Local library launches kiosk at Shelburne Foodland

Written By Paula Brown

Members of the Shelburne Public Library now have access to borrowing books without visiting the library with the launch of the first-ever community library kiosk. 

The Shelburne Public Library celebrated the unveiling of its community library kiosk on Monday (June 24) at Shelburne Foodland. 

“As members of the library board, we've always been conscious of the fact we need to encourage outreach and accessibility. This kiosk is another way to increase accessibility for our patrons,” said Geoff Dunlop, chair of the library board. 

“Our community is so important to us and we strive to reach out. We want to make sure people know we're welcoming to everybody at the library and this is another way we're doing that. We have an older library and this is very innovative for us so we're really excited,'' said Rose Dotten, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Shelburne Public Library. 

The Shelburne Public Library began the process of purchasing the NovelBranch kiosk from Convergent Library Technologies in January.

According to Convergent Library Technologies, the Shelburne Public Library is the first library in Canada to have a NovelBranch kiosk located within a grocery store. 

The Shelburne Public Library was able to purchase the library kiosk through a generous donation provided on behalf of long-standing community members and library patrons Ken and Mildred Gamble. 

The Gamble Family was in business for 70 years serving the Shelburne community. Fred Gamble founded the Gamble Funeral Home in 1929 and operated it until he died in 1952 when the business was taken over by his son Walter Gamble. Walter Gamble operated the funeral home for two years until his death during Hurricane Hazel, after which his younger brother Ken Gamble, who was living in Toronto with his wife Mildred, returned to Shelburne to run the funeral home for the next 38 years before retiring.

He was a member of the Rotary Club of Shelburne for 41 years and executive secretary of the annual Shelburne Fiddle Contest for 39 years. 

Ken and Mildred Gamble were supporters of the Shelburne Public Library as well as St. Paul's Anglican Church. 

“My aunt and uncle would be so proud to see the excitement their donation has created for this wonderful extension of our library,” said Trudy Gamble-Jacklin. 

The library kiosk features its own collection of books that were curated to span a variety of genres from children's books, to young adult and popular adult fiction and non-fiction. 

“We tried to do a really comprehensive collection with all types of general interest books so most people would be able to find something, and if not, they'll see the possibilities and go to the public library,” said Dotten. 

Members of the Shelburne Public Library can check out books by scanning their library card or entering the number, which causes the kiosk door to open and gives them access to the collection of available books. The borrowed books can then be returned to the kiosk or the Shelburne Public Library. 

The community library kiosk is officially open for members to borrow books, and is accessible during Foodland's store hours.