Don Nettleton, far left, and Monica Gaucher, both with the Okanagan Regional Library, present UBC Okanagan’s Deborah Buszard her own library card. Also pictured is UBC Okanagan Chief Librarian Heather Berringer.
Unique partnership brings ORL services to campus
For anyone studying or working at UBC’s Okanagan campus, it just got easier to take out their favourite book from the Okanagan Regional Library (ORL).
The ORL officially opened a branch in the UBC Okanagan library yesterday. This is the second significant project the two libraries have successfully partnered on, explains UBC Okanagan Chief Librarian Heather Berringer. The first being the opening of the UBC Innovation Library in the downtown Kelowna branch of ORL in October 2015.
Berringer sees this new addition as an opportunity for students and employees to benefit from all that a public library can offer to the university community.
“The Okanagan Regional Library is an inclusive place with a keen desire to engage the community,” says Berringer. “Having this new branch in the heart of our campus aligns with what we see as our pivotal role in the campus experience of our students, faculty and staff.”
The ORL@UBCO branch is located on the first floor of the library and will offer convenient branch services, such as being able to reserve a book or other media and pick it up during regular library hours.
“We are optimistic and excited that the ORL presence on the UBC Okanagan campus will make access to resources simpler and easier to all staff and students,” says Monica Gaucher, director of public services for the Okanagan Regional Library, who led ORL’s efforts to bring the branch to the campus.
She notes that this is a unique partnership between an academic library and public library to bring personal interest resources to students, faculty and staff.
Fiction and non-fiction, audiobooks, music, films and more will be available for check out by anyone with an ORL library card. Staff from ORL will be on campus Tuesdays from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. to issue cards.
