MANOR - The Manor Public Library recently completed renovations to its property on Main Street and Tracy Brimner provided a recap.
Brimner has been on the library board since 2006 and has been its chairperson since 2009.
Prior to 2008, the library operated out of the east end of the village office. That spring, the library moved into the former Manor Christian Fellowship Centre, whose congregation had given the building to the village to be used as a library.
The Manor Public Library is a member of the Southeast Regional Library, which oversees dozens of libraries in southeastern Saskatchewan. It strives to provide the resources and experiences that foster a lifetime of imagination, discovering, and learning.
Pari Mohangoo is the head librarian in Manor. The library is open Mondays and Saturdays from 1-4 p.m., and Tuesday to Thursday from 5:30-8:30 p.m.
With a generous donation from the Bear Claw Community Development Corporation, the library recently retrofitted some shelving and repainted much of its interior. Future plans include additional painting, improving the wheelchair ramp, adding flower planters, applying rubber coating to the front steps, and purchasing a new printer and upgrading their computers.
Over the years, the library has received numerous grants and donations from various government and private organizations, enabling this 15-hour per week library to keep its doors open. They conduct numerous regular fundraisers, including providing lunch to the Key M Auction spring and fall consignment sales, various bake sales, a Christmas hamper raffle and more recently an Easter soup and sandwich.
Like everything else in this world of change, visiting the library isn’t the same as it was a few years ago.
“You can still come to the library and pick up a book, but there are many other things you can do,” said Brimner. “Once you become a library member, you can read a video book, watch DVDs, play video games, or just surf the internet on our computers. We have good Wi-Fi reception, which is of course free. Frankly, our evening hours during the weeks have proven to be very popular with many students from our school enjoying the library.
“We also provide both students and adults alike with exciting and different things to do. Last month we had a sewing class, this month it’s pour painting.”
The Manor Library has a large selection of books and has a fully operational kitchen in its basement. The library and is and will continue to be an important part of the community.
