Food for Fines aims to help hungry students

The KSA has partnered with the Kwantlen library to raise awareness about student hunger and generate donations for the KSA food bank.

“We wanted to provide incentive for them to donate. At the same time we wanted them to recognize that other students are in need and that they can really help and make a difference,” said Eddie Lee, KSA health and recreation manager.

The Food for Fines program, Feb. 20-26, allows students to bring in non-perishable food items or new or unused toiletries to any campus library and receive $2 off fines for overdue items, up to a maximum of $10.

Lee got the idea from other universities that have had success with similar programs.

According to Lisa Hubick, public relations librarian, the library was happy to participate. She said the library had a history of helping local community food banks, but this was the first time they will be able to directly help out Kwantlen students.

While she admits that fines aren’t a huge problem with Kwantlen students, she hope students will take advantage of the Food for Fines program and help out fellow students.

Currently, the KSA food bank buys most of the food they need. According to Lee, they spend about $500 a semester on food bank supplies.

“The idea was to tug at the heart strings a little bit, as opposed to just doing a regular food drive,” Lee said of the program.

For more information on the food bank visit http://kwantlen.weebly.com/student-food-bank.html.

Extreme Makeover: Kwantlen library edition

The library at the Kwantlen Richmond campus is getting an overhaul, undergoing a $1.2-million reconstruction project, partially funded by the Knowledge Infrastructure Project (KIP).

(KIP is part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, and will spend $2 billion over two years to repair and expand colleges and universities across the country. In B.C., KIP is spending more than $230 million on 44 post-secondary institutions.)

Some of the improvements to the Kwantlen Richmond library will include more computer stations, more seating, more study rooms, a new copy room and a new information desk.

“I just think it will be an amazing transformation,” said Cathy MacDonald, the University librarian. “It will just be much more updated.”

The library at the Kwantlen Richmond campus is one of three projects at Kwantlen Polytechnic University partially funded by KIP. The other two projects are various student services renovations at the Langley campus and a partial building replacement at the Surrey campus.

The Kwantlen Richmond library is still open during renovations, but if you are looking for a quiet place to study, don’t go in the morning.

“[The contractors] are going to try to do much of the noisy drilling before 8 a.m.,” MacDonald said.

As well, the washrooms are not available for use in the library.

The renovation project is expected to be finished before the end of December.

“We had a report today that they are right on schedule,” MacDonald said.

More details about the library reconstruction are available at the college website.

Note: This article was updated, with quotes from Cathy MacDonald, on Sept. 30, 2010.

Filed Under: News
Tagged: library, renovation

Richmond library gets a facelift

November 27, 2009 by Abby Wiseman · Leave a Comment 

The Richmond library will be have more than 3000 extra square feet of usable space when renovations are finished. (Abby Wiseman photo)

Kwantlen’s Richmond campus library is getting a boost from the federal and provincial government in the form of $1.2 million.

The school announced on Nov. 19 that the government’s Knowledge Infrastructure Program had granted the money, which will be used to upgrade and renovate the Richmond campus library.

Barbara Duggan, dean of Kwantlen’s Centre for Design and Communications, said in the press release that the improvements will include renovating the library to create 3,139 square feet of space from existing unused space, improving checkout and library support spaces and increasing resources, such as computers and collections.

“I think the technological advancement of students is pretty sophisticated today,” said Linda Reid, MLA for Richmond East. “I think the material and the resources have to keep pace with that.”

According to the release, the funding is also a part of the province’s $14-billion capital infrastructure program, which the government implemented to try and create jobs and improve public infrastructure.

This isn’t the first major grant or donation the school libraries has received. In 2005, the government and Kwantlen collaborated to fund a $36 million renovation of three buildings on Surrey Campus, which included the expansion of the Surrey Campus Library.

Earlier this year, Coast Capital Savings donated $1 million for Kwantlen’s libraries.

Filed Under: News
Tagged: government funding, library, upgrades