OLDS — The Community Foundation of Central Alberta (CFCAB) has made a $5,000 donation to the Olds Municipal Library’s library of things.
The organization, formerly known as the Red Deer Community Foundation, made the donation on Oct. 4.
CFCAB executive director Erin Peden presented the cheque to Olds Municipal Library (OML) manager Lesley Moody in the library of things.
The library of things was created in the OML several years ago. It contains a wide variety of items that patrons can take out as they would a book; ranging from jewelery and tool kits to binoculars and video games.
Peden said the idea to donate the money to the OML library of things came from local resident Dan McPherson, one of the CFCAB’s new board members.
New board members were invited to each make pitches for causes they believed the money should go to. McPherson pitched the library of things, and after some discussion, the board members agreed that that’s where it should go.
Peden said the OML library of things was chosen based on the fact that it’s a rural entity and thus perhaps doesn’t see the funds the bigger ones do, and many people, often from far away, utilize it.
MacPherson agreed with that assessment.
“I think it was inclusivity,” he said. “It was ability to reach as many people as possible. It was the impact of the funds to convert it into something bigger. And so as a board, we felt that that this fit quite well.”
Moody described the donation as “awesome” and said over the next few years, it should help cover costs for lost things, maintenance, or perhaps to buy more things.
Moody said the OML sees patrons from as far as Sundre, Trochu and Innisfail.
She said not many libraries have as extensive a library of things as the OML does.
“Our hope is that everything’s out all the time,” Moody said. “I feel the same way about the books. I would rather them be out in houses around the community rather than sitting here, waiting for someone to take them.
“So when families come in with their kids and they ask, ‘well, how many books am I allowed?’ I say, well, take a shelf-full. Have a library shelf at home and just keep refilling it.’”
McPherson said the opportunity to take out a Nintendo Switch is what attracted he and his kids to the library of things. He noted the offerings are also marketed online.
“It was sort of one of those light bulb moments of ‘wait, we can take that with us now,’” he said.
“So we took it out with my kids, probably a year ago, or whenever you guys kind of first got it and then came back to it. We went ‘yes, let’s keep using the items that we have here.’
“And coincidentally, it was around the timing of asking for charities to pitch, which was why I was able to speak very closely to just how innovative I think this project is.
“And it certainly has gotten our kids into the library. We’re here a lot,” he added.
McPherson said more than that though, he believes his kids are discovering other resources that the library offers.
