Medicine Hat, AB – If you follow the Medicine Hat Public Library (MHPL) on any form of social-media, you surely know how busy they are.
One of those items that kept them busy was compiling the list of top picks for 2018.
The lineup was compiled of favorite DVD’s and books that were released this year and there were a few of them.
The top selections of 2018 had a total of 60 picks.
Those titles ranged anywhere from ‘Avengers, Infinity Wars’ (DVD) to Michelle Obama’s autobiography, ‘Becoming’.
The library has a system that tracks how many books are checked out on an annual basis and how frequently individual books are borrowed to residents.
This system allows staff to track the top book that Hatters checked out this year and MHPL Head of Marketing Services Gillian Reimer said it wasn’t ‘Becoming’.
“Mark Sakamoto’s book ‘Forgiveness’ was probably the most popular,” explained Reimer. “For those who didn’t know, he won CBC Canada Reads this year and he actually made a stop here in Medicine Hat to promote his book. So, that was by far the most popular and number one book at the library this year.”
As for the top category, Reimer said there’s one specific genre that always seems to be flying off the shelves.
“Self help books and DVD’s are always popular. Definitely the things that will help you better your life. Those are always a good choice and we have a lot of them in stock.”
Reimer then added that if you’re looking for a sustainable New Years resolution, the MHPL has something for you.
“I’m sure there are people out there that want to read more this year and maybe educate themselves a little bit better. Not only do we have books that can help you educate yourself, but we also have online learning courses.”
Reimer then stated there’s over 350 different courses to choose from.
“You could learn things from accounting to sign language. You know, things that could help you in your daily life or business. There’s lots of ways the library can help you reach your goals.”
In addition to learning, you could also save yourself some money in 2019 by choosing the MHPL.
“I challenged myself this year to read 52 books. So, I did that and if you think about how much a book costs, let’s say $20, I saved myself over $1,000 by borrowing books instead of buying them.”
Reimer said in addition to books, you can save money by borrowing CD’s or DVD’s as well.
“A library membership for adults is $5 for the year, which is fairly reasonable for everything you get. If you can’t afford that, we’ll waive the fee so you don’t have to pay anything if you can’t afford to. Memberships for children up to the age of 18 are free as well.”
To finish the conversation, Reimer had this to say:
“I hope everyone in Medicine Hat will come to the library in 2019. If you haven’t been here in awhile, it’s nice to check out what we have to offer. Get yourself a library card and re-discover your public library.”
The entire top picks of 2018 list can be found here.
