Special guests make a splash at EPL open house
There were a few unusual guests at the Stanley A. Milner library Saturday morning.
Two African penguins made an appearance as part of the Edmonton Public Library's (EPL) open house event. It's part of the Explore EPL campaign, encouraging Edmontonians to get back to the library after years of pandemic related closures and reduced services.
"It's our way of celebrating the library, welcoming back people in the city who maybe haven't visited the library since the start of the pandemic, welcoming people who have been visiting the library but may not know about the exciting new things that we've been doing," said Nancy Sheng, associate manager of the Stanley A. Milner branch.
Sheng said the library isn't just about books anymore, and there are new services and new branches for people to explore in their communities and do things like take a cooking class, learn to use a 3D printer or visit a recording studio.
All 21 EPL locations in Edmonton had their own events for Saturday's open house, with different activities, games, music and treats on offer.
Downtown, visitors to the library had a chance to meet two of West Edmonton Mall's penguins and learn about the endangered warm weather birds.
"This our way of throwing the doors open for the community and saying, 'come on in, we're excited to have you, and let's like rekindle the love affair with the library.'"
The open house closes at 6 p.m. Saturday night.
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