Last week, we were given the opportunity to speak with town council and give them a review of 2015 at Ponoka Jubilee Library. We are so excited about the information that was presented there that we thought we would pass it along to you too. So here are some of the highlights for us:
We started our free membership policy on January 1, 2015, which entitles anyone of legal age who lives in the town or County of Ponoka or the Community of Maskwacis to a free membership. We went from 836 active members to 1122, which is 286 new members, or an increase of 34 per cent. We also had a 20 per cent overall increase in circulation, and a 32 per cent increase in holds/requests filled for our patrons. 62,472 items circulated through our library last year.
We held 164 programs in 2015, with just short of 2200 people taking part in them. These programs included Story Time, the Summer Reading program, Spanish classes, wine tastings, movie days, firearms safety courses, Lego club, Christmas activities, vision screenings with the Ponoka Lions Club, a monthly adult book club and gardening seminars.
We have continued our community outreach through programs like the book reading club at the long-term care ward at the Ponoka Hospital and partnering with the Youth Centre to beautify and plant our community garden, which donated fresh vegetables to the Ponoka Food Bank. We joined the Town of Ponoka on their Stampede parade float, and with them, as well as many other fabulous organizations in Ponoka, helped plan and participated in the very fun Day in the Park at the end of August. We provided tours and scavenger hunts to different school classes (yep, we do library tours for any teachers out there looking for a fieldtrip idea), daycares and a Sparks group.
We expanded our Ponoka Friends of the Library Society and with their help, and the generosity of the community, were able to raise more than $7,000 through donations and fundraisers.
We added 1112 new items to the library collection, being sure to focus on national bestsellers, items with Canadian content, and many blockbuster movies, as well as many new items for children. We also received a large number of new children’s books for free when we arranged to have the COW (Classroom on Wheels) bus come to the library in July to provide an educational and interesting afternoon for beginner readers.
2015 was a great year. And we want to celebrate it with everyone, so come join us at our fourth annual ‘Dinner at the Library’ on Thursday, Feb. 25, from 6 to 8 p.m. It’s a potluck, so we ask everyone to bring one item to share. We’ll provide drinks, buns, plates and cutlery. Please sign up at the library.
Coming soon: In the explosive new thriller, ‘After She’s Gone’, Lisa Jackson delves into the deep bond between sisters and their shared dream that becomes a harrowing nightmare of madness, hatred and jealousy.