ATHABASCA — Athabasca's library was honoured for excellence at the 2024 Alberta Municipalities (ABMunis) conference in Red Deer at the end of September.
“It’s incredibly important when small communities get provincial recognition because the recognition goes far beyond our local community,” said Town of Athabasca Library Board Chair Colleen Powell.
The Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Library Service for serving a population of under 10,000 with the innovative One Book, One Community (OBOC) program was announced by Minister of Municipal Affairs Rick McIvor during the ABMunis conference. Athabasca was one of only four communities to receive the endowment, along with the Town of Carstairs and the Cities of Edmonton and St. Albert.
“This will enhance the reputation of our library and give not only local people, but people from outside our area recognition not only of the library, but our town and community,” added Powell.
Library manager Ariel Johnson said the OBOC program has been a staple of the Alice B. Donahue Library and Archives since 2020 when a community member came forward with the idea.
Over the last four years, staff and a litany of volunteers have helped select a theme and a book and organize events like author talks and interactive games to help community members connect through literature.
“This year, the committee is sitting at 19 members, but in 2023 we had help from 37 volunteers who worked over 340 hours to make the events a success,” said Johnson.
Other organizations that have played in a role in shaping the now award-winning program include the local Lions Club, Native Friendship Centre, Rotary club, Senior Citizens Society, Words Work Literacy Society, and the Athabasca Heritage Society. Johnson also named the Town, Athabasca University, and Multiplex as crucial supporters of OBOC.
Former program facilitator for the library, Cheryl Andrews, received special mention by Johnson and Powell for her work with the OBOC program before pursuing a position with Athabasca County Family and Community Support Services.
Andrews said recognition on the provincial scale wasn’t on her mind when the program started; instead, the priority was creating a fun event locals would want to be engaged with.
“It’s cool,” she said. “I like that it’s creative and it’s changing, and it’ll meet the needs of our community and bring people together.”
One OBOC event that proved a smash hit with residents was last year’s revival of Taste of Athabasca, which served as the book-end event for the 2023 book Homes: A Refugee Story by Winnie Yeung.
The one-off event was so popular with guests, two community groups have taken up the torch to make Taste of Athabasca an annual event.
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Andrews, who still sits on the program committee, hopes 2024’s OBOC events are equally loved. This year, the focus of the program is Sandra S. G. Wong’s thriller In The Dark We Forget.
The events for the program kick off with a 5:30 p.m. book discussion Oct. 11 at the Seniors Centre, followed by a screening of The Bourne Identity starring Matt Damon on Oct. 19. Wong will also facilitate a writing workshop at the old train station and headline an author chat about the novel, both slated for Nov. 9.
This year’s big-ticket event will take place Saturday, Oct. 19 at the Athabasca University ARC building. Locals can sign up to become a character in a suspenseful, entertaining, and interactive murder mystery party dubbed Chaos in the Cubicles, in which everyone is a suspect.
Online registration for Chaos in the Cubicles closes Oct. 8, and the Google form can be found on the Alice B. Donahue Library’s Facebook page. Late and day of entries may be accommodated.
For Johnson, Powell, Andrews, and all others involved in OBOC, the recognition for excellence and innovation is motivation to continue going above and beyond for the program.
“Honestly, winning the award lets us know that we are doing something special here at the library, and we want to continue on this forward trajectory of encouraging the shared experience of reading and strengthening community togetherness.”
