Some exciting news has come from the Airdrie Public Library. Memberships are free effective this year.

The Library made the announcement official yesterday, but say that memberships have been offered at no cost as of December 15th.

Chairman of the Library Board, Daniel Nelles said they're moving forward with the free cards because of increased government funding over the last two years due to population growth.

"This didn't happen for several years back from 2012 to 2015. The Library Board was able to successfully budget for the population growth in Airdrie and then work the free memberships in early."

Nelles explained that the Library had originally planned to introduce free memberships in line with a new Library building.

When asked if this was a temporary offer or an ongoing promotion, Nelles said the plan is for this to be permanent.

While some may have already purchased their 2018 cards early, Nelles said, unfortunately, they won't be refunded as the program coincided with the change in fiscal years.

"We looked at the end of year financials and saw that we had a small surplus and decided that we could forego the membership fees starting December 15th because of that. Up until that point, it was not fiscally feasible."

To say the Library is excited to offer these free memberships is an understatement as Nelles said it's like giving a gift to the people of Airdrie.

"The ability of the library board to open up this opportunity to all residents of Airdrie and make literacy accessible to every resident of Airdrie with no financial barriers, that's really important to us."

All you need to receive your free membership is provide a Photo ID and proof of your city address to the Library.

 

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