Despite the closure of the schools they were housed in, the libraries in the communities of Jarvie and Fawcett will remain, albeit with some changes.
The Jarvie Library will continue to be housed in the old Jarvie School, which is being taken over by the Jarvie Community Council pending approval by the province. The Fawcett Library is being moved into the upper mezzanine area of the Fawcett Community Hall. Although the collection is being cut down to one-third of its current size, the new space will allow the library to run more programs.
Following the Pembina Hills school division's decision to close Jarvie and W.R. Frose School in Fawcett, the Westlock Intermunicipal Library Board hosted public meetings to ask residents about what they wanted to do with their now-homeless libraries.
Westlock Libraries director Doug Whistance-Smith said they heard "loud and clear” at those meetings that Jarvie and Fawcett residents wanted to keep them in some shape or form.
Initially, they looked at the possibility of a bookmobile, he said, but determined there weren't sufficient funds or guaranteed interest for such a venture.
"It would have answered a lot of questions for us. It would have provided a lot of additions and extensions to our services, but it was a little ahead of time, I think,” he said.
Whistance-Smith said they looked at different facilities in Jarvie, but there wasn't anything in Jarvie that was suitable.
Then the good news came: the Jarvie Community Council indicated an interest in taking over the empty school building, and Pembina Hills was willing to sell it to them.
"I was so tinkled pink that the Jarvie community wanted to take over that school,” he said.
Whistance-Smith indicated the library service in Jarvie would effectively be staying the same, though the wireless service is a bit slower and "a bit sketchier” now.
In Fawcett, staying in the school was not an option due to its infrastructure issues, so they looked for another space. The only option was the Fawcett Community Hall, so they began talking with PACO (the Fawcett Ag Society) to take over a portion of the upstairs mezzanine area, he said.
"It's sufficient to house a collection that's about one third of the size it used to be,” said Whistance-Smith.
"So it's a smaller collection, but it's still there in the community. And with the mezzanine adjacent to it, we can do programs in there, including a storytime program.”
Whistance-Smith said there was also some interest from moms about doing a Thursday morning program.
Because the adjacent hockey rink is used on Thursday nights, the Fawcett library will also be able to expand its hours with a special open time from 5 to 8 p.m., in order to let parents visit the library quickly during practices.
There will be two open houses at the end of the month to celebrate the openings of the new Jarvie and Fawcett libraries.
The Jarvie event will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 28.
