Alberta’s sixth library system celebrated the official opening of its headquarters facility last. Saturday, with the Hon. Doug Main, Minister of Culture, the Hon. Ken Kowalski, Minister Responsible for Lotteries and Gaming, and St. Paul MLA John Drobot taking part in the ribbon cutting and dedication ceremonies for the Northern Lights Library System in Elk Point. Northern Lights Board Chairman Ron Young and Elk Point Mayor Maurice Lafrance welcomed the crowd which filled the street north of the former Work Wearhouse building for the ceremonies. Sherry Oszust led the singing of O Canada. MLA Drobot, who Young applauded for “pushing for funding when the economy just wouldn’t allow it,’ congratulated all involved, calling the System “an-important initiative for the area... I am pleased that the Government of Alberta has provided such tremendous support.”
The Hon. Mr. Main “supported libraries and library systems with his financial ' juggling. His commitment to libraries is being shown here,” Young said in introducing the Minister. Main said that his first contact with NLLS was “not pleasant. I delivered a ‘NO, that money was not available. They had gathered the necessary members, but the establishment money did not exist... I had to pull a few fiscal rabbits out of a hat.” Main noted that NLLS was the first library system in the province that “didn’t get establishment funding on the day of establishment,” but that now the Department of Culture is “committed to keeping the service growing.” He presented Young with a trio of books and a video for the System. Main was then joined by Drobot, the Hon. Ken Kowalski and Young to cut the golden ribbon stretched across the main entrance to the facility.
Kowalski, “the man in charge of a department often thought of as a bottomless pit,” was introduced by Young, who noted that “there’s a lot of money there, but a lot of people want that money. We really appreciate that we finally got to the top of the pile [of applications], and that his department put forth the money to purchase and renovate this building as our headquarters.”
The System, made up of “fifteen municipalities bound together which had to put aside their differences and egos” was praised by Kowalski, as was the location of the headquarters in Elk Point, which he called “a good, wise decision.” The funding put into the headquarters “was not taxpayer dollars, but benefits that accrue from lottery profits,” Kowalski said, adding that this is one of 200 projects across the province which have benefitted from the lottery funding, including Elk Point’s Seniors’ Recreation Centre, and projects undertaken by the Agricultural Society and Golf and Country Club. He was pleased that the System had seen fit to renovate an existing building. “Most systems want to build a Taj Mahal. The building isn't the important thing. Service to the people is better than a monument to posterity.”
Ron Young outlined the 17-year history of the System, which was discussed as early as 1975, and which has involved “thousands of volunteer hours, money from sources which couldn't afford to give it, and which kept us going when we really questioned whether we'd ever get going.” Young said the organizers had “argued, fought, begged and pleaded’ along their way to establishment. “Every community wanted the headquarters, decisions were changed and overturned...and plans scaled back.” The new headquarters, Young said, is “a model of restraint. The building cost-a third as much as some other headquarters and has half the staff.” Young noted that the System receives a grant of $170,000 per year in “new money,” and it is a challenge to the System to. operate within this budget so “we can turn around the money we receive from municipalities and give it back in goods and services.”
Member of Parliament Deborah Grey was pleased to see people present from many other communities to support the System “because they believe in libraries. Libraries are the issue, getting information out to the people.” From her background as a teacher, Grey emphasized the importance of “teaching young people how exciting it is to read. It’s half the battle to get people hooked on reading.” A plaque dedicating the building to “‘the sharing and improvement of library resources, for the benefit of present and future generations of Albertans, by the Northern Lights Library System and the Government of the Province of Alberta” was then unveiled by the Ministers and the MLA.
The crowd then moved to the Seniors’ Recreation Centre for a Volunteer Appreciation reception, where they heard from Neil Findlay of the Alberta Library Trustees Association. Findlay said that volunteers and board trustees are “the cornerstone of the library community” and that what the System’s volunteers have done in the ten or more years leading up to the establishment “is a mark of systems across the province are looking up to.”
Former Board Chairman Jamshed Merchant spoke of the “group of disparate people” who made up the interim board formed in 1989. “There was a lot of friendly friction, but we were able to put it behind us...and transcend into a group with a common goal.” He praised the volunteers who “all had a part in making it happen” and urged continued involvement “to make sure it continues to be what we wanted: a viable entity to serve northeastern Alberta.” Volunteers from throughout the Northern Lights area were honored with the presentations of mugs and certificates. The names of the almost 90° volunteers are also engraved on a handsome “tree of knowledge” plaque.
Presentations to the NLLS were made by the Town of Two Hills, Village of Myrnam and the County of Two Hills, as well as by the Parkland Library System, whose representative Marg Law said she was proud to bring greetings from the oldest library system in Alberta to the newest system.
Northern Lights Director Heather West had the final word, welcoming all present and “thanking you all for my job,’ which was created by the formation of the System. West was “very impressed with the friendly people of Elk Point and. their enthusiasm for libraries” on her arrival here. She pointed out the handsome decorations and thanked her staff for their hard work in preparing for the opening.
