Water Valley Community Association

A gem in the scenic Alberta Foothills

Halloween Night Drive-In Movie

Support Rural Scholars in the Water Valley Cremona Area during Covid-19

Are you a student or teacher studying and/or working from home and having trouble accessing stable internet to continue your studies/work?
At the Water Valley Library we have addressed these issues through our initiative Supporting Rural Scholars in the Water Valley/Cremona Area.
The library has a large stockpile of donated used books in storage donated throughout the year that we sell in our bi-annual book sale fundraiser and we put a call-out for more donations for our Rural Scholars initiative. In July and August of 2020 we had an overwhelming amount of books donated from local residents to support this initiative. In August we organized two weekend long book sales and had a local baker donate her time to bake goods to sell at our event. Our first used book and bake sale was on August 22nd and 23rd where we raised almost $1600 and our second sale was the following weekend, August 29th and 30th, where we raised $1400 more. Through our Book and Bake Sale Fundraisers in August we raised just over $3000 to support this initiative. We have also received $1000 from the Calgary Foundations Stepping Stones Grant through Connect First Calgary and applied for one other grant we are waiting to hear back from.

Would you like to join our group?
If you are a student or teacher in the Water Valley/Cremona area struggling with unstable internet at home and would like a FREE space to study/work and connect with other students and teachers, join us! We are renting the Chinook Creative Arts Building (The Old School-House) every Tuesday and Thursday from 8am to 4pm (or later) for open-studies and internet access exclusively for students and teachers. The Water Valley Library is also open from 9am - 1pm Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays and Wednesday evenings from 6pm-9pm for in-house study and internet access.

What Covid regulations are in place?
As a public space we have hand-sanitizer available in every room and free disposable masks available for anyone who needs them. It is up to each individual to be responsible for their own personal hygiene and adhere to social-distancing protocols as outlined by Alberta Health Services at https://www.alberta.ca/prevent-the-spread.aspx. Each of our four rooms can house up to 10 people while adhering to social distancing protocol and we have plenty of space to study and work independently or in a group setting.

What services are available?
The Water Valley Public Library has a public fiber-net connection in our library with Wi-Fi available anyone inside or outside our library. With your Water Valley Library Card (membership is free) and through our online cataloguing system you can order books through the Alberta Library Portal at https://alberta.relaisd2d.com/. All materials are delivered direct to our library at no cost. We also have three desk-top stations available, as well as three laptops available for in-house use.

Did you say snacks and refreshments?
Thanks to extra fundraiser from our amazing community residents we have FREE snacks and refreshments available in the kitchen for all student/teacher members. Our two amazing University student organizers, Ryatt Nugent and Alia McCracken, are your hosts and will have these available every Tuesday and Thursday. If you attend Thursday's group you might even get breakfast (thanks to Ryatt for her kitchen witchery)!

How long will this study group be available?
We currently have enough funding to rent the four-room building and pay university students to run the program until the end of December. If post-secondary schools will NOT be re-opening in January we will host another Book and Bake Sale in December to raise money for the second semester of school and apply for more funding through grants (fingers crossed).

How can I get involved?
There are three ways you can get involved with this initiative;
1. You can join our study group and add yourself to our contact list to receive notices about our group and what we are doing,
2. You can donate to our initiative by contacting the watervalleylibrary@prl.ab.ca or contacting our library manager Lisette at 587.228.95583 or,
3. You can volunteer for our next fundraiser and help organize and setup the Book and Bake Sale in December.

Thank you to EVERYONE who has supported this initiative, we are so thankful for all your work and contributions!

If you would like to stay connected please visit us and/or follow us on social media on;
Facebook at
https://m.facebook.com/groups/1090789734670199/?ref=group_browse
Instagram at
@wv_library_rural_scholars

A few words...

Are we so quaint & tiny we go unnoticed? Is there a black hole we sneak into off Highway 22 North as we turn the 8 km to get to our little treasure?

The answer is yes to all.
We are a well kept secret that is loved by those day trippers who know, and guarded by the few who can call it home. We get to live in a postcard and in the winter in a snow globe.

Our '4-way stop' is historic, rustic, thoughtful and slow.

All these things are what we enjoy the most about it, and we promise it's what you will notice too.

Life in a small town means you know your neighbors so everyone is friendlier and more invested. Our businesses are small and run by families who believe in community in all sense of the word. We have an amazing golf course, hardware store, general store, Italian restaurant, a Meadery, and adorable events church, a library, a western saloon famous for its tradition Wednesday wing nights, a rustic liquor store, a calendar of events like the Celtic-Folk Festival, Water Valley Days, Art Shows and our picturesque Water Valley Rodeo. William J. Bagnall Wilderness Park, a swimming hole with a rope swing, endless Instagram worthy hiking trails, and sunsets that can knock your socks off.

Seriously, if you have never come, it's time to get out here...

Thank you to our Partners...

Are you interested in being a partner and advertising your business or organization on our website?
Contact our Treasurer for further information, pricing and details!

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