Tag: Whistler Public Library

Challenged Books at the Whistler Public Library

Challenged Books at the Whistler Public LibraryChallenged Books at the Whistler Public Library

August 25, 2026 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

Written by Anna Donaldson

Photo: Joan Richoz with a collection of challenged and banned books during Freedom To Read Week in 1994. Whistler Question Collection. 

This year marks the 40th birthday of the Whistler Public Library. To celebrate our friends at the library, we at the museum thought we should highlight some of the amazing work the library has done for the community. Known as Whistler’s Living Room, the library provides crucial services, resources, and programs to community members. One of the ways the library does this is by making sure everyone has access to knowledge. Every year around the last week of February, the Whistler Public Library recognizes Freedom to Read Week. Freedom to Read Week, spearheaded by the Canadian Library Association, has been taking place in libraries across Canada since 1984. It sheds light on books, magazines, and other pieces of media that have been challenged or even banned.

As Canadians, our right to intellectual freedom is guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter was signed in 1982, only two years before Freedom to Read week was established. Freedom to read week encourages us to explore books that were challenged, and learn about why they were challenged, and the action that was actually taken by the organization that housed them. Ignorance can bloom when we don’t learn about these books, despite their controversy. Reading these books is how we can learn about the controversial topics they may contain, and how we can better ourselves from it.

Many books that are deemed as classics have been banned in places all over the world. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and Lord of the Flies by William Golding have all been banned in specific libraries across Canada. In the ‘90s, the Whistler Public Library staff would cover the books for Freedom to Read Week in plain paper bags to draw interest. People are always shocked at which books have been banned in Canada, the U.S.A., or other countries. Joan Richoz, one of the founders of the Whistler Public Library, states that it is a “great way to teach the public that not everyone likes all the books in the library”, and that different people will have different opinions on what is acceptable.

Joan Richoz reading to a group of children at the Whistler Public Library in 1991. Whistler Question Collection.

Whistler is a very progressive community, as Richoz states. However, the Whistler Public Library is not immune to challanged books. Since its creation in 1986, the library has had very few books be challenged. The first book to be challenged was Headhunter by Michael Slade. It was challenged under the belief that it did not promote “good Christian values”. In an interview with the museum, Joan remembered that the classic children’s book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak was issued a complaint by a parent for being too violent. Lots of challenged books are children’s books that have not aged well. Joan herself says that while these books shouldn’t be kept in the kids section, it makes sense to put them in a different section to reflect the socio-cultural ideas of society at their time. These books should be read not with the intent to take their messages to heart, but from a sociological perspective. Challenges are always taken very seriously, but ultimately the Whistler Public Library has not formally removed any books from its shelves.

The Whistler Public Library has been very outspoken about their belief in intellectual freedom. Every February, the staff at the library curate a list of books that have been banned or challenged across the country, and promote them. Freedom to Read week encourages us to expand our knowledge, and learn about why these books were banned so that we can better ourselves and our minds. The next Freedom to Read week is from February 21 to February 27, 2027. The current Freedom to Read list can be found below.

https://whistler.bibliocommons.com/v2/list/display/915621879/2473631239

Anna Donaldson is the Summer Program Coordinator at the Whistler Museum through the Young Canada Works Program.

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Cataloguing WhistlerCataloguing Whistler

April 16, 2025 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

When Marcel and Joan Richoz first moved to Alta Lake (the area would not technically be known as Whistler until 1975), it was a move to a much smaller community and a rather different way of life than the Whistler of today.

Originally from Switzerland, Marcel began skiing at Whistler Mountain in its first season, having previously skied on Grouse Mountain and been told about the development happening at Whistler. In 1968, he saw lots for sale in Alpine Meadows for about $1,800. Thinking that was expensive, he put off buying a lot until the price had gone up to $3,500.

Marcel purchased the lot as an investment, but after he and Joan spent the 1971/72 season living in a small village in Switzerland they found it hard to return to city life in Vancouver again. Instead, they put up a big canvas tent on the lot in Alpine and spent the summer camping. Marcel, a fine woodworker, began learning carpentry and over the next couple of years he and Joan constructed a small round log cabin on the property, followed by a house that they built themselves with help from friends and neighbours. Looking back during an oral history interview in 2023, Joan recalled that they moved into their permanent home during a blizzard in November 1974.

The Mountain Inn crew take a break during construction in 1981. From left to right: Al Frumento (foreman), Dave Nickerson, Angelo Formolo (foreman), Sisto Marini, Don Shaw, Angelo Scopazzo, and Gerhard Klein (superintendent). Seated: Marcel Richoz and Jim Crichton. Whistler Question Collection, 1981

Though Whistler had been declared a municipality by the time their daughter was born in late 1975, there were still relatively few families around and services such as pediatricians and grocery stores were a drive or a train ride away. Joan and her baby would catch the train at the flagstop at Mons and be picked up by her father in North Vancouver in order to visit the doctor, run errands, and do the shopping for the next few weeks before catching the train back up.

Joan began volunteering for the Whistler Community Arts Council (today Arts Whistler) in 1983 when her neighbour, Margaret Long, co-founded the first Whistler Children’s Art Festival. She also began volunteering at the Myrtle Philip School, especially in the library and during lunch hour. When the Whistler Public Library Association was formed in December 1985, Joan served on that board as well, before becoming the library’s first (and for a time only) employee.

Like Whistler, the library that opened in 1986 was a much smaller and different library than the one that we know today. It was located in 1,400 sq ft in the basement of Municipal Hall and began operating in August with a collection of 4,600 books. The space had been furnished with custom shelving by members of the Rotary Club of Whistler, notably Andy Petersen and Bill Wallace, and was open to the public for a total of sixteen hours/week.

