Jake Epp Library shares five-year programming plan

The Jake Epp Library presented at Steinbach City Council’s previous Strategic Priorities Committee meeting.  

Emmalyn Latigay, Library Director at Jake Epp Library, informs that from January 2023 to December 2023 they signed up 704 new members, and they now have 4001 members in total.  

She says it’s great to see their membership growing, as it means more people are coming to the library and taking advantage of their many programs.  

In their presentation, they mentioned that over the next five or so years, they hope to offer more programming and resources.  

"We are going to slowly add additional programs for the community that we don't have yet. We are going to add more programs in the future that pertain to educational workshops and classes.”  

One example of a program Latigay has in the plans for the next few years is teaching kids basic coding starting at ages four to six  

“We are going to do that in series, so when they get six to eight years old, we're going to introduce the language like JavaScript, Python, and all that.”  

Along with new programs, they hope to host new types of community events.  

Latigay says it would be great to have authors come into the library to speak about their craft.  

“Along with that, we're going to have poetry slams and other events that could encourage people to show off their talent, to promote community engagement.”  

She mentions that they also want to educate people on digital literacy.  

“For example, educating people how not to get scammed, like avoiding scam phishing e-mails.”  

She also mentions the library’s hope to host health and wellness activities and provide workshops on mental health awareness.  

Lastly, Latigay mentions that it would be great if they could get a Cricut machine for the library.  

“But that's very expensive, we will see. That is why we are going to introduce everything slowly, this is like a three to five year plan.”