Anyone interested in checking out the popular Edmonton fair K-Days can get free gate entry on Sunday just by showing their library card, and an Edmonton Public Library card is free.
The one-day-only offer is valid for Community Day on Sunday, July 23.
“This is a really great opportunity for us to reach out to an audience that may or may not have been to the library before,” said Dan Alfano, EPL’s manager of digital initiatives.
“Our mission is that we share,” he said, “and have barrier-free access.”
The initiative was launched in 2019 but the pandemic meant there were no K-Days in 2020 or 2021. The fair returned in 2022, alongside the EPL promotion.
Now in its third year, EPL notices a huge burst of new memberships in the week leading up to the free-gate-admission day.
“Every year, in the month surrounding Community Day, we see a significant uptake in memberships, which is great,” Alfano said.
“In 2019, out of all the new memberships that we saw in July, 42 per cent came within the four days preceding the Community Day.
“It’s a really incredible increase,” he said Friday, “and we’re expecting the same this year.”
Not only is the program allowing people who otherwise might not be able to afford K-Days the chance to go, it’s also creating awareness about what a free EPL membership offers (movies, video games, music and audio books, language lessons, educational courses, hobby hangs, events and the Makerspace, for instance).
“It’s just a really cool way for EPL to bring technology, do this outreach, partner with really great organizations, and show off what we’ve got in our branches,” Alfano said.
The library is taking part in the Maker Faire at the Edmonton EXPO during K-Days July 21- 30.
The Maker Faire is a venue for makers to showcase hobbies, experiments and projects. It includes engineers, scientists, artists and crafters — like Telus World of Science, Blenderz Garment Recyclers, SNAP Gallery and the Edmonton Rocketry Club.
The EPL is bringing some cool technology, including a 3D printer, a heat press (to apply vinyl to garments) and three different kinds of robots.
One is a Root Robot called Dash, which Alfano describes as a mini Rumba.
“Dash is a really approachable, friendly, gregarious little robot that we can do some block-based programming and coding.”
The Sphero Robot looks like a little ball but actually has a lot of technology inside. Alfano said you can program it or drive it around like a remote control car.
The fair is a way for the EPL to reach out to more Edmontonians, he added.
“It’s a good chance for us to connect to a broader audience and to collaborate with other organizations.
“For us, it’s really a win-win.”