People in the Boundary and Okanagan will see improvements to their local public libraries, thanks to COVID-19 relief and recovery funding.
Several grants will finance expanded digital collections and internet access, upgraded spaces and programming, and improved air circulation.
Roly Russell, MLA for Boundary-Similkameen, said that when libraries are supported, communities are supported.
“Local libraries are vital to rural communities – they serve as gathering places, as skills-building centres, and help us build strong communities,” he said. “In conversations with leaders from our rural libraries, they made it clear they need some more support given everything they do and have been through. This funding will help support our libraries to adapt and keep providing the vital community service people want and need.”
The Grand Forks and District Public Library will receive $35,057.95. The Okanagan Regional Library will receive $172,407.12, the Greenwood Public Library gets $26,417.32, and the Midway Public Library accepts $25,261.99.
Grand Forks library director Cari Lynn Gawletz said the COVID-relief funding will be going towards a new desk and front doors. These renovation projects were already being planned before the library received the grant.
“[The service desk] is not set up for the storage that we need, or computers to be so heavily used, so we’re going to be replacing it with a new one that has ergonomic and accessible features in it.” Gawletz said.
The City of Grand Forks is also helping fund renovations, and there have been community fundraisers.
Alongside the COVID-19 relief and recovery funding, libraries in B.C. are also receiving an emergency planning and preparedness grant, according to Gawletz.
This money will go towards cloud backup for the Grand Forks library and a fund that will allow the library to offer resources for the public in case of a local emergency.
Gawletz said that during the heat dome in summer 2021, the Grand Forks library offered shelter from the heat to the public.
“There was no cooling centre or public available space in the entire Boundary area. So the library stepped up,” she said. “So with this new funding, we’ll be able to stay open as needed in those extraordinary circumstances.”
Gawletz also noted that a lack of funding has been as issue for libraries across the province. Gawletz said that B.C libraries have been receiving the same amount of operational funding for the past 13 years.
“We are grateful for the opportunities provided by one-time funding like this. But it does not address the ongoing operational funding shortfall. To continue offering these services, we need to see an increase in provincial library funding.”
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editor@grandforksgazette.ca
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