KENORA — Going snowshoeing is now as easy as taking out a library card.
The Kenora Public Library launched a program last week where anyone with a library card can borrow a pair of snowshoes.
“During the pandemic we did notice once we went to curb side when we were having some interaction with people picking up curbside items that they were lacking things like that. We just thought that would be a good opportunity for people to try activity outdoors,” said head librarian Crystal Alcock. “Maybe you're a big family and you don't have snowshoes, it's just something that we can offer to help people out.”
Alcock said a lot of libraries in Northeastern Ontario have done something like this.
“So it's been on the radar for quite a while,” she said.
The library has 35 pairs of snowshoes in five different sizes that patrons from small children to adults and can be taken out for two weeks at a time, she said. And like any other items the library lends out, there are late fines, which for the snowshoes come out to $5 per day, and the cost of replacement if lost.
Alcock said the library applied for the grant from the Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund which includes a criteria encouraging people to connect with nature.
The snowshoe program is part of an expansion of the types of offerings the library wants to start offering, Alcock said.
"We just [want to] have different opportunities and experiences and things that people can borrow,” she said. “We've also got park passes for the Ontario provincial parks.”
She said reception to the snowshoe program has been good the first week and people are pretty interested and excited to give something different a try.
“We've been in a bit of a deep freeze here so probably not as good as it would have been. But I expect once that ends, we'll see a lot more,” she said. ”We have some beautiful trails around Kenora. So it just gives people that opportunity [to go out].”
