The Portage Regional Library made some major advancements in 2018. Former Head Librarian Percy Gregoire-Voskamp gives us an outline.

"One was going in with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, a service they call CELA - Centre for Equitable Library Access," says Gregoire-Voskamp. "It really is the old CNIB which provides service directly to clients. This is something we bought into at the very end of last year."

He notes they also upgraded all the signage in the facility to meet letter size and height requirements. Gregoire-Voskamp adds even his drawer now has Braille on it, and notes these are all very important changes to the Library.

Gregoire-Voskamp says a number of small tables were built at the end of the shelves in order to highlight particular authors in those rows. New lighting was also added, having changed the larger hanging lights to LED lights, and were aided by a grant to have that done. Gregoire-Voskamp adds, speaking of grants, they received two from the student employment program, and had a fine young student whom he says did much of the programming for summer reading. He adds they were able to keep her on for several weeks to finish up her task. And Healthy Child Manitoba Central Coalition provided a grant for a musical story time that will continue this year and next.

2019 is the Library's 50th anniversary as a municipal library.