The Airdrie Public Library has received a grant from Alberta's Community Facility Enhancement Program. 

The cheque, for $56,036 was presented to Library Director Pamela Medland and Marketing and Fundraising Coordinator Marilyne Aalhus by Airdrie MLA Angela Pitt. 

The money is greatly appreciated, according to Aalhus, who says it has already been spent.  

"We're very pleased.  Our facility expansion gave us an additional 2,000 square feet so we've added a children's area to the library which has allowed us to incorporate open-air programming, so in essence, we've been able to almost double our pre-school literacy programs for the community."

While the expansion has added to the library, Aalhus says what they really need is a new facility to accommodate a growing community like Airdrie.

"We've still very undersized.  At 12,000 square feet, our programs fill up very quickly.  Ultimately we're very pleased we have that square footage but it's a band-aid solution.  We are still advocating for a new library for the community of Airdrie.  We're very happy that we can add the space for the time being because it really helps with our younger patrons but we do want the province and the municipality to be aware that we're still excited for a new facility."

Aalhus says a new library for Aidrie has been a long time coming.  "It's been an open discussion with the city regarding a new library.  We are a priority for the city and we're hoping within the near future that there is an announcement of when that new library may come.  There's no doubt that with such a young demographic in our community, people come to the library on a regular basis.  On average we see 500 patrons come through the door every day here at the library."

Along with the addition of the children's area, the library added more staff office space. 

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