Provincial Library Grants Report 2015
Introduction
The Pemberton & District Public Library is located within the Community Centre in the Village of Pemberton. It serves a total population of approximately 6458 covering the Village of Pemberton and the Squamish Lillooet Regional District Area C. It’s location within a shared recreational facility in the village and therange of services offered strengthen its position as the hub of the community. Pemberton and District is largely a young and growing population but with a sizeable seniors community too. The community has solid roots in the past and 45% of the population is aboriginal. Agri-tourism, service based industries and recreation tourism are the principal industries in the area. Its proximity to Whistlermake it attractive to both tourists and those who wish to settle in the area.
Transport options between Pemberton and the surrounding communities can make accessibility to the service difficult for some and we must seek out outreach opportunities to strengthen our connection with the outlying areas. Unemployment and low income is a challenge faced within the community, making the Library and its services an important resource for many.
Our strategic plan covers the period 2011-2016. The strategic areas are:
- Staff - Well trained welcoming staff that are responsive to the needs and concerns of our patrons
- Collections and Services - Maintain and enhance collection of popular and current materials, programs that reflect the needs of the community, and quality service based on the values of the Library
- Community Engagement, Marketing & Outreach - Increase community engagement, broaden awareness about what the Library has to offer, and improve connections with outlying areas.
- Library as a Place - The Library is a place that is accessible and welcoming to all people.
- Funding - Ensure adequate funding to support the implementation of the strategic plan
We have made significant achievements across the five strategic areas initially set out in 2011. Examples include: the implementation of structured staff training and review process; better collection development through patron requests, improved displays and maintaining the relevance and appearance of the collection; expanding the selection of programs offered to include more teen and children’s programs and adjusting the selection accordingly to what works well and what doesn’t; creation of a dedicated teen space; creation of laptop bars and general improvement of the seating arrangements to better accommodate the various needs of our patrons; increased transparency in financial reporting and accounting practices to present to the funding bodies.
We look forward to reviewing these strategic areas in 2016 and seeking more opportunities to develop our service and its role within the community.
Government priorities, Goals, Programs and Services, Partnerships
Government Priority 1: A focus on equitable access
Library Goal that supports the priority:
Our strategic area of Library as a Place supports the priority of ‘a focus on equitable access’ as we strive to make the Library a place that is accessible and welcoming to all people.
We recognize that ‘Library as a Place’ does not exclusively refer to the physical library building and so we are continually seeking ways to develop this goal of accessibility further by taking the Library out into the community to better reach those that don’t, or can’t, access our physical location. Our service area of Squamish Lillooet Regional District Area C covers the Pemberton Valley and the Mount Currie-D’Arcy corridor; an area of approximately 5,600 square kilometersand the largest in the regional district, which can make outreach to these outlying areas somewhat challenging.
To help start bringing elements of the library to outlying areas of our community, we set a goal in 2015 to install a number of ‘Little Free Libraries’ in various locations within the Village of Pemberton and Area C. These ‘libraries’ would be stocked and maintained by the library with the aspiration that once well established in their respective communities/locations, that they would become self-sustaining with a ‘bring one-take one’ ethos. However, our principle goal of the project wasto promote literacy and a love of reading that extended beyond the physical library building: a service that was accessible to all, with or without a library card.
Although we successfully installed several ‘libraries’ throughout the community in the latter part of 2015, we consider this project to still be ‘in process’ as we still have several additional outlying locations that we wish to go to next, once further funding is established.
Even at this early stage, we consider the project as having some degree of success as we have had to replenish the libraries on a number of occasions, indicating that materials are being taken and thereby accomplishing one of our goals of improving access to literature in the community. We have also received many comments about ‘what a wonderful idea’ it is and how ‘great it is to see this in our community’.
Future plans will include some method of providing feedback about the Libraries so that we can gather more qualitative evidence of their impact.
Programs and/or Services that aligns with the priority:
As outlined above, the ‘Little Free Libraries’ was a new service we wished to offer in 2015 to improve access to literature across our service area, while also raising awareness of the Library and its services amongst non-users.
