City council is rekindling St. Albert's great library debate, or at least a smaller version thereof.
With a motion from Coun. Ken MacKay coming up for a smaller, cheaper alternative to the branch library that raised so much ire last year, the question lingering in the air at city hall this month is a complex one: should the city break out its cheque-book for more library space?
On its face, the proposal MacKay is backing is a sensible one. If councillors approve his motion later this month, St. Albert would see a 3,000-square-foot leased library space open up in the city's north end some time in 2019, for a capital cost of $517,000 and a 2019 operating cost of $279,200 – much less than the $21.9-million borrowing bylaw the former council had approved for a standalone building.
Unfortunately, given how fresh last year's non-binding plebiscite is in the minds of residents – not to mention how much uncertainty this council has displayed over interpreting the results of that plebiscite – it is clear many St. Albertans are not distinguishing between the proposal on the table and the one that ground to a halt in 2017.
On Nov. 14, the Gazette held an informal poll on its Facebook page to gauge support for a storefront library. With more than 1,100 votes cast as of Tuesday morning, roughly 60 per cent of people had voted no. Those results are not conclusive, but they do provide some insight. Further insight can be gained by the comments people left on that poll, which showed a general conflation of the storefront library with the branch library and a lack of understanding of the difference between them.
There are three issues at play here: space, cost and the plebsicite. The library says its space needs are great – but there are just as pressing needs elsewhere in the city, such as the need for pool and ice space.
As for the cost, when we compare the storefront library's cost to that of the branch library, it seems like a drop in the bucket. However, the city still faces a looming capital deficit and there are many other recreation needs that still need to be addressed, all of which also cost money.
But even if the storefront proposal passes both the space and cost tests, it comes up against a wall when we look at the plebsicite, whether that's fair or not. The plebiscite asked residents whether they were in favour of the city proceeding with further planning of a branch library, but even our city councillors have said interpreting that vote (where 13,346 St. Albertans voted no and 7,802 voted yes) is difficult.
While some of those voters may favour the lower cost of the storefront, many will no doubt see the approval of any library space as violating the spirit of the plebiscite.
As our city continues to grow toward a population of 100,000, there is no doubt we will eventually need additional library space. Whether we need that today is worth debating in full – and hopefully councillors will give that question the weight it deserves.
