On May 23, 2026, Arnie participated in the Greater Victoria Public Library’s unveiling of this year’s Emerging Local Authors collection, honouring the 100 local authors whose books will now be part of the collection. Arnie appears in the short video below.

The GVPL’s 2026 Emerging Local Authors Collection, in its eleventh year, features self-published, independently-published, and small press books written by local authors and published between 2016 and 2025.

The Emerging Local Authors Collection is an initiative developed by GVPL to celebrate Greater Victoria’s rich writing culture. To date, more than 1700 unique titles and over 1000 authors have been showcased in this annual collection, with featured authors ranging in age from six to 90-plus.

Each year, GVPL invites authors to apply to take part in its Emerging Local Authors Collection. To be eligible to participate, authors or illustrators must live on southern Vancouver Island or have resided here during the time of the publication of their book.

The print books in the Emerging Local Authors Collection are on display at the Central Branch on the main floor for one year; you can browse the titles and place them on hold to pick up at the branch of your choice. The ebooks are accessible online through Libby by OverDrive, with unlimited borrowing.