Successful Valentine’s Day auction brings in over $2,000 for Picture Butte Library

Posted on February 28, 2023 by Sunny South News

By Erika Mathieu
Sunny South News

The Friends of the Picture Butte Municipal Library, (FPBML) have declared the recent Valentine’s Day Fundraiser a huge success.

The FPBML is a non-profit organization. Having identified funding gaps for the Picture Butte Municipal Library, the group dedicates their time to spearheading various fundraising initiatives for the Library. Although the Picture Butte Municipal Library is a publicly-funded organization, financial supports from municipal and provincial streams have not kept up with rising operating costs. Because of this deficit, there is no room in the budget to purchase new materials and replace technology at the end of its life.

The FPBML consists of nine women who volunteer their time and support the library through various fundraisers throughout the year. The most recent fundraiser ran from Jan. 24 until Feb. 11, 2023 and brought in over $2,000 to purchase new materials for the Picture Butte Municipal Library. The Valentine’s Day theme was selected, “because we love our local library and because the Picture Butte Municipal Library is the heart of our community, primarily serving people from Picture Butte and Lethbridge County.”

In 2022, the group donated an impressive $10,000 to the library to purchase new books. A statement from the FPBML explained due to the high volume of library patrons, books and materials “are well used and not in the best of shape. The Picture Butte Library serves not only the Town of Picture Butte but many people living in rural areas around Picture Butte in the County of Lethbridge. Many of our patrons home school so the Picture Butte Library is a busy one.”

The group is currently working on obtaining charitable status to be able to issue tax receipts to donors in the future.

“The doors of our library are open to all. It offers unlimited education and entertainment through books (hard copy as well as electronic), video games, DVDs, courses to assist newcomers to our community (English as a Second Language), computer access, as well as crafts and yoga,” and more.

The FPBML thanks the community for their continued support.