Karine St. Onge with our Assistant District Governor Loida Lumanlan

This week we heard about some of the cool new things being offered by the Edmonton Public Library (EPL) from Karine St. Onge.

She told us that the EPL offers many different types of programs for all ages and interests. Everything from Creator Workshops by local writers, musicians and artists, to Roots that Reach which partners with local communities to offer speakers and panels that help to connect people from various backgrounds. They have a Learn a New Skill series at many different branches where they offer all kinds of things both in person or by Zoom. 

They offer cooking and baking classes in The Kitchen or Makerspace classes where participants can make use of their music recording studio, laser cutters, 3D printers, book binding or sewing machines. 

They have programs for adults such as book clubs, English language classes, or help with using technology. They also bring in special speakers on all types of topics. 

In addition, they offer some very popular, fun, programs like Locked Library, an Escape Room experience at various branches for which tickets sell out far in advance. They also have a Canada Library Month BINGO where participants can pick up a card at any branch and play by reading books for fun. 

Karine also told us that the library is quite concerned by the effect that new Alberta Government legislation affecting freedom of choice for libraries will have on their day to day operations and are working on how to deal with these changes. 

There is always something going on and aimed at improving your life in some way. Information on all of these programs can be found on their website, epl.ca and most of them are free with a library membership (which is also free). There is a charge for the materials supplied in some of the classes. Some of these programs are so popular that registration fills up quickly many months in advance so we need to watch for them and sign up early. 

We would like to thank Karine for her very informative and interesting talk. I am sure we all were surprised to learn about the wide range of things being offered by our Public Library.