The director of Port Moody Public Library (PMPL) says the recently renovated facility is bursting at the seams.
Sept. 17, Marc Saunders, and several members of the library board, made a pitch to city council’s committee of the whole for a new, larger facility.
Saunders said it is important to keep the issue in the forefront after the results of a special community opinion poll that was part of last October’s civic election indicated voters’ opposition — 53% to 47% — to selling the old fire hall property at the corner of Ioco Road and Murray Street to a private developer. A new library was part of a mixed-use development that had been envisioned for the site.
But Saunders said he and his board members haven’t given up on the location that is adjacent to Port Moody’s civic complex where the current library, city hall and the recreation centre are already situated. In fact, he makes a point of walking past it every day, envisioning what the fenced, overgrown lot that has become a refuge from some city equipment, could become with a gleaming new library as its focal point.
“A library would do exceptionally well on that corner,” Saunders told The Tri-City News.
He said Port Moody’s library has been over capacity for years compared to other libraries with a similar profile in communities of a comparable size, such as New Westminster, West Vancouver and Penticton.
A 2005 study by Cornerstone Planning Group recommended then the city required a new 28,000-sq. ft. library. Another study, in 2017, recommended a 42,500-sq. ft. facility.
In 2018, the number of participants using programs per square metre of capacity at PMPL was more than double its closest comparable library, in the city of North Vancouver. That same year, Port Moody library checked out more than 550 items per square metre, compared to just under 250 in Penticton, the next busiest library of a similar size and demographic.
Saunders said a renovation that closed the 13,000-sq. ft. library for more than two months in the winter of 2017/’18 created a bit more room as shelving was reconfigured and other components like the children’s area were rejigged. But the new carpeting, information desk and digital work stations couldn’t address ongoing complaints from patrons about noise and the limitations of the library’s collection of 84,000 titles.
“It’s just a stopgap,” Saunders said of the renovation, adding the cramped quarters aren't just hard on users, it also taxes staff.
“Normally you have an ebb and flow but it’s getting to the point of continuous stress,” he said.
More importantly, Saunders said, the lack of space is preventing the library from undertaking initiatives that will help it meet the changing needs of the community, such as art programming, an innovation centre for business start-ups, astronomy programs, sound studios for podcasts and even meeting space for local clubs.
“We want to be able to offer different types of spaces that can be used in a variety of ways,” he said.
Mayor Rob Vagramov said library renewal “is a priority for the city,” that hasn’t been diminished by the result of the 2018 non-binding referendum question.
But Coun. Hunter Madsen said the former fire hall site may no longer be the most appropriate location for a new facility that he suggested could land at Pioneer Park, across Knowles Street from the civic complex.
“The density of the city might be shifting,” he said, adding even if voters had accepted the idea of selling the fire hall property for private development, it might take five to 10 years to realize a new library.
In the meantime, Saunders said, PMPL will continue to work with council towards a solution while making the best of its tight situation.
“It is a long conversation,” he said. “Hopefully this is a path forward.”
