It's cold, dark and empty now but when it opens - likely sometime this fall - Coquitlam's new Town Centre library branch will be a bustling hub of learning, relaxing and collaboration.
That's the hope of Coquitlam Public Library director Rhian Piprell, who envisions the new library on Pinetree Way in Coquitlam as a lively centre of community life.
"The location is ideal," Piprell said, pointing to Coquitlam Centre across the street, Henderson Centre next door, several condo towers and street where the Evergreen Line will soon be built.
Still, much work needs to be done before the doors will open - later than previously scheduled - on the new $15.6-million project. Approximately $4 million in construction work needs to be done to the $9-million building at 1169 Pinetree Way before the library can move in its collection and start welcoming patrons.
By the end of this month, contractors will be hired to complete the finishing work and construction is expected to start mid-February. Piprell expects most of the interior to be complete by the end of summer, barring any problems, and the collection could be moved in September, requiring a shutdown of the current Town Centre branch, the basement of city hall, for about a month.
If everything goes as planned, the new Town Centre branch should open in October, three months later than originally projected.
The long gestation period for the much-anticipated library is due to plan changes when a mezzanine floor was added to the project but Piprell said the extra floor space will make the wait worthwhile.
When it opens, the new library will be three times larger than the current Town Centre branch.
"One of the things I really like is the opportunity to have an art wall where we're going to work with artists at Evergreen [Cultural Centre] to display some of our local art," Piprell said.
It will be a well-lit space with lots of windows, wood finishing, a raised seating area with a dramatic black glass fireplace mounted on a textured wall. There will also be study rooms and a computer lab as well as areas for children and youth materials, and audio-visual and multilingual collections, according to a fit-and-finish report presented to council this week.
Still, some fundraising will likely be required for some of the furnishings and materials, Piprell said, and it won't be known until the tenders are in whether the $4-million budget is accurate.
"The bells and whistles we're going to have to fundraise for and the [library] board is working on a plan," she said.
To get an idea of the look of the future the Town Centre branch, visit Coquitlam Public Library's Facebook page.
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CPL catalogue takes a leap into info age
The Coquitlam Public Library collection will soon be coming to a smart phone near you.
An update to the library's 18-year-old catalogue system will introduce many new features to library patrons, according to Rhian Piprell, CPL's director, who said the new system will be switched over on Feb. 14.
That's when the two CPL branches will shut down for the day for the final transfer of information over to the new Polaris Integrated Library System.
When the libraries re-open the following day, patrons will have access to many new features, Piprell said.
Searching the catalogue will be more user-friendly, with pictures of book covers, tables of contents, book annotations and excerpts provided, she said. As well, patrons will be able to keep reading lists, save their searches and will be informed by email if a new book by their favourite author arrives.
A new mobile catalogue app will also be available for smart phone users that will allow patrons to search the catalogue, place requests and receive messages about their items right to their phone.
And the new system will allow the library to do more to serve its multilingual population. Materials can now be catalogued in other languages and eventually patrons will be able look up titles in Korean, Chinese and Farsi. This is a long-term project that is possible because the new catalogue system accepts non-Roman characters.
Piprell said the old system was outdated and frustrating for patrons to use. The new system will be simpler and easier, although it may take an adjustment period to work out any glitches.
"Bear with us, there will be a few things at first," Piprell said, noting she doesn't expect many problems with the conversion.
