Vancouver Public Library (VPL) is the public library system for the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2013, VPL had more than 6.9 million visits with patrons borrowing nearly 9.5 million items including: books, ebooks, CDs, DVDs, video games, newspapers and magazines. Across 22 locations and online, VPL serves nearly 428,000 active members and is the third-largest public library system in Canada. Services The Vancouver Public Library includes a large collection of books and digital content. The library provides community information, programs for children, youth, and adults, and delivery to homebound individuals. In addition, the library also provides access to information and reference services, text databases, interlibrary loan services. One Book, One Vancouver One Book, One Vancouver was a citywide book club sponsored by the Vancouver Public Library. Titles were selected by the library staff, who voted on one of four titles presented by the One Book, One Vancouver Organizing Committee. It was discontinued after 2010. 2002: The Jade Peony – Wayson Choy 2003: Stanley Park – Timothy Taylor 2004: The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power – Joel Bakan 2005: Obasan – Joy Kogawa 2006: There is a Season: A Memoir in a Garden – Patrick Lane 2007: My Year of Meats – Ruth Ozeki 2008: The Five Books of Moses Lapinsky – Aren X. Tulchinsky 2009: The Crazy Canucks: Canada's Legendary Ski Team – Janet Love Morrison 2009: The Farm Team – Linda Bailey 2010: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams History In January 1869, the manager of the Hastings Mill, J.A. Raymur, started the New London Mechanics Institute, a meeting room and library for mill employees. In March 1869, it was renamed the Hastings Literary Institute, in honour of Rear Admiral the Honourable George Fowler Hastings. No official records of the Hastings Literary Institute have survived, but it is known that membership was by subscription. The Hastings Literary Institute continued to exist until the Granville area was incorporated as part of the new City of Vancouver on 6 April 1886. Following the Great Vancouver Fire on 13 June 1886, 400 books from the now-defunct Hastings Literary Institute were donated to the newly established Vancouver Reading Room. In December 1887, the Reading Room opened at 144 West Cordova Street, above the Thomas Dunn and Company hardware store. It was also known as the Vancouver Free Library and the Vancouver Free Reading Room and