By Sebastian Kanally, Times Chronicle

The library wants to be known as a space that provides much more than just books, but finding a way to keep the public informed about its many services is key. 

Danielle Hubbard, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Okanagan Regional Library (ORL) and Artessa Wiler, Oliver’s assistant community librarian, provided an update to Oliver town council on the direction of the organization and the state of the local library. 

Hubbard, who has been CEO for just under two years explained that they have been focusing a lot on their strategic plan to be a “vital community space for learning, connecting, and exploring.”

Hubbard was clear that the library is a space for people to be and hangout; it is not just a one dimensional place with books. She explained that “in a lot of our communities, especially our smaller ones, sometimes the public library is the only free public space.” 

The ORL is the 16th largest library system in Canada with 30 locations, and has an operating budget of $23 million. 

This centralized budget and operating system allows each local branch to have access to 588,550 physical materials, which include books but also DVDs, magazines, and more.

Hubbard explained that also part of these physical materials is a new collection called the library of things, which includes items people can check out such as birding backpacks and robotic kits for children. 

The library also has 144,650 digital materials such as ebooks, audio books, and streaming services for people to access. 

Each local library branch has access to these materials through their floating collection which allows the materials to move around to their 30 locations where needed. 

Over the next five years the ORL has five primary goals: 

  • Cultivate learning, literacy, creativity, and imagination;
  • Offer a welcoming, inclusive space to gather, and connect;
  • Embrace local heritage, and culture;
  • Develop and nurture community partnerships;
  • Strive for organizational and service excellence.

Wiler explained that Oliver’s local library has seen a notable increase in patron visits. The numbers show that  from June 2023 to June 2024 the library’s visits were up nine per cent. 

Hubbard even corroborated this narrative across the region saying that “all of our usage metrics are above where they were pre covid”. 

A crucial point that both Hubbard and Wiler noted in their presentation was that the library offers a plethora of services that many people may not know about. 

Of the multiple things the local Oliver library does, they are in partnership with the South Okanagan Immigrant & Community Services (SOICS) where they provide the space weekly for them to meet.

They are also in partnership with Desert Sun Counselling and Resource Centre, where they do one on one computer courses with people.

They also have numerous events and offerings such as Lego drop-ins, Crafty Saturdays and offer printing services. 

Wiler explained that they also experimented with a partnership with Service Canada in Penticton to bring their services to Oliver for the day. This allowed people to renew their passports and access other government services for the day without having to go all the way to Penticton. 

She explained that this did not receive much support, but is something she will continue to push for. 

Councillor David Mattes, who is the Oliver council representative on the ORL board, explained that he thinks that “we need a better answer for informing the public”.

Hubbard commented that “it is definitely one of the challenges with public libraries. There are so many things that libraries do that everyone knows about, such as books, but then there are all these other services that are really expanding and they are as effective as people knowing about them. They can have a lot of impact but if no one knows about them it reduces their impact.” 

For more information on the ORL and a calendar of activities vist their website.