The Prince George Public Library is more than just books and a great place for community events and learning.
Fantastic people and amazing community work come out of the library, too.
The library has been receiving some great recognition for its efforts recently.
During the A Healthier You Awards on Saturday night at UNBC, the library emerged as the big winner, taking home two awards for Youth Initiative of the Year and Health and Wellness Educator of the Year.
The library's youth work features programs for infants (including a session that teaches sign language to babies), toddlers, kids, tweens (the library calls them "double digits") and teens. The current development of The Knowledge Garden will give the downtown branch an outdoor green space for children's programming and other special events during the summer months. The library is also home to the city's only teen gay-straight alliance not based in a school.
In health education, the library not only boasts a significant collection of health-related books but also subscribes to two major online medical databases - PubMed Central Canada, which features peer-reviewed articles and research from the major health academic journals, and the National Standard database, which has articles on alternative medicines and health and wellness practices. These databases are significant in providing local residents with reliable and accurate health information.
Last month, the library helped CKPG-TV win the Television Bureau of Canada's Retail Commercial Award for the Dr. Seuss-themed commercial the station produced for the library. Last year, the library won the B.C. Library Association's marketing award for its TV commercials and in 2011, CKPG won a B.C. Association of Broadcasters Award for a small-market commercial for its work with the library.
In May, teen librarian Amy Dawley received the Young Adult and Children's Service award from the B.C. Library Association. In 2009, she was hired as the city library's first-ever librarian devoted to teens and young adults.
Two years ago, the Canadian Library Association presented the Key Haycock Award for Promoting Librarianship to Allan Wilson for "exceptional success in enhancing public recognition and appreciation of libraries."
When UNBC needed to fill its head position at the Geoffrey Weller Library this year, they came calling to Wilson. He left his position as the public library's chief librarian after nine years to join UNBC in September.
It can't be forgotten that John Backhouse, the mayor of Prince George from 1986 to 1996 and a Freeman of the City, was a former chief librarian of the Prince George Public Library.
The library can also take significant pride in Matthew Church. In 2011, he was the youngest ever nominee for the Citizen of the Year at just 24. Along with founding the library's Youth Advisory Board and mentoring its high-school-aged members, Church served for four years on the library board, two of them as vice-chair, also the youngest-ever citizen to do so.
Church's near-perfect academic record at UNBC, where he completed a Bachelor of Science degree, led him to Kingston, Ont., where he is currently attending medical school at Queen's University.
And, on Dec. 16, Prince George residents will be able to see him on TV, sharing the stage with fellow Canadian Alex Trebek. Church has become the first Prince George resident to ever qualify to compete on Jeopardy!, the legendary prime-time American quiz show.
Congratulations, Matthew, and congratulations to the Prince George Public Library for being so good at helping all of us read, learn and discover.
