Calgary Herald

‘Check it out’ contest marks Love Your Library Day

- OLIVIA CONDON ocondon@postmedia.com Twitter: @oliviacond­on

For the second year, Calgary’s 21 public libraries will celebrate their members and the general public with the Love Your Library Day event on Saturday.

Last year, the event saw more than 18,000 Calgarians visit their local library for free family-friendly activities, programmin­g, treats and special guests.

Mary Kapusta with the Calgary Public Library said in an effort to encourage more Calgarians to visit a library, this year they’ve introduced a new contest.

“We’re running our first ever ‘check it out’ contest, so basically the more books you take out from a physical location this Saturday, the more chances to win,” she said. “We have tables, Nintendo Switches, tons of gift cards.”

Kapusta said she’s hoping the event will give the public a chance to see the facilities in their neighbourh­ood and take out a free library card if they’re not currently members.

“It’s a great chance to see how many things you can do with that card,” she said. “I want to remind people that if you haven’t used your card in three years, it expires, so it’s a good reminder to make sure your card is active.”

She added registrati­on for fall programmin­g at the library opens next week, featuring hundreds of free programs across the city, including early learning and family programs.

The library has more than 725,000 members and is the second-largest library system in Canada. Calgarians borrowed about 14.4 million physical and digital items across 6.9 million in-person visits in 2018.

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