Libraries. They’re all about reading quietly, books and getting shushed, right?
Think again.
In the Internet age, when people can obtain more reading material than they could ever possibly get through without getting off the sofa, libraries can’t be only about books if they want to keep attracting patrons. So the Thompson Public Library is redoubling its efforts and trying to transform itself into a venue for arts and cultural events as well.
“We’re trying to branch out because that’s what libraries have to do now,” says library assistant Amanda Sanders. “They can’t just be centres for books and reading and all that. You have to be a community centre that does more than just reading because people don’t have to come to the library to access their reading material. So we’re trying to convince them to come in for other reasons.”
The library recently held its first paid registration event in a long time – an evening of learning and practising henna designs.
“It was very well-attended and we had a lot of fun,” says Sanders. “We had almost 20 people at it and we had a lot of fun and we were there for three hours and we were not planning to be, that’s how much fun we were having.”
Other paid events coming up include a kids’ gardening workshop on May 14 and an evening of wine and painting on May 20.
“The gardening workshop is getting put on by the retired teachers who do our planters outside so we asked if they would also teach the kids how to do plants because usually they come in and they teach the kids about plants once they’re already bloomed,” Sanders says.
There are also plenty of free events that aren’t book-related, including a weekly exercise session and craft times a couple of months for kids, as well as crochet workshops for adults and feather painting and dream-catcher making coming up, along with a movie night for teens, who are one of the hardest groups to get out to the library.
Don’t get the wrong idea: the library isn’t giving up on books and will have two authors visiting in June as the Thompson Public Library celebrates its 50th anniversary.
“On June 4 we’re going to be having a barbecue from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.,” says Sanders. “We will be joined that day by author Ruth Ohi. She is a children’s author. She’s going to be doing story time in the morning just before the barbecue.”
Two days later, on June 6, another author – Beatrice Mosionier, author of The Search for April Raintree – will be the special guest.
“She’s going to be joining us in the library and doing sessions during the day for classes and then doing an open session for the public in the evening,” Sanders says.
Special events will be taking place every Saturday in June, including a kids’ rock painting workshop on June 11, and dream-catcher workshops (at 2 p.m. for kids and 4 p.m. for adults) on June 18, and staff will participate in the Nickel Days parade June 25. On the literary side, a junior book club will be meeting every Saturday in June to read and discuss Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach.
“It’s going to be super-busy at the library,” Sanders says, noting that some events have already gotten some new faces through the library’s doors.
“We’ve had quite a few people who don’t use the library coming to our workshops and hopefully they decide after they’ve come to our workshops that they want to use the library because we are a great free resource,” Sanders says. “We’re trying to make the library somewhere where we can consistently bring in artists and people who can share their culture.”
The library doesn’t receive any money from the events with paid registration – those fees go towards the cost of supplies and to the people running the workshops.
“I have just started pestering everybody in town to come do things at the library and some of them have said yes,” says Sanders.
Despite this, and despite the poster that warns library users, “This is not your parents’ shushing library,” there’s still plenty of time and space for peaceful reading.
“We like to make the library as comfortable as possible and if people need a quiet space we try to make it quiet for them,” Sanders says. “Sometimes we’ll put them in the basement if there’s nothing booked in the basement.”
