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Prince Township Public Library

 

      Welcome to the Prince Township Public Library, the only such library in Northern Ontario that is operated entirely by volunteers.

       Our library, located in Prince Township, on the western boundary of Sault Ste. Marie, serves a municipal population of just under 1,000, along with some families from the city’s west end.  We have 296 registered patrons, along with several preschool patrons whose parents prefer to use their own memberships when borrowing children’s items.

 

Brief History: The Prince Township Public Library opened in 1987, in a former basement storage area of a rural elementary school, which the municipality has purchased and transformed into the Prince Township Community Centre. 

Later, the library was promoted from the basement to a vacant former classroom upstairs, where it was less vulnerable to water damage.

In 1997, the township’s Centennial Year, the municipality received funding through a Canada-Ontario Infrastructure Works Program grant to build an addition onto the west wall of the Community Centre, which enabled the library to double its floor space.

The following year,  1998, the Township of Prince received federal funding from Industry Canada to set up a Community Access Program (CAP), which enabled the township to offer free public Internet access at the Community Centre to residents who had no such access at home.  CAP computer work stations were set up at the Municipal Office, the Parent/Child Resource Centre (Best Start Hub), and the Prince Township Library. 

In 2000, (check this?) the Library Board decided to automate its catalogue of library holdings, and purchased the Athena software program for cataloguing items and keeping track of patrons’ borrowing records.  During the first months of 2001?, the library’s volunteers spent time transferring the library’s card catalogue information onto the Athena program, and subsequently learned how to keep track of patron borrowing records at the circulation desk computer.

 

Library Board:  This five-member board is appointed by the township council after every municipal election. Library board members serve a four-year term that coincides with council’s term.

The library board meets in the library on the first Wednesday of every month, except July and August.

Meeting time is 6:30 p.m.

 

 LIBRARY BOARD MEMBERS

Chair:                                   Brian Kucherepa

Secretary:                            Rita Wagner

Treasurer:                            Sandy Fulcher

Council Representative:   Coun. Ron Amadio

Active member:                  Bev. Couch.

Library CEO                        Marguerite La Haye (non-voting)

                                   

 

WEEKLY VOLUNTEER LIBRARIANS

Fall to Spring

Fran Burns                   Marguerite La Haye                  Jane Darlow                  Vera Robb                

Art Fink                         Donna Tucker                            Les Fulcher                    Rita Wagner          

Margaret Jackson

 

ALTERNATE VOLUNTEERS

Bev Couch                  Brian Kucherepa                         Betty Wilton

 

LIBRARY HOURS

September – June 

Mon. ……………1:00 – 3:00 p.m.

Tues. …………..1:00 – 3:00 pm. & 6:30- 8:00 p.m.    

Wed. ……………10:00 a.m. – noon & 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.

Thurs. ………….1:00 – 3:00 p.m. & 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.

Fri. ………………10:00 – noon

CLOSED WEEKENDS

 

SUMMER HOURS

July – August

Mon. …………….. 10:00 a.m. --- noon & 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Tues. …………….  1:00 – 5:00 p.m. & 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Wed. …………….. 10:00 a.m. – noon & 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Thurs. ……………. 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. & 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Fri. …………………10:00 a.m. – noon & 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

CLOSED WEEKENDS

 

Our 2008 Summer Student Librarian is Desiree Scornaenchi.  The Library Board wishes to thank the Friends of the Prince Township Library for a grant from Canada Summer Jobs to fund the summer student’s position.

                 

LOAN PERIODS

  • Books, including audio books, magazines, and VHS video tapes have a three-week loan period.

  • Items in DVD format have a five-ay loan period.

  • Each patron is allowed to have five books on loan at any one time. The limit for items in VHS or DVD format, or a combination of both, is three at a time.

  • Items may be renewed on or before the due date, unless they have been reserved by another patron. Telephone renewals are permitted.

 

FINES AND OTHER CHARGES

  • Overdue books, magazines or VHS videos: .25/item per day (excluding weekends).  The maximum fine is $5.00/item.

