By Sylvia Barnett & Jim Chow, CNH community members

The ‘Take a Book, Leave a Book’ book box is officially installed on the front lawn at CNH! The book box was designed and built with the idea of promoting learning and community connection through literacy. Community members can take a book and leave a book!

The bookcase was built by Jim YC Chow, a CNH patron, who sourced 98% of the upcycled materials from construction sites around the lower mainland that were going to the garbage facility. Chow designed and built the bookcase with tools from the tool library, CNH, and his own, on the fly as materials became available over the months.

The project was initiated in the spring of 2021 by Sylvia Barnett, a community member, who ran the idea by Chow and got approval from the CNH board and grant funding from Neighbourhood Small Grants, a program by Vancouver Foundation, for miscellaneous parts, materials, and other expenses, such as transporting materials and purchasing plexiglass and paint from Lowes, which is located in the neighbourhood. 

After months of meetings with CNH patrons on the design, logistics, materials, and artwork done by CNH’s Families Branching Out program, the official book box was finished on December 19, 2021.