{"id":7534,"date":"2024-06-28T12:30:56","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T15:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=7534"},"modified":"2024-06-28T12:30:56","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T15:30:56","slug":"liverpool-residents-give-feedback-on-design-of-temporary-home-for-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2024\/06\/28\/liverpool-residents-give-feedback-on-design-of-temporary-home-for-library\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool residents give feedback on design of temporary home for library"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

David Trueman, branch supervisor of Thomas H. Raddall Library in Liverpool, speaks to a group this week at a public consultation session on the design of the temporary location of the library. Elise Johnston, accessibility and inclusion co-ordinator with the Region of Queens, is leading the sessions. (Rick Conrad)<\/p><\/div>\n

It may not be the location that many Liverpool library users want, but they say they\u2019re going to make the best of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Region of Queens has been holding public consultations this week on the design of the temporary location for the Thomas H. Raddall Library.<\/span><\/p>\n

Region of Queens councillors voted in February to move the library to the Liverpool Business Development Centre on White Point Road by the end of the year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The current lease at the Rossignol Centre in downtown Liverpool expires Dec. 31. Sherman Hines, who owns the building, also has it up for sale.<\/span><\/p>\n

The municipality owns the business development centre. It currently houses the Global Empire call centre and Belliveau Veinotte accountants.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s supposed to be a temporary location, while the municipality works on a long-term plan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Councillors set aside $1,050,000 for renovations to the 6,500 square-foot space, though staff said it could cost as much as $1.26 million.<\/span><\/p>\n

Municipalities look after buildings and furniture for libraries, while the provincial government provides about 70 per cent of overall funding.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finding a new home for the library has been fraught with delays and controversy since 2022, when the region allocated $3 million from an unexpected budget surplus to its construction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The library steering committee twice recommended a site near Queens Place Emera Centre, with councillors ultimately nixing that plan both times.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many residents at a December meeting told councillors they did not want the library at the call centre site, which is outside of town in an area with no sidewalks and very little lighting.<\/span><\/p>\n

But with a deadline to vacate the current space looming, the region decided the call centre was the best option for now.<\/span><\/p>\n

This week, about 40 people have attended public consultations so far. The last one is on Saturday at the library at 12:30.<\/span><\/p>\n

The proposed design includes two large program rooms that can be combined into one, a teen room with soundproofing for a miniature recording studio. That room could also be used as a smaller meeting area. The new space also features an open area for kids, as well as a large kitchen and expanded washroom facilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s in addition to the large area set aside for the library\u2019s current collection of books and other materials.<\/span><\/p>\n

Elise Johnston, the region\u2019s accessibility and inclusion co-ordinator, is leading the consultations with David Trueman, the library\u2019s branch supervisor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cathie Pearl-Wentzell was at one of the sessions on Thursday. The Brooklyn resident says her family have been library users since she moved to the area in 1977.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was very informative, I learned a lot, it\u2019s good to have the opportunity to have input,” she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She said she\u2019s disappointed in the location, but there are benefits to the new space.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve come to accept that, vehemently opposed (to the location), let my councillor know, let the mayor know. My question is can they tear this building down and build the library on this site? I don’t know.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s going to have a lot of opportunities. Parking being one, it\u2019s going to be much more accessible, much more comfortable climate-control-wise. And everybody has the best interest at heart, so you can\u2019t go wrong with somebody with their hearts in the right places.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Melissa Swatsenbarg of Liverpool uses the library at least once a twice a week. She said she likes being able to give her input on the design.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt kind of culminates all the things I\u2019ve been listening to over the past year and a half because I’ve been talking to a lot of people over the past year and a half about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the final idea of having a fairly large kitchen and a designated teen space. I like the plans to have a more open children’s section.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She said she likes the more modern amenities of the new space, even though the location isn\u2019t ideal.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNone of us are really thrilled we have to go all the way through town to get back out of town to go to it,” Swatsenbarg said. <\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s kind of out of the way. And there are no sidewalks. My kids will bike into the library here. (Out there), it’s a very busy road and it’s not a very safe road trying to get up and around there. So in that aspect, it’s going to change how many kids I allow to take themselves to the library.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though councillors decided to move the library to the call centre space, they also acknowledged that a newly elected council in October could tackle the issue of a new library. But that could still take at least three to five years to happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the meantime, some at the consultations suggested keeping up the pressure on council candidates for a new library in a more central location.<\/span><\/p>\n

The last public consultation session is at the library on Old Bridge Street on Saturday from 12:30 to 1:30. People can also email <\/span>accessibility@regionofqueens.com<\/span><\/a> with their suggestions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Listen to the audio version of this story below<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/libraryconsultjun2824.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It may not be the location that many Liverpool library users want, but they say they\u2019re going to make the best of it. The Region of Queens has been holding public consultations this week on the design of the temporary location for the Thomas H. Raddall Library. Region of Queens councillors voted in February to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[670,2411,2409,2262,792,2407,2410,2261,2412,2068,351,24,2413,2408,795],"class_list":["post-7534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts","tag-call-centre","tag-cathie-pearl-wentzell","tag-david-trueman","tag-elise-johnston","tag-library","tag-library-consultations","tag-library-design","tag-liverpool-library","tag-melissa-swatsenbarg","tag-public-consultation","tag-queens-place-emera-centre","tag-region-of-queens","tag-regional-councillors","tag-temporary-library","tag-thomas-h-raddall-library"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7534"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7537,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7534\/revisions\/7537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}