Local support lets library flourish

By Miriam Ostermann, Associate Editor

When the Strathmore Municipal Library temporarily downsized its square footage to 1,500 sq. ft., the continuance of their summer and fall programs became a significant concern.
Without additional space, the staff was left with two options to keep the programs afloat: postpone the programs until later in the year once the library was back in its new-and-improved facility, or find space elsewhere in town.
As luck would have it, the Town of Strathmore and a local organization, the Wheatland Society of Arts, came to the rescue by offering up their space – free of charge – thus ensuring the programs’ survival.
“I think people just love libraries and I think they see the value in what we provide and they want to see the programs continuing,” said Carmen Erison, assistant director of library services at the Strathmore Municipal Library.
“To be able to see that support from the community is great. Even just with donations, people are starting to see that libraries are not just specifically about books. I think they’re starting to see the value that we bring to the community and the programs that we provide both for children and for adults.”
The library’s permanent home, Lambert Centre, is currently undergoing much-needed upgrades and improvements to accommodate the library’s growth, both in patronage and in programming. As a result, the library’s popular summer reading program was in jeopardy. But through the Town of Strathmore’s assistance in donating the upstairs space of the arena and additional storage space for the program’s supplies, the community continued to access the resource this summer. The town also donated the space for the library’s Act this Week program that ran this week and has its final performance Aug. 25.
Following suit, the Wheatland Society of Arts, conveniently located across from the Strathmore Municipal Library’s temporary location on 3rd Avenue, lent a helping hand by offering up their roughly 1,000 sq. ft. space to house three upcoming initiatives: Crafternoon, Teen Advisory Council and the fourth annual Halloween Costume Exchange. With intentions of working together with community groups and initiatives and eager to help wherever possible, the society, that had previously worked together with the library, didn’t hesitate to step up to the plate.
“Since we’ve got our own space we’ve worked hard to connect communities, connect businesses. And with the library in their temporary position where they don’t have enough space, it’s given us a great opportunity to help them with studio space,” said Ken Bourassa, executive director with the Wheatland Society of Arts.
“Strathmore is getting to be a larger community and I think it’s always sad when you have to go somewhere else, to another town or Calgary, in order to get those projects that aren’t sport-based.
This gives us an opportunity to be able to give people who have other interests an opportunity to access art and creativity.”
The free one-hour Crafternoon program, geared towards children from Grade 1 to Grade 6, will start up again on Sept. 11 from 4-5 p.m. The Teen Advisory Group open house will also take place on Sept. 11 at the same location: 115 3rd Avenue. The studio-gallery will also house the Halloween Costume Exchange on Oct. 13. The library will offer their Story Time program, in their current location at 116 3rd Avenue starting on Sept. 12 from 10 to 10:30 a.m.