The Whistler Library welcomes over 220,000 unique visitors per year, a number that has been steadily increasing according to staff.
Elizabeth Tracy, the Whistler Public Library’s new Executive Director, is aiming to meet increasing library usage by exploring the possibility of extending operating hours to opening on Sundays.
Tracy was appointed in June after relocating from Telluride, Colorado where she served as the Manager of Youth Services. One of her major tasks is to work with the library board and her staff on a new organizational plan, which includes increasing hours and identifying what funding is needed to open on Sundays.
“The library board sets its own budget and the muni supplies the appropriate funding. Council will be meeting with Elizabeth and the board in about a month or so to discuss the possibility of opening on Sundays,” said Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden. “We wanted to meet earlier, but the Library was without an executive director for several months and needed that guiding voice before everyone started making decisions.”
The library was open on Sundays in 2011, but closed towards the end of that year. The mayor is unable to comment why the closure occurred as it happened under a different council but insists the library has become a focal point for the community.
“My personal position is I’m hopeful that the board will find a way to open on Sundays. If it’s going to require additional funding by the municipality then my goal is to find that money,” stated the mayor.
The library is funded primarily through the RMOW and the Libraries and Literacy Branch of the Ministry of Education.
