I haven't spoken to many people who are in favour of building a new library. Even old folks like me understand that with online books and apps, libraries are not as efficient and used as they used to be. Unfortunately, those who want new space, don't understand what their taxes will be like in the future because of their decision today. But what would I know, I have only been paying them in St. Albert for 26 years.
There are retail spaces sitting empty, etc. Why would we not work out a deal with a landlord, lease some space, and bring activity to a mall area in St. Albert. Might help the economy a bit? How about doing a long term deal to lease the old London Drugs space? $20 million or more could go a long way to house a library there; maybe for 50 years. It would do the community good.
But no, let’s build brand new and end up like city hall in 20 years, not enough space. Better yet, why not make the London Drugs space a central library, freeing up needed space at city hall so we won't have to build one because they are running out of space for city offices. If we have more space at city hall, maybe we wouldn't have to lease space all around town to house city administration. We save some money there to spend on a satellite library. And then lease a space on the north end of town for a smaller library that is supposedly needed. Why not think about using space that is already built rather than have the newest and the best? Maybe it would be more cost efficient and keep us out of debt we don't need to be in?
Ted Durham, St. Albert
