A grand opening for the new MHPL micro-library hosted at the Big Marble Go Centre was held on Friday.--News Photo Anna Smith
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
The Big Marble Go Centre celebrated Friday with special care not to get icing on the bookshelves, as the Medicine Hat Public Library cut the ribbon on its “micro” library space.
This set of shelves and couches just outside the Kinsmen Aquatic Park is a permanent addition to the centre, stocking both fiction and non-fiction entries for readers of all ages. The space will operate on an honour system and will not require a library card; they simply ask for books to be returned when the reader is finished with them.
“Though it is a small library, it’s permanent, and the possibility and promise that it holds for the future is really, really exciting,” said board trustee Megan Hilgendorf. She expressed gratitude to the Big Marble Go Centre for not just being willing to allow them to create the space, but enthusiastic about making it a reality.
The hope is the micro library will improve convenience for library users who live in the northern part of town or regularly visit the centre, as well as potentially create new library goers. This project is just part of MHPL’s continuous strives to increase accessibility and services, something they are also currently exploring with the Shape Your Library survey.
“Myself as a parent, often when people are here for lessons or using the many different facilities, I have more than one child,” said Hilgendorf. “I found myself juggling siblings in different activities at different times. And I know for me, when my kids were little, this would have been incredible to use.”
The space has been suggested as ideal for a parent trying to entertain a small child while their older sibling is in a lesson, to take a moment for themselves while all their kids are in activities, as well as simple for anyone who has an interest in finding a new read while visiting their local recreation centre.
Libraries and recreation centres often pair well, said Hilgendorf, as they both are fundamentally community oriented, and serve similar “third space” services for the people who live around them.
“We have a beautiful building downtown, but it’s not convenient for everybody,” said Hilgendorf. “So this is a way of just sort of coming to where people are. It holds a lot of promise for the future of what library service can look like in Medicine Hat.”
