The Battleford branch of the Lakeland Library is the new home for a national collection of children's books put together by members of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, won by the Town of Battleford and donated to the library.
Library board member and town councillor Gordon Yarde says the Town of Battleford won the books at a recent meeting of the FCM board. There are about 100 books in the collection, which represents Canada's diverse regions and cultures.
Battleford's head librarian, Barb Beloin, says it is a colourful and interesting collection that will be a great way for children to learn about other parts of Canada. Now that the books have arrived, they will be catalogued and processed by the Lakeland Library system and should be available to Battleford library patrons in about a month.
Four such collections are given out each year by the FCM. At each quarterly meeting of the FCM, members of the board of directors and of a variety of standing committees are encouraged to bring a children's book written by a local author reflecting their municipality or the region. During the last day of the quarterly meeting, the board draws the name of a member municipality and all of the books are given to that municipality.
During the quarterly meeting in Ottawa last November, the Town of Battleford won the books. At the time, Battleford's new chief administrative officer, John Enns-Wind, was in attendance as a committee member representing Saskatchewan. The FCM board of directors is comprised of elected municipal officials and affiliate members from all regions and various-sized communities throughout Canada. It forms a broad base of support and carries the municipal message to the Government of Canada.
The board sets policy priorities that reflect the concerns of municipal governments and affiliate members. It meets quarterly to develop policy position on key municipal issues.
During the quarterly meetings, the various standing committees meet and discuss and develop policy positions on these key issues. These recommendations are then forwarded to the board members who discuss and adopt the recommendations.
