On May 9^th, five residents of Chester were invited by library staff members Marion Moore and Cheryl Stenström to talk about the possibility of implementing a pilot discussion series in the area. Following conversations between Marion and some of the members of the Arts Centre about its mandate to build community, it was decided this would be an ideal place for consultation.

Cheryl introduced the Small Communities-Big Ideas project and outlined the background behind this initiative. As the Board, staff, Friends and patrons of the South Shore Public Libraries have started exploring the organization's mission statement and core values, the ideas of 'public', 'community' and open access to information keep coming up. These mean a lot of different things to different people but all are near and dear to a public library's heart. Late last year, the Chief Librarian invited a few staff members to brainstorm with her on some of the issues in a library context. Questions they asked themselves were around actions that could be taken to solidify a direction on how the library might increase its role in the community while incorporating the idea of freedom of information and public space. An evening of public consultation on January 3^rd at the Lunenburg Library was the first initiative in this effort. Notes >>

Marion outlined the decision to consider Chester as the next place to hold a public consultation. Cheryl noted that the Library’s mandate is to provide library service to Lunenburg and Queens. Although we do provide children’s programming in several communities without town branches and have developed partnerships with some community organizations, we are unable to meet the goals of providing public space for sharing of knowledge and ideas in communities without town branches. Chester, because of the distance from any of our branches, is a logical place to start from the library’s point of view.

The participants were asked the following broad questions as jumping off points for discussion:

Q: Do you see ways in which the library might have a larger role in this community?

• We are the most rural municipality in the province
• “We lack a centrifugal force that brings us together as a community”
• “We lack ability to bring people together to bring together knowledge.”
• There is a role for libraries to help the community address big issues.
• Knowledge is critical in bringing about a future that is safe and healthy. The Natural Step and other frameworks address these concerns.
• How does knowledge contribute to a viable democracy?
• Libraries have the capacity for consultation around information in a way that the education system doesn’t.
• We need to consider the rest of the municipality; not just the village.
• What is the role of Zoe Valle library? Is it essentially a heritage building and museum?
• There are several organizations in Chester that have informal links, but there is no formal structure joining them (Theatre, Art Centre, Heritage Committee, Family Resource Centre, Recreation Department).

Q: Should the library consider a public discussion series based on the model used in Lunenburg this past season?

• Summer season is not practical; people have too many demands on their time
• Fall is good.
• The legion is a good location to consider. The Art Centre is too small for a public gathering
• People interested in the topics covered in the Lunenburg series.
• The library should partner with the existing organizations
• We should consider the work the Municipality is doing towards sustainability. (Joy chairs the sustainability committee.)

Other considerations and discussion:

• It would be great to have a permanent library branch in Chester in the future. People are keen to pursue this possibility.
• Is there a model for a privately funded library to become part of a regional library system? (Yes, Yarmouth. There would be many factors to consider.)
• The Art Centre is hosting an Art Festival in August. The library can play a role in that: distributing notices, posting item on our website, etc. A display of related library items could be available that weekend.
• There may be opportunities to partner with the school.
  
• The library might have a role as a facilitator and coordinator in community initiatives.

Next steps:

• Members of the board of the Art Centre will put an item on the agenda of the next board meeting.
• VOCTADA will receive a report of this at their next meeting.
  
• Cheryl/Marion will prepare notes to distribute to participants and something to post on website.
• Work will begin on organizing a fall discussion series.
• A mid-autumn check-in with people who attended the consultation will be arranged.