Alert Bay Public Library
2014 Grant Report
Community Engagement and Planning
2014 was another busy year for the Alert Bay Public Library with more people becoming aware of the many services we can offer to the community. Through our membership in the Islandlink Library Federation, we were able to offer several programs in the two local schools as well summer programs held in the Lawrence Ambers Recreation Centre on the Namgis Reserve. During the summer months and throughout the year, we were able to offer free internet service to the many visitors coming to our island for recreation or work experience. This past year we took part in fundraising activities to make it possible to purchase and install new track lighting and a surveillance system in our building. We also took part in assisting the Village of Alert Bay in distributing survey forms to residents regarding the “Tides of Change Economic Development Strategy”
Grants:
Operating Grant
Amount: $4243
Plan: Yes
Use: As we have been doing for many years using this same amount, we were able to pay minimum wages to our two part-time employees, purchase some new books and pay utilities enabling us to keep the library open four afternoons a week during the year.
Outcomes: we had two part-time staff and one volunteer who kept the library open 210 days and worked 1,168 hours in 2014.
Strategic Plan and One Card:
Amount: $6,350
Use: We were able to fulfill another of our Goals with making our new Library Space a more welcoming space by purchasing and installing a new set of ceiling track lights for our main section of the book collection. We also obtained a new Optelec machine through the help of the local Health nurses and the Village of Alert Bay. This is used to help visually impaired patrons to be able to read their own correspondence and other material that they would not ordinarily be able to do. This amount also helped with funding our part-time librarians who assist our patrons in using this machine and the public access computers the library offers to the public.
Outcome:
We have had more patrons who come in to read books from our First Nations Reference Section. We also had several women come in to use thenew equipment in order to read documents and books. 1,524 people used our public access computers in 2014
Equitable Access:
Grant: $1,825.
Plan: Yes
Use: These funds were used again this past year to support our children’s programs. Our Story Hours only ran from January to June as we lost our volunteer who came in to present these.
We also had two programs during the summer months sponsored by the Islandlink Library Federation which were held in the Lawrence Ambers Recreation Centre on the Namgis Reserve.
Outcome: We did have 68 children and 39 adults attend our Story Hours as well as a part-time librarian who helped the Volunteer Story Teller. We also had 40 children and parents attend an author, Jeremy Tankard’s, presentation at the Lawrence Ambers Recreation Centre. The Travelling Puppet Show was another popular show in the Recreation Centre and saw an attendance of over 100 children and adults over the day.
Resource Sharing
Amount: $1985.00
Use: We have been actively involved with the interlibrary loan program throughout the Province with both borrowing and lending out books.. This has been the busiest year so far for us. The programs supporting our catalogue system continue to increase in cost and with our small budget we have had to work hard to fund all our requirements. As well, we have had more participation from the local book club members this year.
Outcome: The Book Club members read seven different titles this past year which meant we had to order 70 more books through the interlibrary loan system. Because they were coming in to order and pick up these books, they also borrowed additional books for their own pleasure. This program uses a fair amount of the three hours each day that the library is open. We had a total of 4,464 books circulated this past year compared to 3,910 circulated the year before.