2016 to 2020
2016
Location: 4804 – 50 Ave. (Main Street)
Hours of Service:
1788 Hours Open in 2016
Tuesday – 11 to 7
Wednesday – 11 to 7
Thursday – 11 to 7
Friday – 11 to 5
Saturday – 11 to 5
Closed Sunday/Monday
Summer hours: Tuesday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Library Board Trustees:
Chair, Adam Norris
Kelli Reimer
Scott Biggin
Tanya Boman (TVV)
Debbie Stewart
Les Urness (MD)
Marilyn Frostad
8 meetings held
Staffing:
Library Coordinator, K. Danner
5 P/T staff
Total staff hours – 6,533
Volunteers – 5 volunteers for 393 hours
Collection: 20,782 items; 373 audio books; 243 Music CDs; 1,954 DVDs
Circulation: 24,171 circulations; 7,335 interlibrary loan items borrowed from other libraries; 5,325 interlibrary loan items lent to other libraries; 3,750 reference transactions; 3,150 in-house use of library materials.
In-Person Visits: 25,433 in person visits; 3,487 virtual visits to website; Facebook total reach of 38,793 with library page 315 followers; Twitter - 25 followers
Programs/Attendance: 130 in-person programs with 2,092 attendees
Membership fees:
Adult - $10
Juvenile - $5
Senior - $5
Family - $20
667 cardholders
Public Computers:
6 public computers
9,360 workstation hours used
4,680 workstation users
Finances:
Income: $250,798
Expenses: $250,798
Comments:
We have seen an increase in traffic in the library this year, which is likely partly due to a downturn in the oilfield. It is our hope that access to the library is helping people to save money using library resources and having a place to meet that is free and open to everyone. There are several community groups that meet regularly at the library, including: Photography Club; Toastmasters; Anime Club; Science Hub Club; ESL tutors and students meet at the library weekly. Six new computers have been purchased for our public access station with revenue from the Community Adult Learning Program which rented space at the library.
We appreciate the continued support and funding from Alberta Municipal Affairs and the Public Library Services Branch. We are also appreciative of the great relationship between our Library Board and staff with our local municipalities, the Town of Valleyview and the MD of Greenview #16, who provide our library with generous, stable funding. Our Board would also like to acknowledge the hard work of our Library Manager and staff for their hard work, excellent programs and community partnerships that have been built in 2016.
2017
Location: 4804 – 50 Ave. (Main Street)
Hours of Service:
1,923 Hours Open in 2017
Tuesday – 11 to 7
Wednesday – 11 to 7
Thursday – 11 to 7
Friday – 11 to 5
Saturday – 11 to 5
Closed Sunday/Monday
Summer hours: Tuesday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Library Board Trustees:
Chair, Adam Norris
Kelli Reimer
Scott Biggin
Tanya Boman (TVV)
Debbie Stewart
Les Urness (MD)
Marilyn Douglas (Frostad)
Taylor Perron
7 meetings held
Staffing:
Library Coordinator, K. Danner
5 P/T staff
Total staff hours – 6,674
Volunteers – 6 volunteers for 296 hours
Collection: 24,099 items; 377 audio books; 2393 Music CDs; 1,936 DVDs
Circulation: 18,548 circulations; 6,907 interlibrary loan items borrowed from other libraries; 5,084 interlibrary loan items lent to other libraries; 3,750 reference transactions; 3,150 in-house use of library materials.
In-Person Visits: 26,306 in person visits; 4,883 virtual visits to website; Facebook total reach of 55,543 with library page 358 followers; Twitter - 28 followers
Programs/Attendance: 116 in-person programs with 2,324 attendees
Membership fees:
Adult - $10
Juvenile - $5
Senior - $5
Family - $20
1401 cardholders
Public Computers:
6 public computers
8,645 workstation hours used; 5,426 wi-fi log-ins
Finances:
Income: $236,354
Expenses: $236,354
Comments:
One of the goals in our 2015-2020 Plan of Service was to make our library a vibrant hub and we are pleased that the library is a very central part of our community. Some of our successful, well-attended programs have been our Free Comic Book Day/Fan Expo; Family Literacy Day; and After-School Inventors Club. Our library board took responsibility for the Alberta Advanced Education Community Adult Learning Program (CALP). The CALP program has been a great benefit to our community and a wonderful partnership for our library as well. The programming offered through CALP and hosted at the Library has allowed us to extend our reach to even more individuals, who often become regular library users after attending partnered programs.
