The Lethbridge Public Library is expanding its services in the city.
That expansion comes thanks to the BookStop, a small, pop-up style library set up inside the Labor Club Ice Centre. Patrons can pick up holds, browse a selection of items and return items they have borrowed from the Main and Crossings branches of the library.
Manager of branch services Sarah Head says the BookStop offers services for an area of the city that is not currently home to a library branch.
“The northside is an area that we are wanting to gather more feedback [in], around future planning for library services, so this BookStop allows us to gather that feedback while also providing services to the north side, which doesn’t have a location, so it kind of works out for everybody,” Head says.
The BookStop initially operated on the north side from January to March of this year. This latest setup opened on September 3 and will be open until March 2026.
“It is a pilot to see kind of how it goes, and certainly the library is always looking at what we can do to serve the community, so if it’s something that’s successful and something that we are wanting to move forward with, we would look at expansion,” Head remarks.
She adds the BookStop operates during the same hours as the Labor Club Ice Centre, meaning it is open later than the downtown and west Lethbridge branches.
“If you are working late, or running your kids to all of their activities and you still want to pick up your hold in the evening and can’t get to the library by 8 p.m., the BookStop is a great place to go. I do know that some folks who might even live on the south side or the west side have used it, because it does have those expanded hours,” Head says.
The BookStop is open Mondays through Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. You can check out the BookStop at 2020 18 Avenue North.
