The Cold Lake Public Library is being recognized for their contribution to arts and culture within the community.
Last week, it was the announced that the local library is a finalist in the Arts and Culture category of the Alberta Business of Distinction Awards 2016.
“It's so exciting, especially coming on the heels of the Business of the Year Awards in Cold Lake,” said library manager Tanya Boudreau. “It sure is a rewarding feeling. Maybe it'll encourage other libraries and hopefully more of the public will come see us, see what we have to offer and even try to get involved.”
Back in October, the public library won the award for Outstanding Not for Profit in Cold Lake at the annual Lakeland Business of the Year Awards.
“As a winner of our Business of the Year Awards, we submit their names to the provincial level and they start the process all over again. They go through the questionnaire, and interview and all that sort of thing,” explained Sherri Bohme, executive director of the Cold Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce.
In recent years, the Cold Lake library has been working on expanding their arts and culture aspects to include a variety of programming such as Drop In and Draw, art lessons and bringing in local talent to paint. Partnering with many different community groups and individuals in the area, Boudreau said it helps to get up and coming artists of all types recognized.
“Just the other week with one of our artists, someone came in that's never been in before and offered to buy one of his pieces. So, he made a sale, and he's only in high school so it helped to expose what he does.”
Boudreau added, “We do try to do a lot with the community and involve the community to try and make art visible.”
To further that mission, the library also offers an art lending program. Artists in the community lend their art to the library and anyone with a library card can go and borrow a painting for their home or business for a few months.
It's not just the traditional types of art they focus on, either.
“For quite a few years running we've participated in 24-hour comic day where people from the community come and spend the night in the library for 24-hours and complete a 24-page comic,” said Boudreau. “We also have people coming in who work in the comic field to talk to kids and adults about how to get in the industry.”
Hosted by the Alberta Chamber of Commerce, the Cold Lake Public Library is up against three other groups for the award in Arts and Culture: the Medicine Hat JazzFest, the Friends of Medalta Society in Medicine Hat and the Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site.
This is the first time a business or group from Cold Lake has been up as a finalist for the Alberta Business Awards of Distinction. Bohme said regardless of the outcome, they should be proud of being recognized provincially.
“I think it's exciting for them to be recognized at the provincial level. They should be really proud of that and lets hope they bring the hardware home.”
