Library offering several online alternatives
By Jensen, Randy on April 20, 2020.
Greg Bobinec
Lethbridge Herald
The Lethbridge Public Library continues to provide an array of opportunities to keep busy and productive through the COVID-19 pandemic with a variety of resources and online interactive programs.
As free membership continues throughout the year, families and individuals have access to eBooks, audiobooks, streaming content, international newspapers, magazines, online classes and courses on a variety of subjects, games, homework tools, and interactive stories.
Although the doors are closed to the public at the Main and Crossings branches, staff members are continuously working at providing a variety of online interactions through their YouTube, Facebook and Instagram pages.
On their YouTube channel, the library offers everyone the opportunity to learn STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) through a different activity videos, crafting for adults and children, children’s stories and songs, their Joy of Cookbooks testing kitchen sessions, online book clubs, and how-to videos for many of their online services that require exterior computer programs.
On their website and other social media platforms, the library is offering a Kids Book Tournament, a Digital Escape Room, Online Writing Club, Trivia Nights, Bedtime Stories, live streaming Storytimes, and reading recommendations.
Over the last month, the library reports they have seen an increase in usership as over 350 people have signed up for online library cards, over 100 programs were live streamed with over 2,300 views, staff have answered 1,200 phone calls and emails about questions on their services, and more than 21,000 items have been borrowed through their online borrowing system.
The library is also working on getting books into the hands of those who cannot access them online. This week, the library restocked 21 Little Lethbridge Libraries across the community with more than 358 books and are continuing to work at finding a system to distribute books, withdrawn from their collections, and offering programs to community partners who are serving those in need.
The library invites the community to sign up for free for all of their online resources, as well as joining them for their wide range of live-streams on their Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channels. For more information and a full schedule of their online programs, visit lethlib.ca.
Follow @GBobinecHerald on Twitter
14-13
