Kelowna Downtown Library celebrates milestone

• At the forefront of tech and info resources
• Always changing with the times
• A popular community hub

For the last 25 years, the Kelowna Downtown Library has been a mainstay in the community, giving residents a place to read and learn all in one place.

“We’re taking an opportunity to be thankful for having such a wonderful space to be,” Branch Head Librarian Jill Klaponski told Kelowna10. “Being in a central location for a public library is a wonderful position to be in for a library to find itself.”

Opening on November 2nd, 1996, the library has continued to be a space offering access to information and technologies not everyone has access to. It also offers a variety of programs.

“Libraries are good at adapting and changing environments and that’s something we’ve done time after time,” Klaponski said. “With the advances in technology that’s something we’ve had to pivot with in order to help people with those advances.”

Those offerings include a maker space with 3-D printers, t-shirt presses, circuit cutters and vinyl cutters.

At the start of the pandemic, the library closed, but re-opened their doors in August of 2020. They saw an increase in registration for their online services and digital resources.

“We have an e-card that people can sign up for with access to all our digital resources: e-books, e-audiobooks those types of things,” Klaponski said. “It did create more sign-ups for people as they were at home looking for things to occupy their time with.”

Klaponski said despite the challenges the last few months, the community is very supportive.

“It’s evident in the fact that they’re coming through our doors even when we had restrictions when we weren’t able to offer all the services during the pandemic than we would like to.”

In October, in-person programming was re-introduced but virtual options remain available.

More information on upcoming events and to sign-up for a library card can be found on their website.