Last Saturday, Sept. 10, about 80 people were in attendance for the Official Ribbon Cutting and Grand Opening of the Kipling Public Library.
James Richards (Assistant Director & Regional Branch Manager – Southeast Regional Library) was on hand for the event.
In his remarks, Richards thanked the Town Council and Town Administrative Staff for the “commitment and support of the public library” demonstrated by the decision to proceed with the purchase and renovation of the building.
Richards also thanked local library board members and staff for their efforts and noted that “Very few libraries receive such pride of place on the busiest corner of downtown, and in such a beautiful facility.”
Mayor Pat Jackson was on hand to cut the ribbon and praised the efforts of all who have invested time, effort and resources to the library. She added a special ‘Thank-you’ to the Batters family, for the financial support that continues to provide funding for library operations.
Although the Kipling Public Library has been open at its new location for some time, Charla Smyth (Librarian) says that it was good that the official Grand Opening took place.
“I know we’ve been open for a bit. But it really did feel as though something important had been left undone. Now it’s ‘official’! And I think that having that moment to recognize everything that went into making this our library was important.”
She adds that along with the Grand Opening – the library enjoyed a busy day.
“We sold about 170 hot dogs at our sale. And there were a lot of glitter tattoos given out!
“As well, we were really pleased to have Mary Balogh here with signed copies of some of her books. This was actually the first time that I’ve had the opportunity to have a ‘full’ conversation with her. It’s really wonderful for people who enjoy her books to be able to ‘meet the person behind the story’. So, it was great to have her in the branch and be able to honor her that way.”
Smyth also praised the efforts of those who had worked to make the event possible.
“I am so proud of our library board and everyone who helped to make this happen. This was the first ‘big event’ since I became Librarian that we’ve done as a team. And everyone just did a tremendous job!
“We’d also like to give a huge shout-out to Cornerstone Credit Union for bringing Trade Day back again. It was a great event to ‘partner with’ and a wonderful opportunity to celebrate with the community!”
