Little library turns Island street into a creative community exchange
Published 7:30 am Sunday, August 23, 2026
A little library on the 400 block of Nelson Street in Esquimalt is inviting the community to become more creative.
The community-led art and zine library was created by Sonya Gracey one year ago and has since then acted as a creative hub for art lovers.
Gracey was a registered nurse for 23 years, a two-term Victoria city councillor, and a current art therapist and registered clinical counsellor.
Speaking to Victoria News, Gracey said the idea to create the art and zine library stemmed from her lifelong fascination with the idea of libraries as they are free, accessible, and supported by the community.
“ Libraries are my favourite thing in the whole world,” she said.
“I love libraries. And I love that the Greater Victoria Public Library actually has done all sorts of really creative things with the concept of libraries, like food libraries and different kinds of borrowing.”
Her love for libraries, coupled with her work as an art therapist, made her create an accessible space for the community to create art.
“I thought it would be nice to create a place where people could both come and be inspired by creativity, but also to share their own creativity,” she said.
Community members can leave their artwork in any form, from tiny sculptures to photographs, paintings, jewelry, and felting.
“There’s room in this library for love notes, postcards, trading cards, collage, beaded work, slow stitch, poetry, short stories, and mixed tapes,” she added to the list.
“Sky, your imagination is the limit.”
The library also works as a space for zines, short for self-published works, which have long provided an accessible way for people to share their writing, artwork and ideas without going through traditional publishing channels.
Visitors can create their own small publications, make copies, and leave them for someone else to discover.
For Gracey, the library is an opportunity for everyone to get off the grid, and engage with the community.
“That really is nice. Seeing people’s contributions, how they are creative about it.”
If Gracey wishes for one thing, it would be if the library were bigger, so more art supplies can fit in, and for more adults to contribute to the library.
“I think the invitation I have is to adults in the community. I see a lot of kids’ art being contributed, which is beautiful, but also it’s a funny thing that people who are adults sometimes forget that they also can be creative and try something new. And just how important and nice it is to get to know each other creatively.”
The library, however, has two rules for the users. One is that art must be small, as the library is, and hate is not welcome; such art will be composted.