ALTA president, Dr. Tanya Pollard, presented the City of Brooks Public Library Board with the 2019 Award of Excellence on Wednesday, May 15th.

• The City of Brooks Public Library Board did an amazing job with community assessment, design, accommodation, and fundraising for the new Library from 2014 through 2017.
• The Board’s policy development was meticulous, including the new Access to Service policy.
• Special consideration was given to our community concerns about safe spaces for Teens, accessible floorplans and shelving, and study spaces to accommodate nearby students and the many ESL tutors and learners in our community. 
• Their Board made the most of each precious dollar that was fundraised. They unloaded delivery trucks, assembled shelving, and packed and moved books in their own vehicles.
• Thanks to careful planning and tireless execution, Brooks Public Library was only closed for 9 days in order to make its move and reopened with the capacity to resume full services immediately.

Brooks Library Manager, Lisa Crosby, said “Our Trustees are big picture thinkers who know when to dig into the nitty-gritty and when to let their vision rise above the whirlwind of everyday business. They have the forethought to develop policy that adapts well and they stay on top of it with an industrious review schedule. The Access to Services policy is a real step forward in how the library meets community needs. Essentially, the board committed library services to consider the needs of each patron individually to ensure that the needs of our whole community are met – not in spite of our innumerable diversities, but because of them.”

Lets make sure to give a big Congratulations to the Brooks Public Library Trustees for their extraordinary work! Enjoy your new home! Take a look at their website https://brooks.shortgrass.ca/