by Avi Silberstein
March is a lot of things. A month of days that make you think winter will never end, and days that make you think spring has sprung. A month of sunny ski days and longing glances at the dormant garden beds.
Here at the library, March is when we have our annual magazine drive — when local businesses and community members sponsor a magazine of their choosing by making a tax-deductible donation of the cost of a one-year subscription to that magazine.
The way it works is we show you a list of the magazines that we have in our collection, and you pick one (or more!) from the list that you’d like to sponsor. And if you’d like to support our magazine collection but don’t have a specific title in mind, you can instead donate a set amount of your choosing. Or here’s another idea: why not help sponsor our online magazine collection?
We’re lucky to have so many wonderful and dedicated sponsors. We’ve got grocery stores sponsoring cooking magazines, toy stores sponsoring kids’ magazines, and so on. We’ve also got individual community members sponsoring magazines that pertain to their passion, be it writing, current events, tech, etc.
If you haven’t checked out our magazines in a few years, come take a look sometime. It’s a constantly evolving collection, with titles that are adjusted yearly based on library guidelines, including readership and availability (which is to say: if nobody is reading you, or your publisher is discontinuing you, you’re outta here!).
So far this month we’re two-thirds of the way to our goal. That means there are lots of lonely magazines looking for a sponsor, envious of their neighbouring magazines with those fancy stickers on their cover announcing the name of their benefactor. To see a list of these magazines go to tinyurl.com/2etrsnvn.
If you’re interested in sponsoring a magazine you can either drop by the library or call Heather at 250-352-8259 (or send her an email at hdahlgrin@nelson.ca).
With the help we receive from the community every year, we’re able to have a diverse collection of magazines that you can read and borrow anytime. As for me, I’m a fan of checking out a big stack of magazines and leaving them on the coffee table. It gives me something to do when I need a break from staring out the window to see if spring has arrived yet.
Avi Silberstein is the children’s librarian at the Nelson Public Library. Check This Out runs every other week. If you’re interested in learning more about library programs and services, sign up for our monthly newsletter on our website or by giving us a call.