Ste Anne Library seeks regional status as growth explodes

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This article was published 24/06/2024 (650 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ste Anne Library would like to become the Ste Anne Regional Library after a presentation last week to the RM from board chair and Town of Ste Anne Coun. Jeremy Wiens.

Regional libraries get more funding and grants from other levels of government, especially the province, according to Wiens.

And with the library bursting with new users, and expanding its programs and equipment, more money could be used to hire more staff.

A maker space with a variety of devices, a 3D printer, and a Meta Quest 3 virtual reality headset have been brought in in the last year. A green space behind the building on rue de l’Église is being added this summer.

“More staff to serve so we can run programs a little bit better, too. We could actually get a few more things going without putting too much pressure or expectations on the librarian and the staff,” said Wiens.

Librarian Véronique Ewen said with so much growth in users and programming, it gets harder to run the library’s first function as a library.

“My goal when I was hired and I started was to bring more people to the library, to make the library more relevant in the community, which I’ve feel like I’ve done a real good job at. But it makes it busier, which means we have the same things we had to do before plus more, and the same amount of staff and time and money,” said Ewen.

On Wednesday last week, 100 people came in just to use the maker space, virtual reality, and to do homework. That does not include people who came to get books.

RM of Ste Anne residents join town residents in getting to use the bilingual library for free thanks to the RM’s current contribution. All students who attend Ste Anne schools also get in for free now, with the $20 non-resident fee waived.

This, combined with some new technology and teen-friendly board games, has helped drive kids and teens to the library. A school presentation saw a rush of parents come in to sign their eager kids up in the days after, said Ewen.

It is not just the students down the street who come in for the maker space that includes a sewing machine, recording equipment, a Cricket machine to make cards and crafts like buttons, stickers and vinyl labels that people can design themselves by hand or on a computer.

“A lot of home school kids come,” said Ewen, who described them as using the maker space and the kids area that has a wide variety of play-based learning games and toys.

All ages are enjoying the new technology. Ewen mentioned a man who came in to use the 3D printer to make an end piece for his hose.

“I think a lot of people didn’t even realize we had a library, let alone so many things that they can use,” said Ewen.

Wiens said there were challenges in expanding the use of the library when he joined a new library board a couple years ago.

“We started with a fresh new board, and we had to get a new librarian. So it was a little bit stressful but it was a gift in the sense of putting the right people in place,” said Wiens.

He said Ewen was definitely the right person for the job. That includes getting the grants from the province needed for all the new equipment and green space. Wiens said they were able to get about $65,000 in grants last year, an unprecedented number for the library housed in a literal house bought in 1994.

“She’s actually superseded what we thought and our expectations,” said Wiens.

He and Ewen agreed past boards and staff had similar ideas.

“It’s taking their ideas and going, “Oh, this is a great idea. Let’s just do it, even if it’s a little bit of extra work,” said Ewen.

The TD Summer Reading Program is starting up, with prizes for the two kids who read the most. One will be under 10, the other 10 to 14 years old. Last year the top readers from the 70 who signed up won an Amazon Fire tablet. There are also weekly prizes.