Library to offer individual card sponsorships

By ANNA SMITH on April 24, 2024.

The Medicine Hat Public Library, alongside the What Matters to Hatters Coalition, hopes to capture the feeling of a coffee shop drive-thru or bulletin board, with new pay-it-forward sponsorships.

Three years ago, MHPL started its A Library Card for Every Hatter campaign, which encourages businesses, community groups and individuals to sponsor library cards so everyone in the community can access library services at no cost, said MHPL.

Prior to this, adult library cards cost $5 a year.

Many businesses and groups have stepped up over these three years to support the program, and while staff at the library know this will continue, they want to give individuals the chance to make an impact in their own way.

“For the next couple of months at least, when people register for a library card or renew their card, we’ll be asking if they would like to pay it forward,” explains Chris Brown, head of marketing and community engagement. “When we get to $1,000 in pay-it-forward donations we’ll put a sticker on the cards to show that these cards are free because of community members who paid it forward.”

“We think that it’s important as a community coalition to be engaged in our community and supporting local initiatives,” said coalition member Michelle Sauve. “We love our library, we host some events there, and this is an opportunity for us to model paying back and paying it forward.”

Individuals looking to take part can become a library card sponsor online, at mhpl.shortgrass.ca.