 Friends of Wildwood Library Society5112 50 StreetBox 309 Wildwood, AB. T0E 2M0 Ph 780-325-3882 Fax 780-325-3880 | WELCOME | ABOUT US | CONTACTS | LINKS | |
||
|
Wildwood library expansion notice
|
||
| The letter,
included below, written to the Yellowhead County Library Board (YCLB)
in 2005, indicates definite needs for a larger library building.
The Friends of Wildwood Library Society (FOWLS) has been advocating and
fundraising for a larger building for many years. It has, in
fact, been the heart and soul of FOWLS since the Society was
formed. It appears now that our vision will become reality in the
very near future. We learned on March 19, 2009 that the
Yellowhead County has purchased property in the Wildwood area and have
plans to be in their new facility by the end of 2010. At which
time the old Wildwood County office will become available to the Wildwood Public Library.
Your support in the past has been greatly appreciated. Your
continued financial support and community backing will help us
accomplish our goal. Friends of Wildwood Library Society P.O. Box 309 Wildwood, AB T0E 2M0 July 20, 2005 Kim DeLeeuw, Chair YCLB P.O. Box 306 Wildwood, AB T0E 2M0 Re: Library Expansion Dear Kim, Thank you for your letter of June 6 to the FOWLS Board. We are glad to know the YCLB supports the ideal of a bigger and better library. The funding of the library for a determined number of hours we view as a separate matter from enlarging the building. As the contractor with the YCLB these many years, running the management of the Wildwood Library in your stead, we are intimately involved with all the library’s needs, problems, goals and successes. The FOWLS Board and the Librarian, Ann Myrholm, have worked together to bring the full picture and state of the library before the YCLB so it can make the best decisions regarding its maintenance and future. We have kept the YCLB abreast of our goals and plans, developing yearly budgets and have responded to inquiries or given input on policies, and have attended network meetings. Ann reports monthly to the YCLB and works many hours to prepare the Annual Report each year. Her hard work clearly shows her understanding of what the Wildwood Library needs to support its services and meet patron needs. Together, we have always kept the goals and vision of the YCLB as a guide. Our request and strong recommendation to the YCLB to support the expansion of the Wildwood Library building is based on these years of experience, knowledge, work and goals. It is based on the fact that a patron in a wheelchair cannot enter the stacks to look at the books. There is a front entrance that allows wheel chair entry and washrooms that allow wheel chair entry, but the books are out of reach for a person in a wheelchair. It is based on the fact that at 105 sq.ft. (measuring 12’x 8.75' wall to wall) the Children’s Corner is far too small to adequately service the number of children (plus a parent) visiting our library nor does it provide enough room for the programs we offer. The wall to wall measurement includes books shelves on three sides, so the actual floor space is even smaller. There is one children’s table measuring 22.5 inches square for the children to do their crafts on. We also have resorted to using one of the Ikea coffee tables (measuring 25 inches by 22 inches) to try to give a little more work space for our young patrons. But obviously, it is not enough. Unfortunately, a normal sized (2.5ft. by 6ft.) table would be too big to fit in that small space and scarcely have room for human beings, even pint-sized ones. So at this point it is a choice between children or a reasonably sized table in the Children’s Corner. Besides room for our craft and story programs, more room is needed just for books, puzzles, child-sized benches/seats and an off-line children’s learning computer. It is based on the fact that there is no room whatsoever for even one student study desk or work station. Not one. It is an awful insufficiency of space that cannot furnish this standard library feature. Libraries should be first in line, after regular schooling, to serve student patrons and support their needs and encourage their efforts for study and research. The stacks are overloaded; the spacing between them is so close together that it is uncomfortable for two people (and not in wheel chairs but on their feet) to pass one another in the same row. The staff office is too small. The librarian should have a separate office. The FOWLS board would make good use of a conference room that could also be used/rented by many other area community groups or for projects. Another worthy cause is an adult reading room or area, large enough to be wheelchair accessible, with reading chairs and tables. This would be particularly appreciated by our many adult and senior patrons. There are only 119 square metres (1322.25 sq. feet) of usable space in the library. This area includes the two washrooms, the staff kitchenette, the entrance area, the front desk and the staff office, the row of computers, besides the stacks and children’s corner. We are the smallest library in the care of the YCLB, yet our statistics in circulation, ILLs, membership base and growth, computer usage, and programs, etc., show that we are the busiest and the most crowded library. Patrons continually remark and complain how small the library is and that it should be expanded to make it a better library. We bring this to the attention of the YCLB because it is the concern and responsibility of the YCLB to look to the future of library services and patron needs. The ideal is supported. But more than that is required if the ideal is to become reality. It needs to be championed by the YCLB and brought before the County Council so they can be made aware of the situation. The future of Wildwood Public Library, its services, the patrons that it serves is in your hands. We bring this to your attention because you have trusted us to manage the library in such a way that meets your goals and vision for library service in our part of Yellowhead County. Trust that this recommendation to expand the Wildwood Public Library is made with those same goals and vision. You can rely on us to put our backs and shoulders to the job, but we cannot move ahead without the leadership of the YCLB. Perhaps some members of the YCLB have not yet been in Wildwood Public Library, to the back where the Children’s Corner is or walked in the stacks and cannot visualize how very small and inadequate its size. We invite the members of the YCLB to visit the library in Wildwood. Our hope is to make the ideal real. Very truly yours, Nina Kencis, Vice Chair FOWLS |
||
| | WELCOME | ABOUT US | CONTACTS | LINKS | | ||
|
|
©Copyright
2008-2009 FOWLS |
|