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Vol. 9 Issue 2
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July 2018
Library Board Chair Steps Down
theque Ste. Anne Library for eight years where she played a very large role in the library’s growth. Years ago, the French newspaper, LaLiberte, used to include a short story in each of their weekly publications. The seniors at the Villa Youville had no access to books written in French, so they used to cut out the stories and tape them together to share as novels. A daughter of one of these seniors, Denise Fortin, noticed this and decided something should be done. She went to her friend, Clement Charriere (Laroque’s father) with the notion that the Village of Ste Anne and the seniors should have access to a library. By Joan Chaput The first library was created in a small Michelle Laroque has stepped down room in the condemned portion of the after chairing the board of the Biblio- old Villa Youville. When the volunteers
could get no financial support from the local governments, Clement Charriere took out his own mortgage and bought the current building at 16 de L’Eglise Street in Ste Anne. Through countless hours of fundraising, construction labour, and plain hard work, the Bibliotheque Ste. Anne Library had a new home. Michelle Laroque inherited those some qualities of dedication and responsibility towards her community as her father. She has almost single-handedly dragged the library into the 21st century by replacing ageing computers and accessing the software of the Manitoba Public Library Services Branch which now provides access to all the public libraries in the province. Laroque also had a dream to provide
a safe and stimulating area for children and parents to play, read, and relax and succeeded in creating the current children’s area in the Library. She also took the library out to the community by recognizing the need for an outreach coordinator. The library has developed programs for the seniors at the Villa Youville, programs for new moms and their newborns, and the children’s summer vacation reading programs. Their monthly patron numbers are about five times what they were several years ago. The current board says thank you to Laroque for all the dedication and hard work she gave to make the Bibliotheque Ste Anne Library the successful place it is today.