By Burnaby Now |
A former Burnaby librarian’s commitment and passion to youth literacy is still remembered 10 years after her death.
Julia Nelson was a teen services librarian at Burnaby Public Library from 2010 to 2013. She died in 2013 after a six-month battle with leukemia when she was just 33 years old.
In her honour, the library set up a trust to support its teen services department – and a program of teen workshops called Julia’s Studio, which features creative programs for youth aged 13 to 19 taught by local artists.
Julia’s father Paul Nelson donates to the fund every year, and this year he will match donations that BPL receives between now and the end of August up to $2,500.
Nelson said his daughter’s legacy shines in the creative efforts of Julia’s Studio and expressed his gratitude to the library for keeping Julia’s name going.
“The library has advanced it so beautifully. Every year, they’ve enriched it more,” Nelson said.
“I think that this outreach that they’re doing, it’s like a new mission of libraries. It’s more than just information, it’s community connections.”
The Julia’s Studio workshops are free and feature a variety of subjects from watercolour painting, digital drawing, writing to tarot and self-care.
Nelson sat in on one of the classes for fun some years ago.
“It was absolutely wonderful,” he said. “And you could see that there were young people there who were doing something they had never done before.” He added the quality of the instructors is wonderful.