Busiest year ever for the Pickering Public Library With almost 1.2 million items borrowed and an exciting new roster of services, the Pickering Public Library is celebrating its most successful year ever. In 2009, the Pickering Library expanded its open hours, in response to client requests, to include year-round Sundays so that busy families had more of an opportunity to use their library on the weekend. The Library also partnered with the Durham West Arts Centre, which is now located in the Greenwood Branch, to display local art at Pickering Library branches. The Library also introduced several new services with the construction of the new iHelp desk at the Central Library. The iHelp desk allows clients to access a higher level of design software, with Adobe Creative Suite products like Photoshop and Illustrator. The iHelp desk also introduced the iPOD downloads collection; allowing clients to borrow digital books for free on their personal iPOD as well as lending iPODs to clients who may not have one. Since 2009 was a challenging year for the economy, the Library worked to respond to the needs of some of the community’s most vulnerable members by offering the Food for Fees Campaign and donating the proceeds to the local Food Bank. A number of new public access computers were made available to clients who might not otherwise have internet access and, as always, the Library continues to provide the opportunity for cash-strapped families to access a large collection of books, DVDs and music and video games. The Library also had the exciting opportunity to welcome a new CEO this past year. Cathy Grant has been a key member of the Pickering staff since 1995 and brings with her years of experience of managing library operations and programs. The Library will also welcome in the new year with the release of it’s new logo, which has been designed to better capture the Library’s mission and place in the community going in to 2010. “The City of Pickering loves and supports its libraries, which are the cornerstones of a successful community.” Says Library CEO Cathy grant. “The Library is one of the best in the country thanks to an excellent staff and the support of the community. We look forward to serving this vital community in 2010.” |
||||||||||||
