(File photo/northeastNOW Staff)

By Ben Tompkins

Air Quality Checks

Wapiti Regional Library to soon offer carbon dioxide detectors in lending program

Aug 1, 2023 | 8:54 AM

The Wapiti Regional Library (WRL) will soon be offering carbon dioxide monitors to their patrons at all of their locations.

The CO2 monitor lending program will begin on Aug. 7, with the purpose of letting people measure the air quality of their indoor spaces.

“I think COVID really made people start thinking about their air quality, both at home, at schools, in the office, etc. Beyond the basics of good ventilation, it can help to cut down on airborne pathogens. It’s also really interesting to read the data from Health Canada about carbon dioxide and air quality, and how it can affect you without you really realizing it,” Lindsay Baker, community services librarian for WRL said.

“It’s not something that is potentially deadly like carbon monoxide would be, but it can still affect your quality of life. Now that people are much more aware of that sort of thing, we hope that having the monitors available will help empower them to check their own environment and make changes where necessary or where possible.”

The monitors will be held at the region’s Big River, Birch Hills, Candle Lake, Hudson Bay, Humboldt, Melfort, Nipawin, Shellbrook, Spiritwood and Tisdale branches.

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The region will have 10 CO2 monitors available, which the library’s patrons will be able to borrow for up to two weeks.

“It can be interesting to see the fluctuations throughout the day as different activities happen, the number of people in the space change, being able to test whether having your ventilation fans on would change the numbers or having the windows open will change the numbers. People can play around with it,” Baker added.

“We wanted to be able to provide the two weeks to make it more convenient for our largely rural population so they don’t feel like they’re in a rush to get it back to the library really quickly. For some patrons, it’s a bit of a drive to their nearest library community, so we want to make it as convenient as possible for people to use it in town, at the cottage, or wherever they might be.”

The CO2 monitors were provided by a grant from the Community Access to Ventilation Information organization’s Canadian CO2 Monitor Expansion Program.

Monitors can also be delivered to other Wapiti branches for pick-up using a holds request, should there be none left at a specific location.

“Most modern libraries focus on not just books. While our primary focus is on literacy and education and entertainment and being a community space for our patrons, we also want to empower them to better their lives overall. We’re excited that there are more opportunities for us to be able to partner with other organizations to help improve the quality of life of our patrons,” Baker told northeastNOW.

Wapiti patrons interested in checking out a CO2 monitor can learn more and place a hold on one from the Wapiti Library website.

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On Twitter @BenTompkins_8