Sundre as well as surrounding area residents are encouraged to don their thinking caps and attend a community brainstorming session later this month.
The Sundre Municipal Library will be hosting Books and Beyond within the facility, which is a free-to-attend public engagement open house that is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 22 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
As libraries continue to evolve and grow further from their roots as providers of books, they are becoming increasingly connected with their communities, said Jamie Syer, library manager.
“Libraries are becoming one of the hubs of their communities,” he told the Round Up during a phone interview.
Some people are even referring to the local library as Sundre's living room, he added.
“If we're going to continue to be worthy of that title, we need to hear from people — we can't assume that we here at the library know what the dreams and wishes of the community are.”
The idea behind Books and Beyond is to create the opportunity for library staff to directly connect with the community to find out what kinds of aspirations and priorities residents have. That information will prove invaluable as work begins on developing the library's new four-year plan of service, he said.
However, the manager wants to keep open the potential for a variety of discussions, “not just for the library but the whole community.”
“What do you think is important to you about our community?” is the kind of question Syer said residents who are planning to attend should keep in mind. However, anyone who wants to attend simply to sit in and listen to the discussions is also welcome.
As an all-day community engagement session, Syer said attending is a commitment.
“But I know there are many people who are very dedicated to the community,” he added.
The brainstorming event will be held in an open space format. That means there is no set agenda and the day will start off by coming up with topics to discuss, which will largely depend on who attends and what they are interested in talking about. Those ideas will be noted and prioritized so people who want to further discuss them in more detail will be able to split up into groups to do so, he said.
“This process guarantees that the things you want to talk about will be discussed to the degree others want to discuss it. It's not just a library event — although obviously it has a library connection — but it's an event that has the potential to involve the whole community.”
Roughly every four years, libraries have to lay out new terms of service. In order to determine future priorities, it's important to talk to people and the coming event is an ideal way to do just that, he said, calling Books and Beyond “a day to find a resource of ideas.”
Despite how much libraries have changed in the 21st century, some people still might view the facilities in their traditional function as loaning literary material to the public, he said.
“But libraries have changed and evolved so much — there's very little libraries can't do.”
Lunch will be included for free, and for that reason organizers need to know how many people to expect, so anyone who would like to attend must RSVP by Friday, Oct. 7.
“You can come with a completely open mind with no particular ideas in mind, but if you've got an idea you're passionate about, here's your chance,” said Syer, who encourages members of the community to come out and help contribute to the process of “writing the library's next chapter.”