The first phase of the ‘Little Free Libraries’ have been installed at the following locations:
- Pemberton Community Barn – this is a central landmark in downtown Pemberton and was chosen because of the accessibility of the space and how it can reach out to people who do not necessary come to the Community Centre. It is close to all of the shopping facilities and has the opportunity to reach out to a wide variety of people, regardless of whether they currently have a relationship with the library.
- One Mile Lake – again this is a popular location for both locals and visitors alike. The lake and trails make this a very busy leisure destination in the summer months.
- Gates Lake Park – located in Birken, approximately 30km for Pemberton, this allows us to reach residents of Area C that may not come to Pemberton frequently or access the resources in the Community Centre during their visits.
We chose locations closer to town for the first phase to allow us to better monitor their success and the higher profile locations should help raise awareness of the project. For the next phase, we plan to extend this project to other outlying locations such as Pemberton Meadows Road, Mt Currie and D’Arcy.
The ‘Little Free Libraries’ project connects to the priority of ‘a focus on equitable access’ as anyone can ‘borrow’ from them regardless of whether they hold a library card or not. There are no restrictions on who can use the service, other than their ability to get to the locations of the Libraries.
Another service that enhanced access to the Library in 2015 was the permanent revision of our opening hours to include earlier weekday openings and Sunday openings. We introduced Sunday opening late in 2014 after our public engagement survey when feedback clearly indicated this was a priority for many in the community. Reasons such as work schedules and lack of other facilities in Pemberton on Sundays were cited. Prior to the review, we didn’t open until 12pm on weekdays and this was also highlighted as unsuitable, particularly for young families in the area who wish to use the facilities earlier in the day. The trial period proved very successful and so the new hours were permanently implemented in 2015. Being open 7 days a week and open earlier during weekdays has undoubtedly improved how accessible we are to the community as proven by the 14.3%increase in our footfall between 2014 and 2015.
Partnerships that support the priority:
The ‘Little Free Libraries’ would not have been possible without a key partnership with the Pemberton Valley Men’s Shed, an initiative newly established in 2015 and sponsored by the Pemberton Valley Seniors Society. When we first presented the idea to them as a potential project, they were immediately on board, viewing it as an excellent addition to the community and an opportunity to raise awareness of their new venture. The Men’s Shed is comprised of a group of men from the Seniors Society with the aim of creating a social space where they can also take on initiatives that can be shared with the Society and the local community. They also operate the Pemberton Tool Library, a tool lending library that is open to anyone from the Pemberton area that signs up as a member.
The Pemberton Valley Men’s Shed both designed and built the libraries. Designs were presented to the Library Director and Board of Trustees for feedback and approval. The project was also facilitated by generous donations of materials from Rona and Mountain Glass & Mirror, and a financial donation from the Squamish Lillooet Regional District.
Outcomes that were identified:
As previously discussed, the principle goal of the ‘Little Free Libraries’ was to improve access to literature within our service area. A desired outcome was therefore to have people actually use the ‘Little Free Libraries’ once they were installed. This has been achieved as demonstrated by the requirement to replenish the materials on several occasions and also by observing the change in materials available (this is easily observed as we currently stock them with withdrawn library materials).
A desired outcome of changing our opening hours and being open on Sundays was that we would be able to provide improved access to our service and therefore, to potentially more people. We can deduce from the 14.3% increase in footfallbetween 2014 and 2015 that the new hours work well for our community as our population has not increased significantly in size yet the number of visits to the library continue to rise. While we cannot entirely claim that these hours have enabled us to attract more people to the library, we have certainly encouraged more visits.
We have also received comments from patrons such as “I love the new hours, they are way more convenient” and “I love the new hours, they are way better for me”, indicating that these changes have improved access.
Government Priority 2: Increased supports for education transformation
Library Goal that supports the priority:
Under our strategic area of Collections and Services we strive to offer programs that reflect the needs of the community. Pemberton is a largely young community, many households with young families, and so a goal in 2015 was to offer more programs specifically for children and families. A specific part of this goal was to increase the number of class visits from the local schools, both elementary and secondary. We already have a basic ad hoc class visit program in place, but in a typical year we only receive regular visits from the Signal Hill Elementary School. This is presumably largely due to its proximity to the Library. In 2015, we wanted to expand our outreach services to the other community schools and create a more structured class visit program aimed specifically at certain year groups so that children are getting the opportunity to benefit from structured informative visits at set stages throughout their time at school. These visits will introduce students to the library service, how to use it and learn more about what it can offer them for both leisure and independent learning. The aim is that as they progress through the program they will be equipping themselves with valuable library skills that will help them throughout their academic career and also familiarize them with the leisure opportunities available through the Library.