Librarian Joan Richoz rifles through the card catalogue before it was replaced by computer terminals in 1995. Whistler Question Collection, 1995

Joan had completed a distance education program that the provincial government offered to become a community librarian. Unlike a public librarian in a larger city library, community librarians were expected to do just about everything, from cataloguing each item in the collection to janitorial duties when needed. This meant that while volunteers helped process (cover and label) and shelve books, Joan was responsible for creating the catalogue cards. Each item required at least 3″x5″ cards containing all of its information and most items had more. One card would be kept back for inventory, one would be filed as a title card, and another would be filed under the author. If a book could be searched for under multiple subjects, Joan would create additional cards to be filed under each subject heading. Working with only an electric typewriter, each card was typed individually. The following year, the library got its first computer and Joan found an automated program that meant she only had to type out the information for each item once and could then print out copies of the cards as needed.

Joan reads to Craig Smith’s class from Myrtle Philip School during a field trip to the library. Whistler Question Collection, 1991

Along with cataloguing, Joan managed a busy library that also served as a community centre and meeting place for Whistler residents and visitors. Joan ran storytimes for kids and got to know almost everyone who came in, even remembering some of their library card numbers before circulation became automated.

Since opening in 1986, the Whistler Public Library has moved twice and grown a lot in its collection, its programs, and its usership.

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A BC Odyssey: Book LaunchA BC Odyssey: Book Launch

October 23, 2023 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 0 Comments

Join us on Monday, November 6th for the exciting launch of A BC Odyssey: Canoeing through British Columbia in 1970 by John Hetherington. This gripping memoir takes readers on a 1200 km canoe trip through rugged landscapes of BC, offering vivid descriptions and captivating encounters. All proceeds from the sale of the book will be contributed to the Whistler Museum’s Building Fund.

The event begins at 6 pm at the Whistler Public Library. To sign up for this event and guarantee your spot, email publicservices@whistlerlibrary.ca.

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A New Whistler MuseumA New Whistler Museum

January 24, 2023 Whistler MuseumWhistler Museum 2 Comments

People come into the Whistler Museum every day and are inspired to share their own stories. “I remember when I was looking at real estate in Whistler in the 1970s. Lots next to the garbage dump were selling for $10,000 but I was scared of bears so didn’t buy one.” That garbage dump is where Whistler Village now sits.

The site of Whistler Village prior to development. Whistler Question Collection.

A recent favourite was when a longtime local told us about volunteering for a race on Whistler Mountain. One of the chairs fell from the Orange Chair, and instead of stopping it and doing tests they were instructed to hide the chair in the trees so no one would see what had happened.

When Jim McConkey was visiting from Denman Island earlier in the year he casually brought up how Bob Lange brought him a prototype of a plastic lace-up ski boot to try, back when boots were exclusively made from leather. According to Jim, “I tried it and said, ‘You’re on the right track but you’ve got to make a buckle boot.’ That was the first plastic boot there was.”

There are so many unique stories about Whistler and the people who call, or have called this town home. 60 years ago there was no skiing on Whistler or Blackcomb Mountains, instead, the valley was mainly used for logging and summer tourism which revolved around fishing.

When Whistler Mountain first opened in 1966 visitors travelled to the lifts on a gravel road that was only plowed once a week. Whistler became a municipality less than 50 years ago, and when it was incorporated there was no sewer or town water in the valley, and many people relied on the manual collection of water from the lakes or creeks.

Creekside during construction of the ski resort in 1965. Janet Love Morrison Collection.

According to the 2021 census data, the median age of the population in Whistler is 35.6. This means that more than half of the population of Whistler was around before the mountains allowed snowboarding. Even more recent was the opening of the bike park. Most people would remember a time before the bike park, and Crankworx, now a global celebration of mountain biking, started in Whistler in 2004.

A lot has changed! Regularly we are told the only thing in Whistler that hasn’t changed since opening are the lift lines. The Whistler Museum and Archives Society was started in 1986 to document these changes so people could remember a time before skiing. Our mission is to collect, preserve, document, and interpret the natural and human history of mountain life, with an emphasis on Whistler, and to share this with the community to enrich the lives of residents and guests.

Like plenty of other Whistler institutions throughout history, we are currently housed in a temporary trailer. The trailer that we call home started its life as the Canada Post building on a different site. In 1994 it was moved into the village, and the library moved in in 1995 until it found its permanent home in 2008.

There are a few challenges with our temporary home. Preserving archives and artefacts for future reference and exhibits relies on specific temperature and moisture controls so materials do not degrade. The building that we have currently is hard to keep within these parameters. Storage space is also limited so much of our collection is offsite in uncontrolled environments. This puts the collection at risk and we would love to keep it under stricter conditions for improved protection, which we could do in a new museum.

The Canada Post building in 1978. It would go on to become the library and then the museum. This is the same building the museum calls home today. Whistler Question Collection.

A bigger footprint will also mean we can share more of Whistler’s stories with the community. Whistler’s history is quite unique, we have had a big global impact for such a small town, and we want to be able to protect and celebrate this for generations to come.

On December 6th, the Resort Municipality of Whistler agreed to a lease of municipal land to the museum for a 60 year term. Sixty years ago Whistler was not a ski town, and in another 60 years who knows what will happen? Whatever the future looks like, we hope the Whistler Museum will be around to capture and celebrate our history.

Look out for more exciting information related to the new museum facility in the coming months.

Much in Whistler has changed since the Whistler Museum opened in the trailer on Main Street, next to the library in 1995. Mayor Ted Nebbeling and Sara Jennings unveil the sign during the grand opening. Petersen Collection.

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