2018
Location: 4804 – 50 Ave. (Main Street)
Hours of Service:
1783 Hours Open
Tuesday to Thursday – 11 to 7
Friday and Saturday – 11 to 5
Saturday – 11 to 5
Closed Sunday/Monday
Summer hours: Tuesday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Library Board Trustees:
Chair, Adam Norris
Kelli Reimer
Scott Biggin
Tanya Boman (TVV)
Debbie Stewart
Shawn Acton (MD)
Marilyn Douglas
Louis Joseph
Debbie Wedel
8 meetings held
Staffing:
Library Coordinator, K. Danner
6 P/T staff
Total staff hours – 7,558
Volunteers – 6 volunteers for 346 hours
Collection: 23,662 items; 379 audio books; 215 Music CDs; 1,992 DVDs
Circulation: 17,790 circulations; 6,711 interlibrary loan items borrowed from other libraries; 5,116 interlibrary loan items lent to other libraries; 3,425 reference transactions; 3,435 in-house use of library materials.
In-Person Visits: 24,049 in person visits; 3,050 virtual visits to website; Facebook total reach of 39,898 with library page 422 followers
Programs/Attendance: 139 in-person programs with 1,729 attendees
Membership fees:
Adult - $10
Juvenile - $5
Senior - $5
Family - $20
1470 cardholders
Public Computers:
6 public computers
8,784 workstation hours used; 5,258 wi-fi log-ins
Finances:
Income: $287,616
Expenses: $287,616
Comments:
In 2018, our board began working on a new Memorandum of Agreement between our two local municipal councils. The progress was halted until new CAOs are hired for the Town of Valleyview and MD of Greenview #16. In October of 2018, we were successful in recruiting an Indigenous Outreach Facilitator to help us build relationships and provide library services to Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation. Programs began in December and we have a great start for 2019. We are happy to report that in May 2018, our library began offering free library memberships. We added Escape Room programming in the library and have held three different scenarios so far: Super Spy Mystery; Creepy Camp-out and Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula. The Escape Rooms have been very popular and we recently had a birthday party rental and set up an escape room for the group. The library board continues to oversee the local Community Adult Learning Program (CALP) which continues to allow our two organizations to partner on programs and events.
We were closed for 17 days in 2018 due to floods from spring run-off.
2019
Location: 4804 – 50 Ave. (Main Street)
Hours of Service:
1750 Hours Open
Tuesday to Saturday - 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Closed Sunday/Monday
Summer hours: Same as regular hours for 2019
Library Board Trustees:
Chair, Adam Norris
Kelli Reimer
Scott Biggin
Tanya Boman (TVV)
Debbie Stewart
Shawn Acton (MD)
Louis Joseph
Debbie Wedel
6 meetings held
Staffing:
Library Coordinator, K. Danner
6 P/T staff
Total staff hours – 6,072
Volunteers – 5 volunteers for 472 hours
Collection: 22,649 items; 367 audio books; 184 Music CDs; 2,056 DVDs
Circulation: 20,528 circulations; 7,173 interlibrary loan items borrowed from other libraries; 5,080 interlibrary loan items lent to other libraries; 3,555 reference transactions; 2,844 in-house use of library materials.
In-Person Visits: 21,330 in person visits; 2,212 virtual visits to website; Facebook total reach of 46,670 with library page 474 followers.
Programs/Attendance: 191 in-person programs with 1,847 attendees
Membership fees:
Did not charge membership fees for residents.
1,521 cardholders
Public Computers:
6 public computers
6,382 workstation hours used
Finances:
Income: $ 280,025
Expenses: $ 280,025
Comments:
We provided a good variety of engaging programs and events that continue to bring people into the library. The library is having a positive effect on the community both economically and socially. One example is one family in our community who have saved over $20,000 since they joined three years ago. It was observed at a local event how social contacts made at the library have had a positive impact on young adults in the community including new friendships and support systems. We are pleased that our physical collection is in good use both locally and through interlibrary loan requests. We have built many great community partnerships with other local agencies and work together to bring programs and services to our community including: ParentLink; Valleyview Community Learning (CALP); Valleyview Recreation Dept.; Supports to Early Learning and Greenview FCSS.
