If you are one of the many people who have moved to Prince Edward County since 2020, you might be finding that it’s a bit harder to meet your neighbour without the community fairs, parades and other in person events that would otherwise have provided an opportunity to meet people.

At the library, we are extremely pleased to be able to re-start our popular “newcomers” group, starting in November.

The group will meet weekly and provide an opportunity for you to meet other people who are new to the area as well as share all the great restaurants, shops and groups you’ve learned about. You can also bring any questions you might have – someone else might just have the answer you need! Guest speakers will be invited to share information about their organizations. The group will meet Thursday mornings at 10:30 a.m. at the Picton Branch Library. To allow for physical distancing, the number of attendees will be limited. You’ll be able to register for one month at a time and can re-register if you would like to keep attending. If we have more attendees than available spaces, we will add another session. Reserve your space at peclibrary.org.

Anyone who considers themselves “new” to the area is welcome to attend, no matter when you actually arrived in the County. As with all of the library’s in person programs, face coverings are required and you must show proof of vaccine. If you need assistance getting your QR code, please contact David in the computer lab at (613) 476-5962 – he’ll help you save it on your mobile phone or print it.

Tim Huxley, a previous “newcomer” who was involved in an earlier series of the newcomers group, will lead the group. Thank you, Tim! We have noticed that a number of new members to the library are from the Ameliasburgh – Consecon area. If you live in the north end of the County and are interested in a group in that area please let us know.

We could hold a newcomers session at the branches in Consecon, Ameliasburgh or Wellington. For those with babies, the new Baby Bookworms group at the Ameliasburgh Branch – held on Thursday mornings – is a great way to meet new people too. To register, call (613) 968-9327. If you represent a service club, volunteer group or other club or organization that would like the opportunity to speak to the newcomers, you can reach me by email [email protected] or phone (613) 399-2023. Many groups have found speaking to the newcomers group is a great way to discover new volunteers and members! We will book speakers based on the interests of group members.

DID YOU KNOW? The library offers more services, programs and events than we can fit into the weekly newspaper column! Find the complete calendar of events online or as a print schedule at any branch of the library. You can also find us on Facebook at facebook.com/peclibrary, or Instagram @peclibrary.

-Liz Zylstra