Community

Altona’s Library Gets a New Lease February 02, 2022

The Town of Altona has officially signed a lease agreement with Altona Mall Development Ltd to create a new home for the Altona Branch of the South Central Regional Library.

The South Central Regional Library: Altona Branch was opened in 1988, and provides access to resources to meet the educational, cultural, informational, and leisure-time needs of citizens of all ages and backgrounds. The library strives to foster a lifelong interest in reading. With “I Love to Read” month starting, the Town of Altona is pleased to announce that this year, the library will be moving to a brand new location in the Altona Mall.

Chosen for its accessibility, visibility, and central location, the Altona Mall is the perfect space for the library to move. The Town of Altona Council, along with South Central Regional Library, began searching for a new location when it became clear that the library had outgrown its existing home in the Golden West Building.

The “Grow with Us” campaign organized by the Altona Library Expansion Fundraising Committee is seeking to raise $365,000 in order to facilitate renovations, additional equipment, and a move into the building in late summer of 2022.  This move will be made possible by the generous support of sponsors and donors from the community, including Friesens Corporation, the Friesen Family Foundation, Gilmour Braul Hiebert Law Office, the Altona Community Foundation, and many more local businesses and individuals.  The $50,000 donation from employee-owned Friesens Corporation is a great start to kick off another round of fundraising in 2022, and individuals and businesses are invited to help create a beautiful new public space in Altona.

Friesens added in a recent statement: “At Friesens Corporation, we help others share their BEST story with the world through the power of print. Every year we help produce and distribute over 25 million books to readers across North America! So, it should be no surprise that we also have an affinity to libraries and a history of investing in local libraries. We are proud to support the latest Altona Library Expansion Project with a donation of $50,000. One of our core values is to help build a stronger community. As Friesens succeeds so does Altona. However, our definition of community is broader than just the geographic region that surrounds us. It encompasses our neighbours, our customers, our vendors, and society as a whole. We are proud to have increased support for many initiatives in 2021 and look forward to supporting numerous other projects in the year ahead.”

“Our library is a unique place used by residents of all walks of life.  Home schoolers, seniors, young adults, newcomers, families, and more all use the library to find good information, access to online resources, entertainment, and opportunities to learn.  With over 40,000 items checked out and almost 14,000 visits in 2021, a bright new open space will serve our growing community for years to come” – Jordan Siemens, Altona Library Branch Expansion Fundraising Committee, Deputy Mayor for the Town of Altona.

To learn more about this project, visit https://altonalibrary.weebly.com/