-and-tell. To attentive listeners, young and old alike, Isabel Ruediger detailed how she became a career fire fighter of 24 years; and Stacy Beamer talked about his many lives - especially as a sculptor on Bowen.
This was a pilot event, aimed at meeting the raison d’etre of the Bowen Library – to connect people, to encourage learning, and to create community. Evaluations by “readers” and “books” alike rated this a positive experience by those criteria - one they would definitely do again! Some readers knew the “books” and were eager to ask them specific questions, while others had only read their “titles” and were curious to find out more. Folks reported enjoying the variety of stories and experiences, however, many wished there were more “books” and that the time slots were longer than half an hour – Bowen just has too many stories to tell, in not enough time!
Thank you to our “books” and “readers” for participating in this exciting event!
