FORT FRANCES—While the “Building for the Future” campaign has slowed down in recent months due to uncertainty as to when, and where, a new library may be built here, campaign chair Mark Kowalchuk said organizers haven’t been resting on their laurels.
“We haven’t stopped fundraising,” he stressed Thursday. “We’ve gone through a bit of a rough period the last little while with the library, and I think it’s a growing pain that any group has seen, whether it was with the theatre or the new rink.
“We would certainly have enjoyed it more without it taking place,” he admitted. “But we’re moving on. I think after the library board meeting [tonight], we will have some clear indication as to where we see the library headed.
“And we do see it moving on, both our efforts to do some more fundraising and also bring a quick completion to the project and open those doors.
“That’s in our timeline—we see that coming about.”
While Kowalchuk said no specific fundraising events are planned in the near future, the campaign committee and town staff have been looking into applying for grants to help fund certain aspects of the new library, such as the technology centre, and expects applications to be sent out in the coming weeks.
The library campaign’s goal remains $750,000.
While individual donations have slowed down in recent months, they’ve certainly not stopped completely.
As of last week, the fundraising total has reached $530,000, including a recent $2,500 donation made by the Retired Teachers of Ontario District 1 for the teen centre at the new library.
“It shows a growing awareness that libraries, particularly public libraries, are playing a greater role in kids’ lives after they walk out of school for the day,” said Kowalchuk, adding that a short while back, a group of students from Fort Frances High School also collected money and made a donation towards the teen department at the new library.
Speaking as a retired teacher, Kowalchuk also stressed education will be an important component in what the new library will offer local youths—and the public in general.
“Now that people are able to get university courses online, the tech centre part of the new library is going to be a great opportunity for them not only to take courses, but [for local instructors] to put on courses at the library and transmit them electronically,” explained Kowalchuk.
“We see lots of opportunities for our community library besides being a depository for books.
“When you see so many university courses taught, and learned, remotely, I see our library becoming a centre not only where people can search the Internet, but take full-blown university courses without having to travel, without having to leave home, and still being able to enjoy the community, and at the same time, learn things they can bring back to Fort Frances,” he added.
As mentioned, the most recent donation was made by the Retired Teachers of Ontario District 1, which presented Kowalchuk and chief librarian Margaret Sedgwick with a cheque for $2,500 during its spring meeting last Thursday at La Place Rendez-Vous.
RTO District 1 president Bob Barron explained the local chapter applied for a grant from the provincial RTO’s “Project: Service to Others” program and received $2,500 to go towards the teen centre at the new library.
“Hopefully, this will help them get the show on the road,” said Barron.
“They approached us and said, ‘We want to do something for the library. We have an opportunity to apply for some funding.’ We said, ‘Great. Sure,’” noted Kowalchuk.
“They came up with the idea to have it go towards the teen area,” he added. “I think having it designated that way, it sends a good signal to the teens that adults are concerned about their future.”
Barron also stressed RTO District 1 endorses the new library as a stand-alone structure, and not one to be built in conjunction with any other building.
“We support the library the way it was initially set up—stand-alone,” he noted.
“We’d also like to see it progress a little faster because if they don’t, we’ve got to return this money and re-apply for it. There are time constraints on it,” he warned, adding the library project has to get started by January, 2009.
If it isn’t, Barron will have to apply for a six-month extension for the terms of grant, or possibly have to return it and then re-apply for it.
Barron said this is the third time RTO District 1 (which encompasses Rainy River to Atikokan) has applied for and received this grant.
The first time (during Mel McFayden’s term as RTO president) went to author Graham Ducker to write a book about the history of Nestor Falls while the second (during Joyce Meyers’ presidency three years ago) was for signage at the Atikokan Crisis Centre.
RTO has given out 33 grants across the province in 2008.
(Fort Frances Times)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
