Numerous ideas to improve Sundre and make the municipality even better than it already is were recently brainstormed.
About two dozen town as well as surrounding area residents attended the Sundre Municipal Library's Books and Beyond community engagement session that was held at the facility on Oct. 22.
“People really responded,” said Jamie Syer, the library's manager.
“I was pleased with the commitment of the people who came — just about everybody stayed for the whole day.”
The workshop might have been hosted at the library, but the idea was to discuss a variety of potential visions for the whole community, and to determine what role the facility and its staff might be able to play in attempting to accommodate those proposed goals. The morning started off with participants suggesting potential topics. From there, the ideas that garnered the most interest were scheduled into time slots for the rest of the day, open to anyone who was interested in being part of the discussion.
“Using a format called ‘open space', we identified a wide array of topics and concerns of interest to those who were here,” said Syer.
The ideas and information shared “gives a picture of many of the issues that are of importance to those who live and work in our town and rural communities.”
Among the numerous topics brought forward were the following: increasing awareness about the richness of talent and experience in the community; a cultural twinning between Sundre and surrounding First Nations tribes; being a part of helping to introduce broadband Internet, perhaps by hosting debates on the pros and cons; improving connections among seniors and youth; creating a healthier community by improving and increasing access to a variety of resources; and how to make information about everything happening in the community more accessible. As these topics still only represent the tip of the iceberg, anyone who wants more detailed notes on the numerous discussions is encouraged to visit sundre.prl.ab.ca/community-visioning-report.
Moving forward, one of the next steps will be for a small task group, which will be formed soon, to digest that information and decide what the library can respond to, said Syer.
While the library's staff might to some extent be able to facilitate some of the ideas raised, other suggestions could potentially be referred to other community organizations that might be better suited. There is also the possibility of the library working collaboratively with other community groups such as Greenwood Neighbourhood Place, he said.
“We will develop a working group to consider the ideas and determine which the library may be able to play a part in promoting, or projects we might initiate or help bring to fruition.”
Although plenty of work lay ahead, the library manager said a good foundation upon which to build has been established.
Another component to gathering such feedback from the community is to consider the input provided as the library's board of trustees updates its plan of service, which will determine the facility's priorities for roughly the next four years, he said.
“By the end of January 2017, all this information and more will be assembled into the library's new plan of service covering the mission and future of the library's activities through 2020.”
Anyone who is interested in getting involved in the process is encouraged to contact Syer, who can be reached at the library at 403-638-4000.
