On Friday, Jan. 19, at 1 p.m. the Weyburn Public Library Branch will be celebrating its 40th anniversary within the Southeast Regional Library system, and invites all of its friends to celebrate this momentous occasion in front of the library's "Big Wheel".

Special guest speakers will include Weyburn Mayor Debra Button, Weyburn-Big Muddy MLA Dustin Duncan, and CEO and Library Director for the Southeast Regional Library Allan Johnson.

After the remarks by these dignitaries, the winners of the 'What My Library Means to Me' writing contest will be announced. This contest was co-sponsored by the Weyburn Public Library and the Weyburn Review.

There will also be a come-and-go tea commencing immediately after remarks by dignitaries. Then at 1:30 p.m., in the same location, playwright Leeann Minogue will be reading from her latest play, Dry Streak.

Dry Streak was nominated for a Saskatchewan Book Award in the First Book Category, as it is Minogue's first full-length play. It has been performed by the Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon in 2006 and the Weyburn Agricultural Society in 2005, and this reading will be a first for Minogue at a public library.

According to city Librarian, Kam Teo, "The Weyburn Branch's membership within the Southeast Regional Library in the past 40 years has yielded a variety of traditional and innovative resources that have benefitted the residents of Weyburn."

"In recent years, the Weyburn branch membership within the region has meant access to over 6,900 journals, magazines and newspapers available from databases," commented Teo.

"Certainly, the Weyburn branch is looking forward to another 40 years of providing quality library services to its many patrons and friends within the Southeast Library system."