With Ontario Public Library Week wrapping up on Friday, the North Hastings, Hastings Highlands and Carlow/Mayo Public Libraries teamed up to host a celebration at Club 580.
North Hastings Public Library CEO Kim McMunn, CEO of Hastings Highlands’ library Rodd Moffitt and Head Librarian at the Carlow/Mayo Public Library Carrie McKenzie headed the celebration. They were joined by MPP for Hastings-Lennox and Addington Daryl Kramp and representatives from the municipalities in North Hastings.
“It was a great time to recognize community members who have invested their lives to serving and helping our libraries,” Moffitt says of OPLW.
Awards were handed out to those that have helped the three local libraries. Deborah Jefferies was honoured for her work with the library in Hastings Highlands. She runs the “Reading, Rhyming and Running Around” program. Moffitt says she’s also a “great promoter” of the library.
Lorne Tregaskis was honoured for being the Carlow/Mayo library’s unofficial IT technician. Custodian at Hermon Public School Shawn Grant was given a plaque for always being at the ready to help with what the library needs.
Susan McDermott and Jean McCormack were given awards for the work they have done with the North Hastings Public Library. McDermott has worked with the library since retiring 14 years ago. She helps with cataloguing among other responsibilities. “She will always be a valuable member of our team,” McMunn said. McCormack has worked with the NHPL for two decades. McMunn humorously noted how she said when she joined she would work with the library until it relocated. “She didn’t know it would take so long,” McMunn joked.
While McMunn has been on the road all week, she says this week has been an exciting one for libraries. She says they recently got the results back on the survey that was put out to the public on where they want the library to move to. “Overwhelmingly it was the upper downtown area,” McMunn says.
A spot has been decided on, but McMunn says an announcement on where exactly that is will be happening in the coming weeks. “2 years from now I want to be cutting a ribbon,” she says.
McKenzie adds that this wrap-up celebration was the biggest she’s ever been a part of. She says she’s happy to see so many supporting their local library.
“Libraries are a community heartbeat,” McMunn adds. She says they mean so many different things to so many different people. McMunn adds that with the new library being designed to be a community hub for Bancroft and the rest of North Hastings, it will be open for more people to do more things.