Mission, Philosophy & Values

The Okotoks Public Library has been a fixture of the Okotoks community since 1977! We've come a long way from the tiny little room on main street, first moving to 7 Riverside Drive in 1990 and then expanding in 2005. In August 2021 we moved next door to the Okotoks Arts & Learning Campus to a new expanded space of just over 24,000sq.ft.! We are a member of the Marigold Library System and a part of the resource sharing mechanism of TRAC which is Alberta wide. We are proud to serve the Town of Okotoks and the surrounding County of Foothills.

The Okotoks Public Library Board and Staff acknowledge the traditional territories of the people of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta, which includes Blackfoot Confederacy members Siksika, Piikani, and the Kainai First Nations, the Stoney Nakoda of Bearspaw, Chiniki and Wesley First Nations, the Dene of Tsuut'ina First Nations, and the Métis Nation Region 3, and all those that made Treaty 7 lands their home.

Statement on Intellectual Freedom

The Board and Staff of Okotoks Public Library uphold and support the Canadian Federation of Library Associations Statement on Intellectual Freedom (Approval History: ~ CLA: June 27, 1974. Amended November 17, 1983; November 18, 1985; September 27, 2015. CFLA-FCAB: Adopted August 26, 2016; Reviewed April 12, 2019.):

Libraries have a core responsibility to safeguard and facilitate access to constitutionally protected expressions of knowledge, imagination, ideas, and opinion, including those which some individuals and groups consider unconventional, unpopular or unacceptable. To this end, in accordance with their mandates and professional values and standards, libraries provide, defend and promote equitable access to the widest possible variety of expressive content and resist calls for censorship and the adoption of systems that deny or restrict access to resources.

Libraries have a core responsibility to safeguard and foster free expression and the right to safe and welcoming places and conditions. To this end, libraries make available their public spaces and services to individuals and groups without discrimination.

Libraries have a core responsibility to safeguard and defend privacy in the individual’s pursuit of expressive content. To this end, libraries protect the identities and activities of library users except when required by the courts to cede them.

Vision Statement

Heart of the Community, Key to the World.

Mission Statement

We provide opportunities that enrich, inspire and empower individuals.

Values

The Okotoks Public Library supports the following principles which enable us to provide equitable public library service:

Excellent Service

We strive to meet and surpass library users’ expectations by showing them how important they are to us with friendly, helpful and positive interactions.

Inclusion

We are a welcoming space and a place that reflects the diversity of the Okotoks community.

Innovation & Technology

We embrace change and view new technology as opportunities to encourage creativity, experimentation and the generation of new ideas.

Intellectual Freedom

We support open and unrestricted access to information and protect individual rights to privacy and choice without fear of censorship or discrimination.

Lifelong Learning

We encourage and support library users’ ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated pursuit of knowledge through our collection materials and programming