Okanagan Regional Library

The Okanagan Regional Library (ORL) system serves the Okanagan region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. Its administrative headquarters are in Kelowna. The system covers 59,000 square kilometers of area, and serves 360,000 people through 29 branches. ORL was founded in 1936. In 2013, the library held 3.2 million physical items.[2] The library is largely funded through tax revenues from four administrative areas, the Regional District of North Okanagan,[3] the Regional District of Central Okanagan, the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District, and the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen.[4] It also receives funding from the provincial and federal governments.

Okanagan Regional Library
Established1936
Location1380 Ellis Street
Kelowna, British Columbia
V1Y 2A2
Coordinates49.889611°N 119.494083°W / 49.889611; -119.494083
Branches29
Collection
Items collectedbooks, e-books, music, cds, periodicals, maps, genealogical archives, business directories, local history
Size25,000 (2011)[1]
Access and use
Circulation3.2 M (2013)[2]
Population served360,000
WebsiteORL website
Map

In 2017, the ORL collaborated with the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO) to open an on-campus branch to serve the UBCO community.[5]

Locations

History

In 1935, residents of the Okanagan participated in a referendum to decide whether to start a library system in the valley. After a majority voted "yes", the first Kelowna library, then called the Okanagan Union Library, was constructed. The original collection was 18,000 items, and served a population of about 25,000.[1]

References
  1. "Okanagan library celebrates 75 years". Vernon Morning Star. Feb 12, 2011.
  2. Board of the Okanagan Regional Library (2013). "Okanagan Regional Library Annual Report, 2013": 5. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. "Okanagan Regional Library". Regional District of North Okanagan. Regional District of North Okanagan.
  4. "Okanagan Regional Library Board". Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen. Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen.
  5. Lacey, Sajni; Lomness, Arielle (January 2020). "Better together: Assessing a leisure reading collection for an academic and public library partnership". The Journal of Academic Librarianship. 46 (1): 102023. doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2019.03.011. Retrieved 28 November 2020.

Further reading
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