DIDSBURY – The Didsbury Municipal Library held an open house and volunteer appreciation event on March 6 at the library.
Staff honoured volunteers by having them select a new book in their name.
"It's our opportunity to honour our volunteers and we have lots of them," said head librarian Inez Kosinski. "In the past we've bought them gifts. They didn't like them. They don't do it for the gifts, they do it because they love the library I guess. I've had people say ‘please don't give me another mug.'"
A few years ago staff members began to set aside new books for the project, Kosinski said.
"We made book plates for each of the volunteers with their name on it," she said. "So the volunteers come in and select a book they would like to have their names inside so we can appreciate their hard work."
Staff added up all the hours volunteers gave and it came out to one full-time equivalency position at over 1,800 hours, she said.
"It's actually part of an annual report we give each year to the provincial government. It equalled a full-time equivalent staff person. So we couldn't do it without them," she said.
There were also scrapbooks on hand documenting the history of the library starting from the beginning in 1908 through to the present.
Following are some 2017 statistics from the Didsbury library: 1,507 participants in programs; 2,550 hours open each year; 32,773 total collection; 74,216 total checkout; 18,514 interlibrary loans – total borrowed; 54,136 in-person visits; 35,850 virtual visits; 1,785 cardholders; and 17,357 public computer workstation sessions.
