The Portage la Prairie Regional Library has closed the books on another year.  Head Librarian Percy Gregoire-Voskamp says one major challenge facing them in 2016 was the $23,000 budget cut from the City and the RM.  Gregoire-Voskamp notes they managed to get through the year with some very good support from several community groups and private individuals who stepped up and made donations to help with the shortfall.  

He says over the year they bought some new seating to make the place more comfortable and they also had to purchase a new telephone system.  Gregoire-Voskamp notes a big success this past year was their summer reading program, adding they had kids flooding through the door.  He says they also replaced their book drop with a card lock system, but the major thing that he's happy about is how the library has gotten involved with digital books and e-magazine subscriptions.  Gregoire-Voskamp notes soon they'll have almost a hundred and fifty titles for e-magazines, so interest in this aspect of the library has really been growing.  He adds during 2016 they also had a lot of support from local authors who came to read from their newest books.