Caledon Public Library launches new programming, new catalogue for 2022

January 6, 2022 · 0 Comments

By Rob Paul

Caledon Public Library (CPL) has been a key resource in the community, especially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic with virtual programming they’ve continued to offer residents of all ages.

Though CPL was preparing to return to some in-person programming to start 2022, the new COVID-19 measures in place have caused them to pivot to all-virtual to start the year. But the library branches will remain open at limited capacity.

“We’re fortunate that we’ve actually had capacity limits in place and never actually expanded,” said Mary Maw, CPL Communications and Community Development Manager. “We were never over 50 per cent capacity in any branches, so right now we’re reducing hours by taking away the Mondays in our two larger branches—Bolton and Southfield Village. Other than that, we’ll be moving forward with the capacity limits. The problem right now for us is having adequate staff to deliver services just because we’ve seen other businesses losing staff due to COVID cases; we have a contingency plan in place if that happens and we’ll rotate closing branches to have enough staff if we need to. But right now we’re very fortunate.”

There’s no shortage of programming this winter with CPL.

There will be a variety of kid and teen virtual programming sessions that including STEM-based programs, along with Forest of Reading, Teen Book Boxes, Elizabeth Scavetta Teen Writing Workshop and Lecture Series, Teen Café, and virtual class visits.

For Adults, there will be an Indigenous programming series, programming for nature enthusiasts, a caregiver stress and burnout session, Holiday Money Hangover session, a craft club, and multiple digital information sessions.

“What we had hoped was to start slowly introducing in-person programming with limited capacity, but we’ve pulled those back and we’re back to virtual programming,” Maw said. “We do have a nice wealth of virtual programs and there’s something for all ages. We’re really glad we’re still able to serve the community and our staff have really become experts at the virtual programming. We’re adapting everything we planned to virtual and we’re happy we’re still able to serve our customers. We serve all ages, and we really try to give a variety for everyone. You can’t be everything to everybody, but we really try hard.”

When developing the programming, virtual and in-person, Maw explains that it’s all based on what they hear and see from the community in order to offer the most sought-after options.

“We’re developing an even more formal programming strategy in 2022,” she said. “We really look at what’s happening in the community, and we watch the trends and ask for feedback. With every program we run, we ask participants to fill out an evaluation form to let us know what they’d like to see. We are always customer-driven as opposed to us making decisions alone. We also can see through the trends in our catalogue what people are interested in and that really helps us develop programs that connect to our community. We started doing things where if we offer a workshop, we’ll also provide a list of resources the library has if people want more information about it.”

Just before Christmas, CPL launched a new, mobile-friendly catalogue through Biblicommons.

The catalogue will offer smarter searching, better browsing and improved personal features that allow you to create personal reviews, build lists, and share your favourite reads with the Caledon community.

“We’re really fortunate to belong to the Ontario Library Consortium. We were able to launch this brand-new catalogue that we’re really excited about,” said Maw. “It’s more interactive, it’s more engaging and people can chat with other people all over. You can rate the books and make comments and create your own reading lists. It’s a wonderfully engaging tool that our customers are going to love. It’s a lot more user friendly too and has natural language like the way you search on Google. Our staff are very excited too because now they can create staff lists using it. If we do a program, they can create a book list through the catalogue that coincides with the program. Timing is everything because right now with people at home again this launched just in time for them to delve into it and stay engaged. To be totally engaged in it you have to create a customer profile and we just launched it December 21, and we’ve already had around 980 people already create profiles. It’s very exciting.”

With 2021 now wrapped up, it wasn’t the easiest year for CPL, but the programming never stopped as it aimed to use its services to help the people of Caledon stay engaged through tough times, and Maw says that’s all thanks to the staff.

“We have to say kudos to our staff because at every turn our staff rose to the challenge,” she said. “Our customers really appreciated the situation too and understood there were so many challenges. Every time you think you think you’re moving forward in one direction, something happens, and you have to pivot. Our staff did a remarkable job, and our customers were so thankful for that.”

Now with 2022 here, it’s going to be a huge year for CPL with a handful of branches set to finish up renovations and expansions.

“It’s quite an exciting year for us, even working within the limitations of COVID,” she said. “Currently, our Albion Bolton Branch is under renovation and we’re expecting to open that branch back up completed this spring—the end of April or May. We received a grant for our Southfields Village Branch so we’re going to have a reading garden there and we’ll do sales there and have furniture out there to do outdoor programming in that space—that should be by spring. We also received a grant for our Margaret Dunn Valleywood Branch to become a makerspace and small business centre.

“The Caledon East Branch is also moving to the new Caledon East Complex and a makerspace will be there as well. 2022 for CPL is incredibly exciting with so many things coming forward and when things get better with the pandemic it will be great.”

For more information on the programming CPL offers and how to get involved, visit caledon.library.on.ca/.

To access the new catalogue system at CPL, visit caledon.bibliocommons.com.