We are appreciative of our generous funding through our local municipalities the Town of Valleyview and MD of Greenview #16. We are also pleased that funding through the Province has remained stable to allow us to continue to offer excellent library service to our community.
2020
Location: 4804 – 50 Ave. (Main Street)
Hours of Service:
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe and had a huge impact on the world and our local community.
842 Hours Open
Our library was completely closed to the public by provincial government mandate from March 19 to June 15. During that time, we prepared for safe opening by obtaining plexiglass barriers, obtaining personal protective equipment, sanitizers and cleaning supplies. We continued to offer support to the community by telephone and email and on social media. On June 16, we were able to partially open for curbside service with reduced hours from 1:00 to 6:00 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. On Sept. 1 we were allowed to re-open to public entering the building to browse in small, controlled areas under reduced hours (1-6 p.m.). We offered limited browsing and curbside pickup from Sept 1 to December 9. On Nov. 1, we were able to expand open hours from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., but on Dec. 9, 2020, in response to provincial mandates, we closed to the public and provided curbside service only until Dec. 23, 2023.
Library Board Trustees:
Chair, Adam Norris
Kelli Reimer
Scott Biggin
Tanya Boman (TVV)
Debbie Stewart
Shawn Acton (MD)
Debbie Wedel
Louis Joseph
4 meetings held
Staffing:
Library Coordinator, K. Danner
5 P/T staff - We laid off 2 P/T staff during the COVID-19 closures so they could claim CERB benefits as their hours were cut
Total staff hours – 5,172
Volunteers – 1 volunteer for 200 hours
Collection: 22,660 items; 360 audio books; Music CD were removed from the collection due to low circulation; 2,077 DVDs
Circulation: 8,586 circulations; 5,331 interlibrary loan items borrowed from other libraries; 3,439 interlibrary loan items lent to other libraries; 1,600 reference transactions; 9 exams supervised; 812 in-house use of library materials
In-Person Visits: 4,198 in person visits; 4,448 virtual visits to website; Facebook total reach of 38,793 with library page 315 followers; Twitter - 25 followers
Programs/Attendance: 157 programs with 4,911 attendees. Since we had to be closed for a good part of the year, we had to pivot to provide programs and services virtually.
Membership fees:
We did not charge membership fees in 2020. We also stopped charging overdue fines during 2020 as many people were unable to visit the library in person.
667 cardholders
Public Computers:
As per provincial mandates for personal distance, we reduced our public computer down from 6 computers to 4 to allow for the appropriate distance between users. Because we were closed to the public for a good part of the year, people were not allowed in to use the computers until November.
591 workstation hours used
Finances:
Income: Town of Valleyview - $89,963.01; MD of Greenview #16 - $125,000; Province - $16,650; Other Revenue - 5,865.81 for a total income of $237,478.82
Expenses: Expenses were budgeted for the amount of $297,255 - however, due to COVID-19 and being closed to the public, we had to cut service hours and staffing resulting in expenses being reduced to $179,282.81 and leaving a surplus of $58,196.01. Since we were going to be operating separate from the Town of Valleyview after 2020, the Library Board asked the Town and MD if the library could keep the surplus funds in reserves to cover emergencies. The Town Council asked that their half of the surplus be returned to the Town. The MD of Greenview allowed the library to keep their half of the surplus, which was put into a reserve savings account at the Alberta Treasury Branch.
Comments:
In 2020, the library board transitioned from having the Town of Valleyview administering payroll and bookkeeping for the library. The Library Manager took on the additional responsibilities of payroll and benefits, bookkeeping and accounts payable/receivable.
As with everything in Alberta and the World, the COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact on library service in our community. Our library board and staff followed all provincial guidelines, installed barriers and created and implemented pandemic policies to protect the public and our staff. During closures, we did our best to be available to our community via telephone, online, as well as providing contact-free pick-up/curbside service.
We had a great response to our virtual programs like Facebook story time with Vito the Shark videos that had over 4,000 views. 2020 was also our 50th Anniversary. Originally, we had planned to have a community celebration, when when COVID-19 derailed that plan, we decided to commemorate the occasion by re-branding our library with a new logo and library cards. We are anxious to return to days when we can provide in-person service with programs, but in the meantime, we are doing our utmost to continue to provide great library service to our community.