Fort Nelson Public Library

2014 Provincial Grants Report

Introduction

The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality covers 10% of the land mass of British Columbia. It includes the communities of Fort Nelson, Toad River, Fort Nelson First Nation, Prophet River First Nation and a number of smaller roadside stops. The major highway arteries through the Northern Rockies are the Alaska Highway and Highway 77 which leads to the Northwest Territories. Many other resource based roads access the Horn River Basin, Liard Basin and Cordova Basin – the major gas fields in the area. Fort Nelson is the largest community within the Municipality. It is a young community with only 6% of citizens over 65 years. The wilderness of the Northern Rockies has been called the Serengeti of the North because of the large wildlife populations. Outdoor recreation is an important part of the lifestyle in the area.

Industry is largely limited to the gas sector. Much of the employment in the region is based on this sector. Issues facing the Municipality include managing potential growth resulting from increased operations in the gas sector due to growth of development for liquefiednatural gas (LNG). However recent decreases in natural gas prices, and lack of commitment to building LNG plants has meant a slow-down in activity. A number of businesses that provide services to the gas industry have closed their doors or reduced staff levels. This is expected to continue until more investment in gas development in the region materializes. Reduced gasoline prices, and the reduced value of the Canadian dollar are expected to result in a resurgence of American travelers on the Alaska Highway. This seasonal tourism may result in a temporary boost to the economy. The library is the go-to place for free internet access on a year round basis. Lately we have had more people using our services to develop resumes, search and apply for employment.

Fort Nelson Public Library spent the first 6 months of 2014 developing a Strategic Plan. It was published at the end of June and was immediately available to the public. The Priorities for the 2015-2018 Plan are:

Programs and Services
Facility
Technology
Funding

Government Priority 1 and 2

Community Engagement and Planningand Accountability and Transparency

The major goal of the Library Association for 2014 was to develop a viable and valid Strategic Plan by ensuring our community engagement encompassed all of our stakeholders as well as the parts of the community that we thought were underserved, or underrepresented as library users. We engaged with a wide variety of organizations including Fort Nelson Community Literacy Society, Historical Society, Lamplighters, senior residents, (seniors organizations), Municipal Council, School District 81, High School students, Northern Lights College, Fort Nelson First Nation Council, Children’s Book club. A total of 235 people participated in the discussion groups. These round table discussions as well as paper, online surveys and informal engagement with other groups and individuals provided a wealth of input with which to develop the Strategic Plan. We also used the community round table results from the Municipalities Official Community Planning process, (OCP) to identify community wants and needs that the library could help meet. Once completed the Strategic Plan was published on our website and made available to groups and organizations.

One of the major ideas that emerged from a variety of participants was the desire to see an emphasis on honouring community history. This was most obvious from the Seniors groups, but was also a theme in the OCP round table discussions, and during conversations with people at the last two Trade Shows in Fort Nelson. In fact one of the Principles in the Municipality’s OCP is: Partner in the preservation of and education about, ourheritage. The library’s ability to house, catalog and make available community history information is exceptional.

Because of this interest, developing a Historical Archiveis a major endeavor of the new Strategic Plan. We started developing the Archives in the autumn of 2014, with the collection of photographs and oral interviews. The Archive will reflect the history, development and cultural heritage of the people of the Northern Rockies Municipality. This will be a 2 to 3 year project culminating in an exhibit, coinciding with the 75th Anniversary of the Alaska Highway and Canada’s 150th Birthday. Information collected will be digitized and uploaded to an internet database. This will give people the opportunity to listen to stories told by their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents for years to come.

The BC Libraries Cooperative has helped by assisting with cataloguing protocols and templates in Sitka. And the Fort Nelson First Nations Lands Department has lent their expert staff for assistance in the technical aspects of archival procedures.

The biggest draw to the Library’s Trade Show booth was the historical pictures. A number of people had stories about pilfering from community gardens when they were children. And it was interesting that discussions circulated around the Trade Show floor about what building was in a specific photograph. Our goal is to encourage people to contribute their stories and photographs to these archives for the education and enjoyment of all people who live or have lived in Fort Nelson. Some interviews have been completed and we have received photographs and documents from a number of ex-residents.

Another often mentioned comment during Strategic Planning was a wish that the library expand the open hours. Although there was mention that the library should be open 24/7!the most frequent concern was that people found our closure between 5 and 7 on the three evenings that we are open, inconvenient. As a result the library is expanding the hours to be open 3 days a week from noon until 9 pm. The additional 6 hours will meet that request. We have advertised these new open hours, with the acknowledgement that we have responded to public input. Our goal is to increase use of the library and circulation with the extended hours. This goal is ongoing. However we already see the results with people staying through the previous 5pm closure and people coming to the library after work, instead of waiting until after dinner.

Government Priority 3: Focus on collaboration and cooperation.

A significant goal from the Strategic Plan was to strengthen connections with School District 81. Although we have met this goal the relationship is ongoing and will expand. An objective within this goal is to increase the use of the library by children.

The newest collaboration with the school district is collaborating on their Earth Day Challenge. The challenge asks students to create artwork, photo display or films to challenge others to think about their impact on the environment. Library staff assisted in judging different entries and provides community display space for those entries. This helps to publicize the event as well as Earth Day and the creative abilities of students. The Library also acts as community display space for classroom art.

Our programmer began doing more outreach within the school system than we have ever done before. She made semi-monthly visits to the two Strong Start Programs and visited Kindergarten classes on a monthly basis as well. We have continued our participation in the Welcome to Kindergarten Program. We believe these activities have successfully met our goal of enhancing the relationship between the School District and the Library. We have developed a good relationship with many teachers, and students have become comfortable using the library. Even with decreased enrollment many children have been using the Library through this year’s Spring Break. Our early September statistics were high when the schools were closed with about a 20% increase in the number of people through our doors that month. We think all these school visits, programming and outreach has led to a phenomenal 50% increase in circulation of children’s materials in 2 years. This year saw an increase in new members using the library even with declining enrollment at the schools. Our nextstep is to develop a Teen Advisory Committee for the Library in conjunction with the School District’s volunteer program.

Summary

The development of an ambitious Strategic Plan has helped to “get the word out” about the services the library offers and has helped us focus on the needs of the community, rather than making assumptions about those needs. The discussion groups that Board and staff members participated in, provided valuable information with the opportunity for discussion, in comparison to simple surveys. Our continued work with other organizations, helps us keep the services the library offers relevant to the community.

Continued collaboration with both the School District, its administration, teachers and students and with the Literacy Society, will help us meet our objectives of fostering lifelong learning and digital literacy.

The Fort Nelson Library needs further upgrades, but being so far from consultants and suppliers makes the planning involved difficult. Further reductions in the local economy may reduce donations and sponsorships toward this project, however the public is supportive of rejuvenation and we have demonstrated this by including renovations to theLibrary facility in the new Strategic Plan.

We are excited about the development of the Historical Archives and will be working with other organizations in the Municipality to make them as comprehensive as possible. The archives will provide another opportunity for residents to explore the history of the Northern Rockies, in addition to the Fort Nelson Museum, the Fort Nelson Story and the few other existing resources.