  • Overdue DVD videos: $2.00/item per day, to a maximum of $10.00/item.

  • Patrons who lose or severely damage items are asked to pay the replacement cost of the item

  • Printing or photocopying: .20/page for printing or photocopying black-and-white or grayscale documents, and .25/page for colour  documents.

 

 SERVICES OFFERED

  • We have a collection of over book 5,000 fiction and non-fiction titles for patrons of all ages.

  • We subscribe to the McNaughton Book Service, from which we can lease up to 10 bestselling works of fiction and non-fiction each month. 

  • We offer free Interlibrary Loan services for patrons who seek titles that our library does not have.  Interlibrary Loan enables patrons to request books from other public libraries in Ontario.

  • We have a collection of VHS videos suitable for children’s viewing, and a growing collection of videos in DVD format.

  • We subscribe to Ontario Library Service—North’s DVD pool, in which each member library receives 10 DVD titles for a three-month period.  Our next rotation will take place in the week of July 24.

  • We have subscriptions to many popular magazines, such as Consumer Reports, MacLean’s, and Ontario Out of Doors, as well as Yes and Know, the popular and up-to-date Canadian science magazines for children and preteens.

  • We offer free Internet access and hotmail.com  service to patrons who do not have them at home.

  • We also offer patrons access to selected online databases from Thomson Gale and Ebsco Publications, thanks to sponsorship from the Ontario Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Ontario.  Patrons with passwords can log in either in the library or at home.

  • We offer door-to-door library service on request to Prince seniors and those with mobility problems.

  • For patrons’ convenience, we have an after-hours book return box outside the front door of the Community Centre. Patrons are asked to place  items in a protective plastic bag before using the book return box to avoid weather damage.

 

FREE PROGRAMS

Mother Goose:  This program, which aims to reinforce early literacy and numeracy skills, is offered jointly by Prince Township Public Library and the Prince Township Best Start Hub.

The program takes place on Wednesday mornings in the library at 10:30 a.m.  Preschoolers listen to stories and poem, sing action songs, and receive a weekly take-home craft. Parents or caregivers are asked to accompany their children to Mother Goose sessions.

Adult Book Club:  Book club meetings take place in the library at two-month intervals from fall to spring, on Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m..   Participants need not purchase the title selected for study, but may instead reserve it at the library.

Those interested in attending book club meetings may call us at (705)779-3653 and ask to have their names put on the contact list for the next session.

Recent book club selections have included Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a well-known critic of how extreme Islamic cultures brutalize women, and Jackfish, the Vanishing Village, a haunting debut novel by former Prince resident Sarah Felix Burns.

 

TD SUMMER READING CLUB

This annual summer program, sponsored by the TD Bank, aims to boost reading power among elementary school students ages 6 to 12, so that they don’t have to play academic catch-up when they return to school in September.

This year’s theme is LOL (Laugh Out Loud), and reading material will include hilarious stories and rhymes, joke books and riddles, and whatever other humour preadolescent kids can imagine.  Also included are lots of cool crafts, with materials supplied by the library.

The 2008 Summer Reading Club will run from mid-July through August and will be led by Desiree Scornaienchi, our Summer Student Librarian, who is now working toward a Master’s Degree in Education.

Each club member will receive a poster, a log book, and an activity book.  Reading club members who have read the most books will be eligible for special prizes.

Drop in at the library to register, or call us at (705)779-3653.

 

FUNDRAISERS

Annual Community Birthday Calendar Campaign: Every year, the Prince Township Public Library Board takes orders for its Community Birthday Calendars which cost $8.00 each.

Calendar sales are the library’s main fundraiser, and have brought in over $2,000 a year.

Community Birthday Calendar purchases entitle customers to keep track of multiple family birthdays and anniversaries.  The calendar also lists garbage and blue box days, so residents never have to miss a pickup again.

As well, the calendar features advertisements and handy phone numbers for sponsoring businesses, many of which Prince residents patronize regularly.

The Community Birthday Calendar campaign for 2009 has begun, so please considering supporting your library when the campaigner calls to take your order.