Downtown library offers free printing, lamination for your vaccine passport

With Ontario restaurants, bars and gymnasiums set to start re-opening on Jan. 31, James L. McIntyre Centennial Library has set up a temporary free COVID vaccine lamination station.

"Due to the high demand for the service, a temporary vaccine printing and lamination station has been established in the administration office from Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.," chief executive officer Matthew MacDonald informed a meeting of the local library board on Monday night.

"Despite long wait times, overall the public has been very positive and appreciative of this service. This service is being offered at no cost to the public," MacDonald said in a written report.

"With the Ontario government creating the vaccination passport system back in October 2021, the library began offering a very popular service to print and laminate vaccine passports. Approximately 1,500 passports were laminated by library staff by the end of 2021."

The constituency office of Sault MPP Ross Romano has also offered a similar service, as has Stone's Office Supply.

Some other bibliographic bubkis from Monday night's library board meeting:

• Sault Ste. Marie Public Library has added a local authors page to its website. The page includes information for local authors about submitting their books to the library for consideration. All submissions must meet the criteria as outlined in the library board’s collection development policy
• library staff and management will get a 1.25 per cent cost-of-living raise effective Feb. 1
• the library board voted to defer its strategic planning process until April. Some work on the plan was to have been done during December. "It wasn't well done," said board chair Wayne Greco. "Perhaps we are pushing this process too quickly. Coupled with the shutdown, it's not happening.... To do proper strategic planning is difficult. It may be impossible. To do it justice, this may not be the time. I'm proposing that we put this on the back burner for a little bit," Greco said