The downtown branch of the Lethbridge Public Library, which is a member of the Chinook Arch Library System. (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

Chinook Arch Library System celebrates 30 years of service

Apr 1, 2022 | 7:05 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – April 1 marks 30 years of library service for Chinook Arch.

The Chinook Arch Library System was formed on April 1, 1992. Today, it includes 33 libraries in 41 different municipalities in Southwestern Alberta.

Robin Hepher, Chinook Arch CEO said, “Alberta’s library systems are one of the finest examples of intermunicipal collaboration.”

“By working together, Chinook Arch member municipalities provide sustainable, cost-effective public library services in even the smallest Southwestern Alberta communities.”

In the mid-90s, Chinook Arch was the first system to connect all of its members to the automated check-out system and to provide database-backed websites for its member libraries.

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That was followed by the RISE network, which brought videoconferencing capability to public libraries before it was common. One of the more recent successes of Chinook Arch was the installation of two automated book lockers in Waterton and on the Piikani Nation.

Marie Logan, Chinook Arch Trustee for Lomond said the work of Chinook Arch staff has made a different for rural communities in the province. Logan noted that she has “always believed if you want families to live in rural Alberta, there needs to be services that expand the quality of life for the residents.”

“One of these services is that offered by the local library.”

Patty Abel, Library Manager of the Champion Public Library commented that she “couldn’t imagine being a librarian and not being a part of the Chinook Arch Library System.”

Abel said when she first started, she did not know what to expect from the job, “but Chinook Arch sent someone out to help me with the day-to-day operations of the library.”

“Through the years the staff and CEO have helped with any questions that needed answering, and if there was a problem with computers or printers, they were here to fix them as soon as possible.”

Chinook Arch now has 30 staff members who are all working in various ways to support member libraries and their needs.

Long-time staff members Gill Watkinson, Cataloguing Lead and Rhonda Shearer, Library Technician said, “the work we do for the member libraries of Chinook Arch provides more time for library staff to work with the public face of their library.”

“If we can ease the behind-the-scenes workload of purchasing, cataloguing, and processing material a library adds to their collections then we are truly helping libraries provide the exemplary services they do.”

More information about Chinook Arch, including a list of their member libraries, is available through the organization’s official website.