The Portage la Prairie Regional Library has been slowly transforming its interior.

Director Jen Kendall attended the city council meeting on November 14th to talk about the changes made to the building. She says, following the upgrades to the washrooms, the DVD collection, the junior area, and the adult seating area, they hope to see more patrons coming through their doors.

“We were also talking about the trends for seeing in gate counts,” says Kendall. “Which is where people physically come into the library. In membership, we're on track right now to meet or exceed our highest member count of all time, which was back in 2014.”

She adds, they’re still rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic, but it hasn’t stopped some of the physical items from circulating. The director says, after factoring in digital items, they exceed 10,000 items a month. She hopes that the technology library and radon detectors available will help boost that number even further.

She’s also ecstatic due to the programs that they’ve been running being so successful. She talks about some of the most popular events.

“Out of the ones recently introduced, I would say it would be the annual trick or treat market, we had over 1000 people this year,” says Kendall. “It was absolutely bananas. We had a line up the entire side of the building and we had to actually get someone to hold the door open because so many people were trying to come in when we first started.”

She mentions holding an event where both the kids and parents could enjoy themselves was very fulfilling.

If you’re interested in getting a membership with the library, Kendall says all you have to do is come in with photo ID that has your current address. There’s no fee associated if you live in the city or rural municipality and they can get you signed up the same day.

To stay up to date with the library, click here.

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