Linda MacNeill, Friends of the Kitimat Public Library, Kitimat;
Virginia Charron, Director,Kitimat Public Library, Kitimat
Jack MacNeil, Chairman, Kitimat Public LIbrary, Kitimat
Kathy Anderson, Chief Librarian, Smithers Public Library, Smithers
Lorraine Doiron, Chairperson, Friends of the Smithers Public Library, Smithers.
Over refreshments we congratulated ourselves on a great parade. The Kitimat group was thanked profusely for coming. Granisle Library had a car in the parade, driven by the Granisle Mayor, and we gave him much thanks during the parade. Smithers handed out 500 bookmarks from the Friends, along with some generic Library ones brought by the Kitimat people. We also handed out candy.
Packages that contained information on Friends groups (how to start and maintain a group) were handed out and appreciated. A lot of useful information was received from FOCAL and these packages will be sent to various Friends groups who were unable to attend. Several are trying to start up or restart a group and I think the information contained in the packages along with the various web sites noted will be a big help.
There was a short discussion about the difficulty of maintaining members and interest. This seems to be a problem for every group. We also spoke briefly about some fund raising ideas, one of them being a CD that was put together by well known singers with songs based on various books. This whole idea of meeting, at least once a year, all the libraries along the highway from Prince Rupert to Prince George, was determined to be a
great idea and we will work on a meeting for next year. Although we did not have a big turnout, I know that big things come from small beginnings so I am eagerly awaiting next year!
