More than just books...	...in Hazelton
			by Maggie Carew

The Hazeltons District Public Library is situated by the river in Old Hazelton. It's a great place to spend an afternoon. Lending books is only one of the many services offered. Video and audio tapes are also included in the library's collection. You may curl up on a window seat with a book or a magazine and watch the Skeena flow past, carrying the trunks of huge trees when the water is high. Sometimes a bear wanders along the opposite bank, or an eagle flies upstream following the salmon.

The Old Library building

It's not the stuffy kind of library where people scowl at you if you make a noise. Families and individuals are made to feel welcome in the light, airy space of the modern building. You may choose to research an assignment, using a variety of reference resources, and write it right here in the library, using the computers that are available at no charge to the public. You can surf the web and check your e-mail. Access to the computers is on a drop-in basis during the summer, but in the winter you are asked to make an appointment in advance. With the help of a provincial government grant, the library has hired Janis Johnson, a student, to train members of the public in the use of computers. The emphasis is on helping older people to come to terms with the new technology. Young people are not intimidated by it at all. The computers have made a significant difference to the way the library operates. The catalogue is on-line now, and patrons may consult it for help in finding books. It has always been possible to ask the library to obtain books from other libraries.

Janis Johnson

Now, with network connections, inter-library loans are faster and more efficient. There has been a library in the Hazelton area since 1941, and it has developed and expanded over the years because it has received generous community support. In the 1980s the library was housed in the riverboat building on Government Street in Old Town. The building is designed to look like a replica of one of the old stern-wheeler riverboats which plied the Skeena in the pioneer days, bringing settlers and supplies from Prince Rupert. The building was attractive but not very spacious and the library eventually outgrew it.