In addition to bookworms at the Cochrane Public Library, there will soon be real worms, butterflies and bees.
Library staff announced they will be building a community garden and hosting a gardening tool library this spring after receiving a $5,000 grant last week from the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation.
“We applied for the grant late last fall,” explained Jeri Maitland, library executive director.
“We will plant some indigenous trees, and have butterfly and bee gardens and herb gardens.”
The executive director said after receiving the grant, staff members are researching types of vegetables and herbs that will be best to plant in the garden, along with which plants will attract butterflies and bees.
“I want to carry on enhancing the memorial Penelope West garden at the library,” Maitland said.
“We are very excited.”
The memorial garden was unveiled last May after West died. She was very active with the library and her obituary requested people donate to charities of their choice in lieu of flowers.
“The majority of (the grant) money will go to the gardening tools for the gardening library,” Maitland said.
“We want to focus on people in condos, townhouses or who are renting and maybe don’t have the space for tools or can’t afford them, but it will be available for everyone to use.”
The staff will purchase buckets, rakes, shovels, hoes and wheelbarrows – and a post digger if any money is left over, the executive director explained.
Once installed, the community garden will be open to all of the residents in Cochrane for volunteer opportunities and harvesting in the late summer.
“Hopefully everything will be up and running by late April,” Maitland said.
For more information and updates go to cochranepubliclibrary.ca.
