Medicine Hat Public Library (MHPL) is a

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

located in

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in Southern Alberta, southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff, Alberta, ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It sits atop the beautiful South Saskatchewan River, situated on Treaty 7,

Treaty 4 Treaty 4 is a treaty established between Queen Victoria and the Cree and Saulteaux First Nation band governments. The area covered by Treaty 4 represents most of current day southern Saskatchewan, plus small portions of what are today western Ma ...

, an
Métis Nation Region 3
territory. MHPL is a member of the

Shortgrass Library System The Shortgrass Library System consists of fourteen member public libraries in Southeast Alberta, Canada. The system headquarters is located in Medicine Hat. It has the distinction of being the first regional library system in the province of A ...

and

The Alberta Library The Alberta Library (TAL) is a not-for-profit library consortium consisting of 50 member libraries and library systems in over 300 locations in the Canadian province of Alberta. Members include public, post-secondary, government and special libra ...

. The library is located in Medicine Hat's downtown core, across the street from the Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre and next to the Court of Queen’s Bench on First Street S.E.

Services

*FREE library cards for Medicine Hat residents *Any public library patron in good standing at any Alberta public library can borrow materials like books, movies, music, video games, and more *Information and reference services *Access t
online resources
like eBooks, audiobooks, magazines, newspapers, online learning courses, language learning courses, Ancestry, Consumer Reports, and study help for children in grades 3 -12 *Community information and resources, including an in-house Social Worker *Internet access including wireless *Reader's advisory services
Programs
for children, youth and adults *Delivery t
homebound
individuals *Services for print-disabled and vision impaired *Interlibrary loans

General information

The dual-level facility features a children’s library, dedicated young adult section, adult fiction, movies, music and audiobooks on the upper level. The main checkout, self-checkout kiosks and the Information & Memberships counter are located on this level as well. The lower level is home to the reference collection, adult non-fiction, periodicals, microfilm readers and public computer terminals. The 150-seat theatre and both the Honor Currie and Legion meeting rooms and Training Room are also found on this level
Rent a room at the Library
In 2015 the Medicine Hat Public Library celebrated 100 years of service in Medicine Hat. To recognize the significance of the library to the community of Medicine Hat, Mayor Ted Clugston declared November 21 as "MHPL Day."

Partnerships

Medicine Hat Public Library is a member of "The Alberta Library", a province-wide system that allows access to material from every member library in Alberta.

Energy conservation

The City of Medicine Hat installed a one kilowatt solar electric system on the roof of the library during the summer of 2006. The building now draws part of its electricity from the

solar panel A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...

. Power generation from the 1 kW solar panel array is performing as expected. The historical measurements of the solar array are within expectations consistent with theoretical calculations used in methods provided by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. In the first 5 years of operation, the solar array generated 5-6 thousand kWh. Not considering upfront capital and installation costs, the total associated electrical energy consumption savings are approximately $600–800 over the same time period. The amount of electricity generated can also be viewed in real time. The project cost approximately $15k.

Statistics 2015

Library In-person Visits: 247,894
Items Borrowed: 210,409 items circulated 527,159 times
Library Members: 14,809
Programs: 654
Program Participants: 19,149
Public Internet Use: 23,907 sessions
Reference questions Answered: 5,996
Volunteers: 315 donated 1,433 hours

References

External links

Medicine Hat Public LibraryShortgrass Library SystemThe Alberta LibraryCanadian Library Association
{{Authority control Public libraries in Alberta Medicine Hat Libraries established in 1915 1915 establishments in Canada