NEWS photo Mike Wakefield NORTH Vancouver District Library has the highest per capiia circulation of any mid-sized library in Canada. Lynn Valigy branch manager Penny Forsyth, stocking the shelves at the busy library, was justifiably proud of the achievement. Smart growth workshop set for Blueridge HOW is your comzsuni- ty growing? Have the changes in your neighbourhood and communi- ty made it more livable? Are the changes ecologically and eco- nomically sound? Increasingly, individuals in fast-growing regions in B.C. are asking these difficult ques- tions. ; The eco-research chairman of Environmental. Law and Policy at the University of Victoria and the West Coast Environmental Law Association have joined with community associations, cham- bers of commerce, and munici- palitics in regions acrass B.C. to address these issues, The team is hosting a serics of workshops on “smart growth.” The gual is to share exam- ples of good urban develop- menit and to secure support for the new organization, Smart Growth B.C. Smart growth refers to land use and development practices that enhance the quality of life in communities, preserve eco- logical integrity and save money over the long-term. The goal is to limit urban spraw! and save taxpayers money. Developments that conserve resources cost less and increase property values when compared with conventional sprawl development. A North Shore workshop i is set for Wednesday, Oct. 13,7 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Parkgate Community Centre, 3625 The s ion is hosted by the Blueridge/Seymour Heights Communi To register, call 929-6849 or e-mail . For more general informa- tion about the workshop or about the new organization, Smart Growth B.C., contact Deborah Curran at (250) 472- 4316 or . EBC o October is Power’ Smart Month. What are 2 you doing to be' Powe MRI Marcie Good Contributing Writer NORTH Vancouver District Public Library has made it to the top of lots of peoples’ good books. In 1998, capita in Canada, in the The district also had registered borrowers in patrons our of a toral of “It (the #1 ranking) is the library recorded the highest circulation per tion of mid i libraries. the second-nighest percentage of the same category, with 63,000 fu reainly somethi g thar we" 1 proud of,” Ballanoyne, chi fibrarian. “We're always looking for measures of how well we are used, and this is a good figure we can point to.” The circulation figures, included in the recently published Canadian Public Library Statistics Annual Report, were cal- culated by dividing the total number of items borrowed by the number of residents in the area. In North Vancouver district, 85,000 residents borrowed 1,496,228 items. ‘The mid-sized library category refers to citics or districts with populations between 50 and 100,000. Several factors, said Ballantyne, have contributed to rhe libra such as the a ibility of the three branch- es at Lynn Valley, Capilano, and Parkgate, and a concerted cffort by staff to constant! prove the collection. Most importantly, North Vancor s lots of voracious readers. “The community bas always been supportive of the public library and has used it well,” she said. The Parkgate branch is helping to cultivate a new: genera- tion of litrary users with its “ph enumenally well-attended” story time. The children’s book section is almost cleared out on same days. The district library has shown steady growth since 1991, when the collection was automated. Last year’s circulation figures showed a 1.8% growth over the previous year. But this year’s figures, as of August, have already improved 4% over last year’s. The Internet, like other new media such as compact discs and videos, has helped to attract non-traditional library users. “Buddy surfing” sessions, in which staff help patrons negoti- ate the on a one-to-one basis, proved to be very popu- far, Good circulation figures are helpful when the ‘brary makes its case for funding dollars. “It helps because like any other community service we're looking at the bottom line,” Ballantyne said. The 1998 statistics reported in the library’s summer newsletter compared the annual cost of the library per house- hold, ($76.84) to the cost of one hard-back bestseller ($35) and to the cost of movie admission once a week for a year ($442). “We're trying to show that we're a pretty good bargain.”