LOGO

     The Fox Creek Library officially opened its door on February 5, 1970. Library Chairman Norma Richaug presented the first card to Chairman of the Town Administration, Derald Palmer. At that time the library was housed in the Town Administration Office. It made available almost 900 books to a total of 325 members. The first Library Board consisted of Chairman Norma Richaug, Secretary Mary Hood, Treasurer Cathy Warren and members John Schiller, Rita Atkinson and Alice Cush.

 

     The library grew as the town did and in 1974 its location was changed to the present facility in the Fox Creek School and it became a joint library with the East Smoky School Division. This made nearly 7,000 books available to its members. As the collection grew, the space required to house it also grew. Gradually it spread into the classroom next door, first as a storage room for the A.V. materials, then as the location for the children’s library. Another adjacent room was incorporated into the facility for use as an A.V. room. The present size of the collection is over 20,000 books.

 

     The library now supplies its patrons not only with books, but tapes, videos, A.V. equipment, computer access and a Saturday Morning Program for children. Its hours of operation have expanded from four hours a week Thursday evenings to six days a week. Its staffing has grown from one volunteer Librarian to two and one half salaried staff.

 

     The Fox Creek Library is a great example of what volunteers can accomplish. Over the years many, many citizens of Fox Creek have volunteered their services to it. The early volunteers were Norma Richaug, Mary Hood, Shirley Hood, Marion St. Clair, Anne Paterson, Maureen Kneller, Pat Burridge and many more.

 

     Besides the volunteers it is also necessary to mention some of the staff who served through the years. Once it became a joint library, the Head Librarians included – Audrey Derrick, Audrey Buchinski, Brenda English, Terri Levecque, Tony Tin, Carol Downing, Gail Perepelkin, and our present Librarian Leslie Ann Sharkey. We also recognize the incredible contributions of our school and evening librarians and our part time staff.

 

     We have enjoyed partnerships with a variety of groups including the Community Resource Centre, Peace Country Health and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. The Library has started presenting art exhibits, author visits, music displays and even children’s performers. One of the local groups that we are especially proud of is SEM-Cams. They have provided “The Big Book of Canada” to each of our grade 4 students for a number of years. Probably the biggest partnership that the Library has is with the Fox Creek School. A huge part of what has made the Library what it is today has come from this partnership. The Fox Creek Library is also a member of the Peace Library System and this has been a significant factor in keeping us up on technological development.