Not just books
Not just books, with programming activities Stellarton visits keep rising
You probably won’t get shushed by the librarian these days, because there’s just so much going on
Ellie Dale said the Stellarton Library can get a bit noisy at times, quite different from the almost soundless place it once was.
With people using computers to file their tax returns, or dropping in looking for the latest murder mystery book, and programs such as a playgroup taking place, it’s a hubbub of activity.
“It’s a community gathering spot,” she said. “Sometimes I feel bad that it’s not the quiet, hush-hush place it used to be.”
The Stellarton branch of the Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library doesn’t have a separate room for the programming offered, so Dale said “it can get pretty loud and crazy in here some days.”
But she said if someone comes into the library to study, staff try to accommodate them. “Some day we hope to have a place for people to go for the quiet as well.”
The changes over the almost 20 years Dale has worked there – toward more than just a place to borrow books – are a good thing, though. “We find we’re really busy every day,” she said.
Visits to the Stellarton Library have increased in recent years, from 17,784 in 2015 to 22,568 in 2016. While the number of books and other materials borrowed each year is remaining steady – 19,946 in 2016 – the number of people taking part in library programs has also risen. Last year, 2,508 adults and 5,328 youth and children participated in such programs as story time, computer coding, knitting group and LEGO nights.
Dale attributes the increases to several different factors, including convenient parking and personalized service.
Staff offer reading advice, assist with research, find reading materials from other libraries, answer technology-related questions, and provide basic computer and Internet orientation.
“I think a lot of it… is the personal connection we get to make with our patrons,” she said.
Many program participants have been coming to the library for years, starting in ABC’s for Babies then moving to Toddletime and Preschool story time, and eventually participating in book clubs for tweens, teens and adults.
The range of programming offered by the library is meant to support literacy and lifelong learning, and staff work with other community organizations to offer programs, such as a new weekly parents and tots group called Let’s Play Together, offered in conjunction with the YMCA of Pictou County and Stellarton recreation.
More programs
Trecia Schell, the community services librarian for PARL, said the move to offering more and varied programming in local libraries stemmed from the new library built in River John back in 2000.
She explains that the community wanted space that could be used for diverse functions and activities.
“We’re realizing it makes us a community destination. We’re open, so we might as well offer lots more community things too – we have the space. It’s caught on,” she said. “We really try to respond to the needs in the community.”
Computer use at the Stellarton Library is also high, and staying stable with 3,756 people booking computer time in 2016. High-speed wireless is also available around the clock and used regularly.
Schell said many people can’t afford to own a computer or to pay for Internet service because it’s expensive. She said a lot of people visit the library to use the computer to do work and fill out government applications.