Tragically, the 2023 Shuswap firestorm hit the North Shuswap hard, leaving its library, firehall, and many homes, buildings and businesses in ashes. Nearly three years later, approximately half of the homes and other structures have been rebuilt, and now the firehall is being rebuilt at a new location. To the delight of book lovers, the new library opened its doors on March 11^th after a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by many.

Joining the crowd was the builder, Dylan Warkenton, whose father, Barrie, owns the property and leases the new, impressive looking building to the library. Dylan explained how he first drew the design on the back of a napkin and then his friend, Dorian Payne drafted the plans, which had to be approved by an engineer as required for obtaining the building permit. The open space interior is divided into two rooms, one with the typical library shelves and service counter and the other a meeting space with a glass wall and door as the divider.

In the library’s interior, the finish work is also quite stunning, and includes what looks like solid posts and beams, but are roughly finished boards installed to resemble timbers. The pièce de résistance is the inside trim around the front door that incorporates burnt logs and an etched glass window with a design that illustrates a North Shuswap nature scene.

North Shuswap’s library is part of the Okanagan Regional Library system that has 30 libraries, with nine in the Shuswap. Several regional library staff joined the opening celebration, including the CEO Danielle Hubbard. When I asked Dannielle how libraries stay relevant in today’s digital world where so many people are glued to screens and especially their phones, she explained how libraries have become far more than just places that lend out books. Their focus now is to create spaces for people to gather indoors and participate in a diversity of programs.

The new North Shuswap library is well suited to provide a welcoming space, as its meeting room can accommodate up to 30 people. North Shuswap Community Librarian Lee Carreiro, who has served the community since 1994, described how she would like to see their new meeting space used for a variety of groups and programs, including book clubs, language conversation groups, children story times, gardening groups, other local clubs, music jam sessions and speakers. Non-profit groups can use the meeting room for free, and others can rent it for a nominal fee.

Our local libraries have not only expanded their services to include meeting spaces, they have also embraced the new digital world of online services with a plethora of opportunities. Your free library card allows you to stream movies and music, read national and international newspapers, take courses, and search through thousands of scholarly articles, abstracts and magazines. For those interested in their ancestry, one can view historical records to build a family tree. You can also search for the book you want online, order it and then pick it up at the library. Additionally, there are services for the visually impaired, including audio books and large print digital books.

If you do not own a computer, you can use one for free at your local library. If you need to take an exam, you can arrange to take one at the library. For those who struggle to cope with new technology, the Salmon Arm library hosts a drop-in tech support help desk twice a week until March 27^th. A good way to support your library branch is by joining a local Friends of the Library group that raises funds to improve services and help purchase new books. For many of the branches, these groups host two book fairs every year, where you can purchase soft cover books for only one-dollar, hard cover books for two dollars and DVDs. As costs for everything continue to rise, we are fortunate to have a free library system that offers so many services that provide cultural and learning resources to improve our lives.

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With your free library card you can use the library reading app called Libby, that provides online access to thousands of books and magazines. You can use it to download your reading material or audiobooks and then read or listen when you are offline. This app allows you to adjust the font size, background lighting and playback speed. It includes a built-in dictionary and can be used on multiple devices.

There is a multitude of online resources available with your library card, including academic articles from over 2,000 publications, a database of car repair information from 1982 until the present, building and fire codes, historical newspapers, BC laws, French language ebooks and audio books, an encyclopedic service for research, current Canadian newspapers, consumer reports, information on thousands of grants from foundations, corporations and government agencies and consumer reports. There are also maps and photos for 175 countries, a home improvement reference centre, quality films and documentaries, a music library and much, much more!

POSTSCRIPT

With your free library card you can access a wide range of online services including the app Libby that provides thousands of books and magazines to read or listen on a range of devices. You can download these to read later when you are offline and you can customize your viewing by changing font size, background lighting and playback speed.

There are many more online resources including articles from more than 2,000 academic publications, information on car repair for vehicles from as far back as 1982, and building, fire, electrical and plumbing codes. There are also historical newspapers, consumer reports, maps from 175 countries, connections for grants from foundations and governments, music, films and a complete Britannica encyclopedia for adults and children.

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