THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Public Library is ready to launch new activities and major programming developments in the New Year, said Richard Togman, the library's chief executive officer.
Next year, the library intends to partner with school boards to implement an automatic enrolment process where kindergarten students can automatically receive a library card.
“I think it really reduces barriers for people getting access to the library,” Togman told Dougall Media earlier this week, ahead of his presentation to city council set for Monday.
“There's tons of research out there showing that when kids and especially young kids in that kindergarten stage, when they're learning to read, when they actually go to the library, have interactions with librarians, helping them learn to read, supplementing what parents can do at home,” he continued.
Another development Togman will update council on is expanding the library’s evening and weekend hours, which he addressed as a long-standing issue from members of the public.
Togman said working families don’t have time to access the library during working hours, so starting in 2025, “we'll be announcing new hours of operation that will really expand those evenings and weekends that the community has been demanding and are so critical to help our working families.”
Over the year, the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra gave free tickets to the library for its members; it's a partnership Togman wants to continue.
“Providing access to the amazing cultural amenities that are in the city to library users and the public in general is really critical,” he said.
Building relationships with other organizations and businesses plays a crucial role in educating the public on the importance of participating in Thunder Bay’s local economy.
The library also has a new social procurement policy, which targets a minimum of 10 per cent of the library’s total purchases to come from local businesses, Indigenous-owned businesses, and equity-deserving businesses.
“I think buying local is really important to us," said Togman. "The library is part of the Chamber of Commerce here in Thunder Bay and they've been really proactively pushing these buy local campaigns to educate the public and our local government and government institutions about the benefits of buy-local and the way that it supports the local tax base and creates local jobs."
“For us, we want to combine that local aspect and not just look at local businesses, but also business groups that have had trouble breaking into the kind of government or government style purchasing,” he continued.
However, the library isn’t just going to help businesses grow by procuring goods from diverse local vendors. They also want to extend their services to business owners by “helping entrepreneurs get access to the information they need to grow their businesses,” Togman said.