The creation of the structured class visit program is still in progress, however we were successfully able to increase the number of visits this year, additionally welcoming students from the Blackwater School, Waldorf School, Xit’olacw Community School, French Immersion (at Signal Hill Elementary) and adult learners at the Tszil Learning Centre.
One desired outcome from these visits is that the students will be encouraged to start using the library in their own time. While we have not collected specific data up to this point, we have certainly observed that many choose to sign up for Library cards and borrow materials at the end of their visit. We have also observed, particularly among the younger elementary age students, that after a class visit, many will often return for repeat visits, this time with a caregiver or parent(s). In 2016 we will be exploring methods to better collect information regarding the impacts of these visits, such as post-visit surveys.
Programs and/or Services that aligns with the priority:
Two programs we offered in 2015 aligned particularly well with the priority to increase supports for education transformation.
On Saturday January 24th we hosted a session called ‘Family Literacy for the Fun of it’. Facilitated by local teacher-librarian Sara Leach, this session introduced families to fun literacy activities to illustrate why it’s important to keep reading to kids even as they get older. On Saturday April 23rd and Sunday May 3rd, we offered Family LEGO workshops called ‘Bricks for Kids’. These workshops were designed to include interactive activities with focus on connecting families, having fun, preparing for school and building good basic literacy habits as a family.
Both programs required parent/caregiver participation and weekend dates were selected to enable parents that work during the week to attend.
Partnerships that support the priority:
Both the Family Literacy session and the Family LEGO Workshops were made possible through partnership with the ‘Dream Makers Community Literacy Coalition’ and the Raise a Reader program. Our role was to provide the location, advertising and registration. Raise a Reader provided the funding and the ‘Dream Makers Community Literacy Coalition’ coordinated the programs.
Outcomes that were identified:
A desired outcome for these programs was that families would get the opportunity to learn and play together and ultimately, have an enjoyable time doing so. Feedback was gathered by the facilitator and those that attended agreed that it was an enjoyable and worthwhile experience. If we have the opportunity to run the same (or similar) programs next year we will also collect this feedback for our own records to better assess the outcomes.
Government Priority 3: Support for the BC Jobs Plan by improving outcomes for job seekers in BC.
Library Goal that supports the priority:
Our strategic area of Collections and Services focuses on maintaining and enhancing a collection of popular and current materials, programs that reflect the needs of the community, and quality service based on the values of the Library.
The Library remains the only place in town where the community has free access to computer facilities and training/support. Many of our patrons do not have their own personal computers or laptops and/or live in areas with limited or unreliable Internet access so we are a vital service, particularly in terms of recruitment, as many job applications are required to be submitted online or via email, or for those wishing to undertake distance learning courses. Very often, staff are asked upon to help patrons with basic computing queries, online job applications and formatting resumes and so to support this need,one of our goals in 2015 was to increase the number and scope of the computer literacy classes we offered. These classes provide valuable job skills for both jobseekers and those already in employment.
Each Fall and Winter we offer a series of free computer classes on topics such as basic computing and introductions to Microsoft Word and Excel. These classes are typically over-subscribed and we have been limited to offering one per month and always the same cycle of basictopics. Our goal in 2015 was to be able to increase the number of classes to include a basic beginners class and then where practical a subsequent ‘next level’ class each month. The option of an extra class would enable us to repeat a beginners’ level session in instances where demand was particularly high.
Grants such as the Literacy Grant have enabled us to offer these valuable computer literacy classes to our community but there was no capacity for offering the additional classes each month. With the generous support of the Friends of the Pemberton Library, we were able to secure the funding for these additional classes which subsequently enabled us to achieve our goal of offering extra training sessions, all of which were well attended.
Feedback obtained from the evaluation forms completed at the end of each class consistently praised the facilitator and the training sessions and requested additional training opportunities. One patron added that the Microsoft Word course was very helpful for supporting her in her resume writing.