Unexpected challenges highlighted in library’s community report

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on May 6, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

The Lethbridge Public Library recently presented its annual Report to the Community to the Cultural and Social Standing Policy Committee of Lethbridge City Council.
“2021 was certainly another year of unexpected challenges and unique opportunities for Lethbridge Public Library,” said Terra Plato, CEO of Lethbridge Public Library, in a media release.
The 24-page report contains comments from the City of Lethbridge Library Board Chair and CEO as well as the Chair of the Friends of Lethbridge Public Library, stories from the community, library stats and acknowledgment of their donors.
“With our doors once again closed for part of the year, and the ongoing pandemic situation, the Library continued to find ways to meet community needs in new and innovative ways, while at the same time engaging in longer term strategic planning for library services for our community,” added Plato.
City of Lethbridge Library Board chair Craig Brown said in a press release that at the same time that management and staff were dreaming up new ways to meet immediate needs in the community, the Library Board was focusing on long-term strategic planning.
“With the Board’s Plan of Service set to expire at the end of 2021, the Board undertook a lengthy strategic planning process that included a series of community engagement sessions, and culminated in the Board’s 2022 – 2026 Plan of Service that was approved at the December board meeting,” said Brown.
More than 900,000 items circulated through the Lethbridge Public Library in 2021, including 133,915 digital items, as the Library found ways to continue meeting the needs of customers through the COVID-19 pandemic.
As many as 17,918 people held a library card in 2021 and had access to more than 800,000 physical items through the regional catalogue.
There were approximately 161,080 visits to the Library both at the Main and Crossings Branches as well as the Bookmobile and 263,126 visits to the Library’s website.
Curbside Pick Up was utilized 28,722 times which filled 175,188 holds and 1,230 Surprise Me grab bags.
To access the full report visit lethlib.ca

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