Welcome to our new logo! The library invited community members for logo submissions in 2015 and the contest winner was Siobhan McCarron for “Mount Elisabeth in the Sun”.
January 2016
Introduction
Kitimat’s claim to fame has always been that we are home to Rio Tinto, the global leader in the aluminum industry and that our community offers the finest fishing destinations in the world, drawing tourists from all points in the world.
In 2015 though, Kitimat drew much attention for two newsworthy events. In February, community activities ground to a halt when 168 centimeters of snow fell in just 48 hours and buried houses, vehicles and roads. Power lines were downed and electricitynon-existent, some residents for so long that they had to be evacuated. Emergency transportation of food and medicine existed only via ski-doo and businesses shut its doors for days. Situated 60 kms. from the next town, with only one road connecting us, we often feel cut off from the outside world. For this reason, the Library, Museum and recreational facilities are vital to our well-being.
2015 was also the year that world investors came together with the plan to export LNG from Kitimat. It became the focus of environmental activist groups, media attention, government promises and dialogue at all levels. With a positive FID, LNG would find itself the recipient of an economic boom, the likes of which may not have been experienced since the building of the aluminum plant more than have a century ago. On the other hand, our community has been fodder for debates about potential air and water pollution as well as strong discoursewith First Nations neighbours.
The Library has always benefitted from adequate if not generous municipal funding. This allows us to provide patrons with a state of the art facility and fashionable and comfortable furnishings, up to date computer hardware and software and well stocked stacks. We are a small staff of 5.5 full time employees who serve our public seven days a week.
Work progresses on fulfilling strategic planning goals. We continue broadening our community, federation and provincial networks as well as expanding outreach services. On the tech side, our digital collection is gaining popularity although circulation is not nearly as high as that of larger and urban centers.We have heard from many that they simply like the feel of a paper book.
Government Priorities, Goals, Programs and Services and Partnerships
Support for provincial priorities by our library are listed below.
Library Priority 1:
Collaboration and cooperating between libraries and other parties.
(1)Self-directed interlibrary loans (ILConnect) among North Coast Library Federation (NCLF) popularity is growing and our library and federation is expanding this service to North Central Federation in the New Year. Patrons have remarked that it saves them time and that they enjoy the independence. It is our goal to continue expanding to other Federations in the future.
(2)OurComputer Technician avails himself routinely to other NCLF libraries either through face to face contact or via telephone for computer support (free of charge). This has saved many libraries costly consultant fees and the offer to continue to help is an open invitation. He also offers computer instruction to library patrons as needed. In this fast evolving digital age his services are frequently requested and we are fortunate to have a highly computer literate Library employee.
(3)The library partners each summer with the Community Literacy Group (CLG) for ESL instruction/reading tutorials. When the CLG recesses for summer, our summer students offer services to their students. Immigrants and visitors from overseas have said that they appreciate being able to practice reading in English during summer months.
(4)The NCLF organizes and facilitates annual conferences where expertise is shared amongst member libraries and where guest speakers have been invited to teach, at times, staff, directors and Board members. Training and mentoring are ongoing goalswithin our strategic plan.
(5)The Library partnered with BC Law Courts/NIDUS to bring personal planning to seniors. The library networked with various senior organizations and residences including the Snowflake Senior Center, Delta King Senior residence and Kitimat’s Interagency Committee. All three workshops were well attended and another will be offered in the fall of 2016. Transportation is available for those who cannot attend due to handicaps.
We are viewed in the community as playing a vital role in the delivery of instruction, training and service. As Kitimat is a very small community and the library situated in the geographic middle, we are regarded as the hub of the community.
The library offered three NIDUS
workshops in 2015, for a total
attendance of 48 people.
We plan to conduct similar
sessions in the new year.
Feedback was extremely positive.
Library Priority 2
Kitimat supports life-long learning by providing access to knowledge, building literacy skills and by providing training and development opportunities. Kitimat responds to provincial goals by focusing on equitable access to both physical and digital resources to under-represented populations in the following ways.
(1)The Library offers a shut-in service for those who are physically challenged. We have an open invitation for community members to call for delivery and pick up of reading material. We also provide transportation to workshops.
(2)The Library has an open invitation to First Nations Haisla Elementary School to conduct reading programs at the library and in summer months for on-sight delivery of children’s programming.
(3)When Community Services Kitimat recesses for the summer, our summer students provide reading help to ESL students.
(4)Our Mother Goose Storytimes for pre-schoolers is held every Monday morning throughout the year. 41 sessions were held in 2015 with attendance at 907. We receive on-going rave reviews.
Library Priority 3
Support for the BC Jobs Plan by improving outcomes for job seekers in BC (this goal is included within our strategic goal “Engage and Plan with Community”).
(1)The library offers a wide variety of excellent material for job seekers including topics such as Job Interviewing, Resume building, Writing of Cover letters, Career/Vocation/Entrepreneurial information, entrance examprep for colleges and universities, scholarship information.
(2)The library conducts tours of the Library and collection for job seekers.
(3)Library staff help patrons search for work by teaching them how to use Internet and its resources and by showing them where they can access classified ads in print and online.
(4)The Library provides update hardware and software in order for job seekers to type and print resumes, cover letters, etc. Photocopying is also available and the fee for this service is waived.
Theo Jack is just one of
the many job seekers who use the
Kitimat library to help him.
Library Priority 4
Increase support to students and parents outside the classroom (this goal is included within our strategic goal “Support Life Long Learning”).
(1)Teachers (school teachers and parents of homeschooled children) come to the library to borrow large sections of our collection. Their average check out can be upwards of 100 books each week.
(2)School tours are offered on demand for elementary, high school and home schoolers. This is supplemented with storytimes, bookchats, and tech tutorials. Tours are typically requested in mild weather months good enough to walk to the library. We average between 3 – 8 tours per year.
(3)The children’s programmer visits the Haisla elementary school to bring early literacy programs into the classroom 2 – 6 times per year.
(4)The Summer Reading Program is held annually which builds on and sustains reading skills learned throughout the academic year. Attendance varied per day from 6 – 24 children over the course of six weeks.
(5)One-on-one reading assistance is offered during the summer months for school aged children as well as adults. 62 tutorials were held this summer for 24 clients.
Summer Reading Club Medal Recipients for 2015
Summary
Accomplishments in 2015:
The top three accomplishments for the year are: the start-up of a shut-in service for handicapped, the budgeting of funds to transport mobile challenged to and from their place of resident to library health and wellness workshops and the creation of a fresh new library logo by a local artist as a result of a community contest (see new logo at the top). Each of these three successes were a result of a drive to expand services to the under-represented as well as to draw community participation in library activities.
Our best lesson of 2015:
We witnessed a lengthy strike by municipal workers where issues and disputes were widely made public. The library staff and Board reflected on just how strong our labour relations are and our ability for swift conflict resolution. We continue to pride ourselves on the ability to manage the library without labour unrest. This allows for us to focus entirely on library operations and service to our patrons.
Funding distribution in 2015:
Ministry funding offset the cost of hiring two summer students to lead the Annual Reading Program as well as subsidized our book budget in areas of ESL, early readers and large print. The resource grant offset the cost of mailing interlibrary loan material throughout the province. The grants are greatly appreciated because it ensures that valuable resources and services are sustained.