Thunder Bay, ON – December 16, 2024: Thunder Bay Public Library is making good on its commitment to make its services more accessible to the community, with new holiday hours for 2024 and two branches opening seven days a week beginning January 2, 2025.

For the past four years, all Library branches have closed for a week between Christmas Day and January 2, and regular hours have had very limited evening or weekend options. CEO Richard Togman says this isn’t in keeping with the Library’s values of high quality service and accessibility, and that the community has been asking for more.

“Every survey the Library has conducted in the past decade has told us that the community wants to see us open more hours, which is especially important for working families and those with young children,” Togman said. “We’re now able to step up and meet the demand in a big way. Throughout the holiday break Waverley and Mary J.L. Black Libraries will be fully open and hosting Play Days for kids during their winter break. Our new collections of toys will be out and we invite families to come in and enjoy them.”

Beginning Thursday January 2, the Library takes a second step to meet community needs by offering extended hours on both the North and South sides of the city. Waverley and Mary JL Black branches will be open in the evenings Monday through Thursday, all day Saturday and on Sunday afternoons, delivering on the organization’s promise of a seven day a week Library system. The new hours will make the Library more accessible to the community, increase evening programming opportunities, and allow for more community use of meeting rooms.

Sunday hours will be reduced through the summer months when Library usage traditionally decreases.

Visit www.tbpl.ca for the full schedule of holiday hours and new operating hours for 2025.