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Strathcona County, located just east of Edmonton on Treaty Six Territory, is a special place—literally! It’s a designated “specialized municipality,” a municipal status that allows for the co-existence of urban and rural areas with the jurisdiction of a single municipal government. While the County itself was officially established in 1893, its “urban service centre,” Sherwood Park, is less than seventy years old—it started as a bedroom community for workers employed at nearby refineries.
Sherwood Park, technically a hamlet, is home to Strathcona County’s bustling arts, culture, and recreation scene. It boasts five galleries and several museums, over 135 km of paved walking paths, a game bird sanctuary, and more. Sherwood Park is also home to the Strathcona County Library, which serves about 100,000 people: 30,000 in rural Strathcona County and 70,000 in Sherwood Park.
CEO Sharon Siga has led the Strathcona County Library for twenty-two years. During that time, she has guided her team through the decade-long planning and construction of a new library, library moves and renovations, and difficult times like the COVID-19 pandemic and this year’s backlash against events like Drag Queen Storytime. I connected with Sharon to learn more about the library’s services, programs, and challenges, to learn what she has learned during her career as a librarian.
Jessie Bach: Tell me about the Strathcona County Library. What makes it a special place?

SS: The origin story of our library is unique. Ours might be the only library in Alberta that used a former provision in the Libraries Act that stipulated a municipality has to establish library service if its residents petition for that service. I have had the privilege of meeting patrons who remember organizing the petition drive in their living rooms or patrons who remember signing the petition. This is the community’s library in a profound way.
JB: What do you love most about your job?
SS: The best part of my job is that the staff, the library board, and the County are all focused on providing the best service possible for the community.
I love working in public libraries. As each new project and challenge comes along, it has been an opportunity to learn—about buildings, about the structure of work, and about being a leader through trauma.
JB: Tell me about your approach to programming and the exciting events coming up this fall.
SS: This fall, we’re excited to be offering a slate of programs that’s closer to pre-pandemic levels. We have always had a robust set of programs for children, and this fall those include Baby Mingle sessions and a Monster Tea Party. We have been successful with seniors’ programs, and we are out hunting for the holy grail: young adults. For adults and teens, we are experimenting with Board Game Gatherings and Dungeons and Dragons. We are also seeing interest in our After Hours at the Library: Back to the ’90s event. We have lots of tech sessions, like Losing and Finding your Mobile Device and Family Tech Time: Music and Sound. We also have a Maker Day set for October 14.
Our Chess Meet-up is very popular with young people, and how can you go wrong with a Swifties Soiree!
For the full slate of fall programming, check out the program listing page on our website.
JB: It’s so cool that your library operates a bookmobile! How was that service established, how does it work, and what do patrons love about it?

SS: Strathcona County has a real commitment to rural service. Bookmobile services started in 1982, just five years after the library opened.
The very first bookmobile was a converted school bus. Our current bookmobile started service in 2010—the same year as we opened the central library. It was designed by our bookmobile manager and her staff, based on universal access principles. It’s a custom design that adapted a kneeling transit bus with a flip-out ramp so someone in a wheelchair, on a scooter, or pushing a stroller can easily enter the front doors.
Our 30,000 rural patrons love having access to programs, collections, and services like holds and reader’s advisory. At each of the fourteen weekly stops, our library staff get to know patron interests and needs, so it’s a very personal service.
Many of our bookmobile stops are at rural community halls. The bookmobile can use these County-supported venues as brick-and-mortar extensions of the library. Community halls provide a parking spot for the bookmobile, free Wi-Fi, and space for library programming. We also bring the bookmobile to all the rural parades and community events.
Telus TV created a great video about how unique and versatile our bookmobile is. You can check that out here on YouTube.
JB: Strathcona County Library also hosts a Writer-in-Residence (WIR) each year. Can you tell me more about that program and the current WIR?
SS: This is a wonderful partnership with Edmonton Public Library and St. Albert Public Libraries. There are actually two writers-in-residence each year: one based at Edmonton Public Library and one shared between the St. Albert Public Library and our library. Each WIR is available during set office hours to mentor residents writing in many genres, and they also have some time to work on their own writing projects. Our patrons can continue their conversations all year, even when the WIR happens to have office hours in St. Albert rather than here. Our WIR presents programs related to writing, and there is always collaboration between the two WIRs.
For 2023, we are so thrilled to host Tololwa Mollel, an author of internationally published children’s books, a playwright, storyteller, and performer. You can learn more about Tololwa in this YouTube video.
JB: What is the biggest challenge you face at your library, and how are you tackling that challenge? Are there any roadblocks in your way?
SS: Like public libraries across North America, the crusade against LGBTQIA+ and reproductive information, and by extension the crusade against content in school and public libraries, is a challenge. We are learning from others, making changes to policies, and providing our staff with talking points and tools. In some of the conversations I’ve had, the best that I’ve been able to accomplish is to convince the person that the library also cares very much for the safety of children.
Coming up is the challenge of planning for a library branch because our community is growing. Our library’s management team is working on this in a thoughtful way. Another challenge we are facing is staff capacity to work on major projects. Post-pandemic, the reality is that key members of your team may be away from work for periods of time, and we are working on getting better at finding ways draw on other resources.
JB: Lastly, congratulations on receiving the 2023 LAA President’s Award! Can you tell me about your career path and what you have learned in your over thirty years in the Alberta library world?
SS: First, I feel very honoured to be selected by my peers for this award!

I’ve been very fortunate. I joined Peace Library System in 1988 when it was just starting out. I had the privilege of helping it take root and flourish. I enjoyed driving all over the Peace Country meeting with librarians, library boards, and councils.
I joined Strathcona County Library at the very early planning stage for a new central library. It has made all the difference that Strathcona County views the library as a partner in offering services to the community. This meant that library staff had the opportunity to provide significant input into the design of the new building.

The Alberta library community is so supportive of one another. This is evident during difficult times, as well as
in the community’s readiness to work together to support patrons. For example, when our library was displaced from its home in the Strathcona County Community Centre for six months following an explosion in the Centre’s underground parkade, volunteers in St. Albert created felts for Christmas programs and loaned us equipment. The Fort Saskatchewan Public Library also provided space for our staff, served as a delivery location, and much more. Edmonton Public Library also provided support during this time by lending us shelving and furniture for our temporary space.
I feel very fortunate to be in this profession. What a giving and sharing community I’m part of! You can reach out to anyone in the province, and they will try to help answer your questions. The unconditional support of the library community is what I’ve learned during my career.
JB: Thank you so much Sharon!
—♦—
About the Author:
Beyond the Stacks is a column about libraries in Alberta and the useful and necessary services they provide.
Jessie Bach grew up on a family farm in Southern Alberta and is a lifelong library user and book lover. She has a degree in history from the University of Saskatchewan, and a Master of Library and Information Studies from Dalhousie University. Jessie has worked in archives, academic libraries, corporate records management, and now public libraries. Her current role is Communications & Engagement Manager at Marigold Library System. She currently lives in Calgary with her partner and, in true librarian fashion, three cats. Jessie likes to read (of course), knit, consume way too many true crime podcasts, and lift weights in the gym.