For families in St. Albert's north side who regularly trek across the city for the sake of their favourite library books – and for families unable to make that trek – the end may be in sight.
The city has a short-term solution in mind for the St. Albert Public Library's most pressing space needs and council will take a look later this year at leasing 3,000 square feet of storefront library space somewhere in the north end.
Storefront libraries have helped relieve the pressure in quickly growing neighbourhoods in Edmonton, acting as a stop-gap measure before a full branch library opens. Peter Bailey, CEO for the St. Albert Public LIbrary, said St. Albert's library has borrowed that idea in this case.
"We know we need a full-size branch, but while the city is talking about long-term solutions, let's get something in place," he said.
While a storefront library would help in the short term, Bailey said his hope is that a full branch library is still on the horizon.
Last fall, when the city held a nonbinding plebiscite on ice, aquatics and library space, just 36.1 per cent of voters checked the ballot for more library space.
Although the library was included in a recent facility prioritization report from the city, that report focuses on short-term solutions. Bailey said he thinks the city needs to take a holistic approach to facility-building, given the library proposed its branch as a campus (for instance, it could be built alongside a pool, arena or could be part of a multi-use facility).
A long-term look at city facility needs is due in the third or fourth quarter of this year.
"We're very positive about the storefront idea. I think the thing we're still hoping is on the back burner, at least, is the full size branch," Bailey said.
Janice Marschner, chair for the St. Albert Public Library Board, said the storefront library would help meet the city's needs while also respecting the plebiscite vote.
"It's a way to access services without a major expenditure for the city, so I hope people will embrace it," she said.
She said the board is excited about the prospect of leased space. The space would be filled with the library's most popular books and would also feature computer access and space where people can sit down and read. It will be up to the city where the space will be located.
"It would be something that would try and meet the needs of the people in the north end of the city and give them access to a small range of the services the library offers, but without requiring purchase of land," she said.
The space in question would likely need to be retrofitted to meet the library's needs and would require an estimated capital investment of $517,000. Operating expenses would come in at $279,225 for 2019 and $382,300 for 2020.
Anna Royer, business manager for community and protective services, told city councillors Monday the storefront library would come forward as an operating business case and capital project charter for the 2019 budget prioritization process.
"The library board has been diligent in exploring numerous options which will provide some support to meeting their needs for additional library space, while keeping in mind the constraints currently faced by council," she said.
Marschner said the need for library services in the north end really became apparent through the library's outreach literacy van.
"It's been really popular in the north end. We'd like to just meet some of those needs and then it frees up the van to do a little bit more outreach, especially for younger kids," she said.
Bailey said northern St. Albert, particularly North Ridge, has people who can't access the library at St. Albert Place.
"There's a lot of people in the city who actually have transportation difficulties, who can't make it down here," he said.
"We're hoping the storefront can build on that idea of accessing library services in different parts of the community."
