REGINA – The library is no longer just a home for books. Free classes are all the rage, whether it’s making your own beauty products, or learning to cook Mexican food.
“So many people were registering for our programs that they were full within a few hours,” Nancy MacKenzie, program manager for Regina Public Library.
The programs are diverse and are targeted at children, teens and adults.
“The children’s programs were always very, very, very popular, but this time it’s the adult programs that filled up so quickly,” MacKenzie said.
The growth is happening at branches all around the city. However, not all branches can accommodate more people, or more programs.
Central Library is now over 50 years old and is showing its age, according to board chair Darryl Lucke.
“We can’t use our current building to meet the needs of our citizens. Just for programming and space requirements. It’s too small,” said Lucke.
There are three options when it comes to the downtown branch. One option is to repair the building and maintain the status quo, which means an injection of two million dollars over the next five years to fix things like the roof, which is flat and has moss growing on it.
“We can’t just say today, we’re lucky the roof didn’t leak. We have an obligation to fix it, so we may have to draw down some of our capital reserves,” Lucke said.
Another option is to renovate and expand the current branch in order to add more spaces for programming.
The board is also considering moving the branch to a different building, in an entirely new location. However, based on feedback from library users, that wouldn’t make for a popular choice.
Whichever option the board selects, Lucke said a portion of the funding would come from government grants, but the majority would come from fundraising.
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