Sparwood Public Library
Provincial Grants Report 2013
The Sparwood Public Library is located in the far southeast corner of the province of British Columbia, some 20 kms from the Alberta border. A predominantly coal mining community serving 5000 people: we are also close to the communities of Fernie, and Elkford and have active reciprocal borrowing with these communities, as well as a few members from the nearby Alberta communities that make up the Crowsnest Pass.
The Library is a hub of the community as it is very near the commercial area of the town and is the only place in the community for internet access, as well as photocopying, faxing and more recently scanning to email. Many local companies now require applicants to apply online and we have a number of new residents use the library internet terminals to apply online as well as watch short training videos as required by some of the local mines.
The Library acts as a location for proctoring of numerous exams from regional colleges to the Insurance Brokers of Canada, NAIT, BCIT and others.
The Library has well attended weekly pre-school and toddler programs: We have LEAP BC trained staff member who holds Baby Laptime and HOP each week as well as two staff members who hold weekly storytime. The Library has participated in the Summer Reading Club since its inception. In the past five years the Summer Reading Club has been run in conjunction with the Sparwood and District Parks and Recreation Department.
Some of the Library’s long term Goals:
Senior’s Outreach. A goal for the next several years is outreach to local seniors. Many seniors who were born and raised in “the Elk Valley” are not used to library service as the library is only 40 years old itself. With the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy, the Library has had a number of Internet training sessions as well as drop in help for tablets and e-readers. Every Tuesday afternoon an informal “koffeeklatsch” meets in the Library with their IPADs or latest gadget to learn from staff or to help each otherwith new apps and tips and tricks. We have helped them loadeBooks from Libraries to Go, introducedthem to Skype and Face Time on their IPhones/IPads/Tablets to keep in touch with family and friends. It is on a drop in basis and has been popular during the long winter months.
Meeting the goals of equitable access and educational transformation:
The Sparwood Public Library had the unique opportunity to offer the public sessions on American Sign Language (ASL). Early in 2013 a young man who is himself deaf and knows ASL offered to hold free sessions for the general public on American Sign Language. The Library offered free space for the weekly sessions: interest was high, with some 10 people initially registering. The classes ran from March 2013 to June and started again in September to December of 2013. Most people registered out of general interest, but one family took particular interest due to a son’s learning disabilities. The young mother felt that learning ASL would give her another method of communicating with her toddler son, especially as he grows older. The young man who teaches the class has had to limit his time teaching as he now has a full time job, but several of the students, including the mother of the son with the learning disability, continue to meet at the library on Tuesday evenings to practice what they have learned. This has been a unique and enlightening experience for staff as it illustrates that equitable access goes beyond reading and has been educational for staff and patrons alike.
A long term goal of the Sparwood Public Library is outreach to seniors and “print material challenged” adults. This demographic is underserved in our community by the library, and it is an ongoing mission to reach out, in formats that are best suited to their needs. We have recently signed up to participate in the National Network for Equitable Library Services, (NNELS) initiative made possible by the BC Libraries Cooperative. This will be an ongoing project as technology to access material in other formats is changing so rapidly. A link to NNELS will be on the library website in the very near future.
Meeting the goal of community engagement and collaboration:
The Sparwood Public Library has been trying to take the library out into the community more and more: from holding storytime in the park during Canada Day celebrations, to storytime in the local shopping mall during Arts and Culture week in April. Our most successful outreach event was held on September 6. Partnering with the local Farmer’s Market the Library brought in author and gardener Carolyn Herriot. Ms. Herriot a strong advocate for “zero mile diets” spoke on the need for people to get to know their food, and to grow them organically, and held some 18 enthusiastic participants enthralled, during a torrential rainstorm. (Fortunately we anticipated poor weather and brought a tent.) The farmer’s market waived the normal fee and it was felt that the visit by Ms Herriot brought other people to the farmer’s market who normally might not have attended. This was the first year of the farmer’s market in Sparwood and we hope that we will be able to participate again in future years. Ms. Herriot’s visit was coordinated by the Kootenay Library Federation well in advance of the farmer’s market starting in Sparwood, and is an example of two diverse organizations, which on the surface have little in common, but can have a successfullycollaborate to the benefit of all.
Collaboration with the local Early Childhood Development Committee (ECD). The ECD committee approached the library asking us to apply on their behalf for a pilot project called “Books for Toddlers”. Based on the successful Books for Babies program, the Committee wanted to bridge the gap between infancy and pre-school storytime, by making available books and music to toddlers when they reach about 18 months to two years of age. The library successfully applied and received $1400 for the project from the Columbia Basin Trust: similar to books for babies, a special book bag was designed and special bulk discounts were received for a book and a music CD, as well are reading tips for parents. This is a pilot project and is just being rolled out this spring, and results have yet to be determined.
Adult Learners and Immigrants: The Library makes its space free to the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy for the teaching of adult literacy and ESL. A pilot project this year has been an “ESL Book Club”: the library purchased duplicate copies of some ESL titles from Grass Roots Press. The local CBAL coordinator facilitated the book club at the library for six weeks. This was a first attemptand some 4 ESL students participated. For this season, only one title was chosen, but should the club continue in 2014, the Sparwood Public Library plans make available the ESL book sets to other libraries in the Kootenay Library Federation and other libraries in the province. We feel that once a resource has been used in our library it should be made available to others.
The Library acts as a centre for to disperse information about educational opportunities: the Elk Valley Job Seekers send out its weekly jobs list to the library and we print it out for the public. Staff has helped with resume writing and job applications. We also keep a list of people who will assist with income tax, for free or a small fee for seniors and those who cannot afford a professional tax preparer. We also act as a contact between tutors and pupils. The library at present does not have the funds to pay tutors, but we are actively encouraging people willing to tutor to give their names to us and we pass on any information to local parents seeking tutoring help. We also give free space to any tutor wishing to use the library as their teaching location.