The Emo public library recently received a $5,000 grant from Couer Mining (formerly New Gold).
The grant money was able to bring the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) project to the library.
Mellisa Gallagher, Emo’s outgoing CEO and head librarian, saw to it that this event was celebrated and shared with the public through an open house held earlier this month.
The attendance and enthusiasm was great with adults and kids aged 5-14 attending. All thoroughly enjoyed the activities, especially with the help of parents and grandparents. Board members in attendance were Tamara Robson, Marie-Ann DeGroot, Lisa Teeple, Phil Whatley, and Elaine Hughes.
“Our board has been very enthusiastic in the application for not only STEM grant and has participated actively in planning so that these programs will be running in Emo as long as possible,” Gallagher said.
The open house featured many books for emergent readers, including many games that explore the areas of engineering.
This is not the first time Coeur Mining has provided a grant for the library. Gallagher said she applied through the mine’s community investment portal and had a little support from Coeur Mining’s Community Relations Coordinator Anne Marie Rousseau in better understanding the goals for the grant. Projects like the STEM after school program are fairly new to the Emo Public Library. Other grants have been recently approved. The Sarah Badgely Fund was recently approved for a 3D printer for rural libraries. The library was also successful in a grant application through Rainy River Futures Development for rural libraries.
The library has been successfully increasing their attendance over the last several months, as well as retaining local patrons. Patrons love and support their local library and the Emo board and CEO will continue to work to continue to provide needed and appropriated services in Emo.
Some library services come through a streaming service called Kanopy, which offers a wide variety of TV shows, movies, documentaries, and digital media courses. This service has public performance rights so the library can have movie nights at the library.
The Emo Public Library was also present at the Wellness Fair held on Friday, September 11, and showcased all that Kanopy had to offer. Patrons in LaVallee and Chapple should keep an eye out for events in their communities. Gallagher shared that both communities are planning movie nights once this service is rolled out. In Emo, plans are being to partner with the Seniors Centre and to host movie nights through the winter, as well as digital literacy activities as schedules will allow.
The board was very excited to subscribe to this service.
Gallagher has resigned from the Emo Library, but noted that her time working with her board was good.
“Through the time I have spent here at the Emo Public Library, I have found the board to be very positive,” she said.
“They are engaged and work very hard to help the library navigate past the barriers they have been presented with. Moving forward I think they will work very hard to continue the next CEO by defining the relationship with the Emo Township better and setting clear guidelines through their government systems. They have taken steps toward setting up a Friends of the Library group. Working with board members has been wonderful and I know the next CEO will benefit from this dedicated group of volunteers. We definitely saw this during our recent open house.”
