Library expansion

Project receives unanimous approval from council

Following a deputation by Prince Edward County Library CEO Barbara Sweet on November 10, council gave unanimous approval to proceed with the Picton library expansion project. “It’s been a long, hard slog to get approval,” said fundraising committee chair Alexandra Bake. “There had been a lot of hesitation [by council]. But it turned around and we had a unanimous ‘Yes’ from council to proceed with the project, with a caveat that we provide a quarterly report to council showing progress on the project. We have a tender with a Belleville builder that he has graciously held open for a year and we really need to get shovels in the ground before prices go up and there are issues around availability of materials rising through COVID.” There has been widespread public and business support for the library expansion, and both Bake and Sweet credit the over 150 letters sent to council as being the impetus for getting the go-ahead. In particular, the services provided by the library during the early lockdown days of the pandemic and the subsequent reopening showed how important the library is to the community, and how the branches all work seamlessly together. “It added a sense of normalcy. So many people said that, particularly mothers with young children,” said Sweet. “Being able to tune in to the children’s programming every day gave them some structure, and they were so grateful.” She added that the library staff worked really hard to find creative solutions to keep library patrons engaged, from providing technical help, to curbside pickup, to online books and movies, and that really resonated with the entire community.

The project has not quite reached its fundraising goal, but Bake expects that it will do so. Fundraising had taken a hiatus for much of this year due to the pandemic, but it received a welcome boost in October after Bake was awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship Award by Picton Rotary. She mentioned that the library expansion project was about $15,000 short of what she thought was needed for council approval. A few days later she had a meeting with a local philanthropic couple who asked her how much of a donation she would like. She hesitantly said a figure of $10,000. “They both started to laugh, and said, ‘Well, how about a hundred thousand.’ I almost fell off my chair,” said Bake. “They said, ‘But we will make you work for it. We’ll give you 25 thousand flat out, but we’ll match up to a hundred thousand depending on what you raise.’ We took that offer to people we had been talking to, before launching that in public, and by the time we got to council last Tuesday we’d raised $45,000 already.” The expansion project is estimated at $2.8 million, and if they can match the $100,000 donation, that will bring the total raised so far to $2.25 million. This includes a tax levy of $320,000 and development fees of $580,000, with the rest being raised through community donations. Bake says that typically a municipal-funded library costs about $250 to $400 per capita, but she realizes Prince Edward County has a limited tax base and the taxpayer portion of this build is just $35 per person.

With council now behind the project, Bake expects to get site plan approval soon, and then a building permit can be issued. One of the key items has been a hydrological and soil test study, since the soil in Picton is a complex mix of rock and sand. “The foundation slab of the new building is the most critical part,” she said. “It’s not a complex building, but it is a complex site. And the other thing is that the library will continue to operate while the construction goes ahead.”

The expansion will add 7,000 square feet of space, and will include meeting areas, work spaces and accessible washrooms. “It’s designed to be a versatile space, so that as time and change happens, so the building will change,” said Sweet. “I think that’s a critical feature of the whole design. Library service today is not like it was 10 or 15 years ago. It has changed, and will change again. I see it as really incubating a lot of initiatives and groups.”

The library is launching a “Give Your Heart to the Library” fundraising campaign, with gift cards designed by Cherry Valley artist Kato Wake. The very popular online author readings will continue, and Sobeys, Metro, Giant Tiger and Angry Birds have fundraising events planned from now through the spring of 2021. For more information about the library expansion, please visit peclibrary. org/expansion.