'The library is always fun': Community helps celebrate Painswick Branch's 11th birthday

Saturday was a day for celebration at Barrie Public Library’s Painswick Branch.

The south end library turned 11 on March 11, a milestone that was celebrated by staff and community members with a party and of course some cupcakes, said Barrie Public Library chief executive officer Lauren Jessop.

The branch, located at 48 Dean Ave., near Big Bay Point Road and Yonge Street, has been a popular addition to the city since it first opened its doors in 2012.

“There’s really a great community that uses that library and there are lots of residents who live nearby. I think the celebration is just to draw attention to the great people that use it and the great spaces we have,” said Jessop. 

In 2022, the branch boasted 112,488 library visits, 14,209 hours of wireless usage, and 5,687 hours of public computer usage. It also saw 4,542 people attend 496 programs over the course of the year - a statistic that Jessop noted doesn’t fully represent a normal year at the branch due pandemic restrictions being in place for programs until March 2022.

“Ninety of these programs are tutoring sessions that were held in partnership with the Catholic school board. They provide the teachers, and we provide the space, facilitate registration and promote the program. This has been an amazing program offered in all three locations to support closing the pandemic learning gap,” she added.

The 15,000 square foot space has changed quite a bit in the last 11 years, she acknowledged. 

“In 2021, we made the space more flexible. We have always found that the programs at Painswick have been really popular, and we needed to make it so that it was easier to put more people into the space, especially for families,” she said, noting that includes making the shelving units movable in order for them to be pushed out of the way to better accommodate the busy programs.

Painswick, said Jessop, is special not only to the neighbourhood that surrounds it, but to the entire city.

“I think Painswick is special because it was the first branch for Barrie Public Library. We had our downtown branch … but in terms of growth from bringing us from a one-library system into a multi-branch system, Painswick was our first try and our first success at a branch."

Saturday’s celebration included a STEAM story time, as well as visits from the library’s unicorn and zebra, who kindly shared some yummy birthday cupcakes with visitors, as well as a variety of crafts and a showing of the movie A Bug's Life.

“The library is always fun, especially during March Break, but this was just a chance for people to celebrate with their neighbours and really come and talk to the staff. The staff at Painswick are wonderful and they really know the community that comes in. It’s a chance for us to show our appreciation for the great visitors that we have.”