The Warman Library Board was presented with the city’s 2023 Legendary Group of the Year award at the Warman City Council meeting on Monday, May 27.
The Legenday Group of the Year is a club that has contributed long-term to Warman. With their combined efforts this club has developed and implemented projects, fundraisers and/or events that have had a positive impact on the community.
Former Library Board Chair Grace Beck and currentn Library Board Chair Shelby Smith aaccepted the award on behalf of the board. The following background on the library was prepared by the library board:
Warman’s library service began in 1972 with a book bus. In the early 1980s a few Warman residents inquired about a permanent library branch.
A board was initiated with that idea in mind. The first library branch was opened in the Warman Primary School building basement. With the support of local residents, the local Library Board and a base collection provided by Wheatland Regional Library, the permanent library began! The circulation stats were around 37,000/year. By mid-1984, the library location was not ideal and the search for a new location began. The community library opened up an independent space in what is now the Warman Arts Centre.
Now here we are, more than 40 years later, and the Warman library grown and strengthened its ties to the community, thanks to the current and former Board members, the partnership between the Wheatland Regional Library, the Prairie Spirit School Division, and the city of Warman.
Warman Library Board is strong because of its members who are passionate about literacy, family engagement, and filling the community resource gaps. Libraries are one of few free services left in our cities and they are promoted to our residents equally, regardless of socioeconomic status.
As a volunteer board, we work to address needs in our community. We provide access to information, foster literacy and lifelong learning. We offer research resources, a safe space for learning, a community hub for common interests, and access to computers and printers for professional development. We encourage social interactions based on the love of learning, common interests and broadening horizons of those that walk through the doors of our facility.
In 2023, Warman Public Library celebrated its 40th birthday. Among the accomplishments we have had are community growth and access to different types of resources. These are showcased in the following activities:
• partnerships with outside organizations and hosting an event dedicated to newcomers to support the transition into a new community
• Art for the Ages: an opportunity to showcase and celebrate artists in our community
• offering free programs to all ages: movies, knitting, table gamers, puzzle/board game borrowing, baby and preschool story time, chess club, tutoring spaces, book clubs, Bedtime stories with Batman, and more Our circulation stats for standard checkouts for 2023 were over 50,000, not including e-books, games and puzzles.
The growth and expansion of our library in the community from the small “book mobile” to what is now the Warman Arts Centre to the expansive joint use facility with the Prairie Spirit School division and the Wheatland Regional Library is quite the accomplishment for all past chairs of our library board. The bar has been set high for the current and future chairs to continue to work for the community and for the best of our community that we serve.