Staff at the Moose Jaw Public Library are excited but cautious as they welcome the public back for in-person programs, many of which had to be put on hold for over a year-and-a-half due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The Avid Knitters Club was the first to fully reopen, and the coming weeks will see a number of other programs opening back up to the public.
In-person books clubs will resume on September 14, starting with Midnight Library by Matt Haig. It will continue on Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m.
“It’s supposed to be a really good book, it’s been incredibly popular,” said Carolyn Graham, acting assistant head librarian.
The Saskatchewan Reads book club, a brand new program focusing solely on Saskatchewan authors, begins Thursday, September 30 at 2:30 p.m., featuring Cry Wolf by Harold Johnson.
Another new program starting up in the fall is Movie Club Monday, in which film buffs will gather once a month in the theatre to watch a film then discuss it together in the following weeks, likely in an online chat group. Movie Club Monday begins September 13 at 6 p.m., featuring the whodunit Knives Out.
Registration is also open for Magic: The Gathering, a card trading game with a fantasy battle theme, featuring a relatively new format called Commander. Magic was first introduced to the library by acting head librarian Shevaun Ruby, herself an avid player, in 2019 in hopes of attracting a whole new demographic into the library.
“It think people have missed it, so I’m hoping that we’ll get some of our returning players,” Ruby said.
Magic: The Gathering will take place every second Wednesday at 7 p.m. from September 15 through December 8.
For anyone who would like to take advantage of the library’s resources but still prefers to keep distance, the library continues to offer curbside pickup, which can be pre-arranged over the phone.
As happy as they are to be getting back to in-person, some of their virtual events held over the past year went over exceptionally well, featuring participants from all over Saskatchewan, Alberta and even Tennessee and Sweden. Should restrictions be placed once again, they at least have the option of converting most of their programs back to virtual.
“But I really hope we don’t have to do that,” Graham added.
Anyone looking to register for a program can call (306) 692-2787, email [email protected] or go to moosejawlibrary.ca for more information.
