Meet the Client

The Calgary Public Library offers a variety of free services to Calgarians, from music and podcast recording studios to kids play areas to programming for new Canadians, and much more. These spaces are much more than overly-large book cases; they’re the living heartbeat of a city.

Objective of the Event

To produce one of the most highly anticipated building openings across Canada, and welcome thousands of guests into their new public library.

The Event:

Calgary Central Library Opening

Date:

November 1 – 4, 2018

Client:

The Calgary Public Library

A New Chapter

Guests of all ages waited in line by the hundreds for the doors to swing open for the opening ceremony. While they waited, masked jugglers, whimsical fairies, and a Pokémon or two entertained, and volunteers handed out cups of hot chocolate from Luke’s Drug Mart, which were adorned with scannable smartphone codes so guests could sign up for their free library cards while they enjoyed their treat.

Finally, the doors opened to reveal the splendour of the highly-anticipated interior architecture, and a drum beat from a traditional indigenous drumming and dance group led guests into the foyer. Mayor Naheed Nenshi welcomed the crowd and spoke earnestly about Calgary being a place where people can dream and dream big, a place that attracts the best and the brightest from all over the world. As a symbol of the new Central Library’s focus on community, the first library cards for this new building were presented to five Calgarians who represented the diversity of our city: a student, a business owner, a new Canadian, the oldest active library member, and the youngest new library member. After a blessing from Elder Kelly, the library’s CEO, Bill Ptacek, welcomed everyone to their new Central Library, and applauded along with the crowd as giant rainbow confetti cannons were released, showering guests in colourful streamers.