Editor’s note: The following letter is in response to our coverage of the Morinville Community Library Grand Opening held Nov. 25
I will state my bias up front, in that I have been a member of the Library Board on and off since 2006. In that time, I have seen a few people and things come and go in the Library. I felt that I just had to add a few comments for the people who were not able to attend the Grand Opening on Sunday [Nov. 25].
The management and staff of the Morinville Community Library has done an exceptional job of rolling with the stress and many changes the past 16 months. They were usually smiling (instead of crying!) while they somehow managed to get things done. They worked in a very tight space, with extremely limited resources, and despite a flood and other challenges, provided the best level of service possible. Their dedication and extraordinary efforts were exemplary.
As well, I have to add a comment about the Library’s management leadership. Both Manager Isabelle and her trusty right-hand Assistant Manager Cheryl were instrumental in trying to meet the day-to-day needs of the “temporarily” re-located library, while still getting estimates, reviewing floor plans, selecting and ordering furniture, and a thousand other small tasks that needed to be done for the new space. It doesn’t sound like much, but it was.
Many of the staff spend their own time either volunteering with the Friends of the Library fundraising activities or assisting with Library-related tasks. It is a thankless task, but all important to getting things like our new computers.
The Library Board’s task is to provide guidance, set policy, and other tasks. They (current and past boards) willingly gave their own time to meet and fundraise in order to assist the staff do what they do.
If how well they work under adversity is any indication, I believe that the Morinville Community Library staff’s level of service in our renewed space will be amazing and our community will be extremely well-served by it.
Thanks again, ladies and gentlemen, for going above and beyond. I look forward to spending more time in the new facility.
Brent Henry
Board Trustee
