Library up for award

Innovative and distinctive projects are making our libraries a great place to visit, Culture minister Caroline DiCocco said last week at the launch of Ontario Public Library Week.
“This year’s theme of ‘Libraries: the world at your fingertips’ honours the
role of libraries as centres for the advancement of literacy, learning, and
knowledge in our communities,” said DiCocco.
“Libraries are hubs of our communities and thanks to new technologies, they are windows to the world and places to go to feed our appetite for knowledge,” she added.
In related news, 11 library projects were named as finalists for the 2006 Public Library Service Awards, including the Fort Frances Public Library.
“We are very proud to have been shortlisted for the Minister of Culture’s Angus Mowat award of excellence for our teen summer reading program ‘iLive, iRead, iPod,’ which was sponsored by the Kiwanis Club and the Ontario Trillium Foundation,” said chief librarian Margaret Sedgwick.
“Full credit goes to Andrea Avis who came up with the idea for the program, which attracted close to 100 teens to read books for the chance of winning an iPod Nano,” she added.
The Ontario government created the Public Library Service Awards in 1985 to identify, promote, and celebrate public library service ideals.
There are two types of awards: the Angus Mowat Award of Excellence, which recognizes excellence in public library service, and the Minister’s Award for Innovation, which recognizes new ideas in public library service.
The shortlist candidates for this year’s Angus Mowat Award of Excellence also includes:
•Mnjikaning First Nation Public Library—for the celebration of First Nations Public Library Week 2006 that promoted aboriginal authors and stories for adults and children, its culture, and people.
•Hamilton Public Library—for its virtual library branch that successfully integrates resources and e-library service to connect people, information, and technology; and
•Port Hope Public Library—for its Library.Card.Cool@Port Hope Public Library that promotes the library by using promotional “pizza boxes” and encourages children to get and use a library card.
The winners of the 2006 Public Library Service Awards will be announced
at the Ontario Library Association’s annual super conference in February.