Space restrictions at the Amherstburg library has prompted the Essex County Library Board to ask the town to take a look at the issue.
The library board pointed out the Amherstburg branch’s small size, noting there was a library facilities space review that was presented at their July 31 board meeting.
In a letter to town council co-signed by board chair Joe Bachetti, the county’s deputy warden and the deputy mayor of Tecumseh, and chief librarian Adam Craig, the report looks at the footprint of its 14 branches across Essex County and compares the facilities to library design best practices established by the Federation of Ontario Public Libraries.
“As you’ll see, one of the most striking deficiencies across the county is at the Amherstburg Branch,” the letter states. “Based on the population of Amherstburg as reported in the 2021 Census and using a recommended ratio of 0.7 square feet per capita, the Town of Amherstburg should have a library of more than 16,000 square feet. Our current space is roughly 3,200 square feet, spread out over two floors (0.13 square feet per capita).”
Bachetti and Craig’s letter added there are also concerns with the current facility relating to accessibility and aging structural features.
“It was brought to our Board’s attention that Amherstburg is currently engaged in a survey of its facilities,” the letter added. “Considering the results of our own space review, the Library Board would like to request that the Town engage our Library Administration to take a more fulsome look at the library’s space needs. This will be a critical first step in planning for the future of library services in the Town of Amherstburg.”
Councillor Linden Crain noted the request to include the library in the town’s space needs study. CAO Valerie Critchley said the library was not included in the study but mentioned throughout.
Critchley said she would meet with Craig and have further discussions.
“The library did strategic planning, I believe, two years ago. Unfortunately, we were not part of that process which would have been helpful,” said Critchley. “I’m hoping that with dialogue with Mr. Craig we can get a better understanding of what is in the library’s plans in terms of the cost of a move, the cost of outfitting a new space, those kinds of things. Then, we can go from there.”The Town of Amherstburg owns the building and the Essex County Library has to outfit the space, provide the employees and operate the service, she said.
Crain asked why the library was not part of the space needs study, with Critchley saying it was “out of scope” and there were no discussions or requests to what the library board was looking for.
“We had no indication from them they were looking to move at that point,” the CAO said.
Councillor Diane Pouget said all municipalities in the county appear not to have enough space. Critchley said Amherstburg has a beautiful Carnegie library but there are concerns as to space.
Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb, a member of the Essex County Library Board, said the report came to the board in late July and “this was on nobody’s radar at the time.” He said the board’s concern is that it is “shocking” that Amherstburg has the lowest square footage per capita in the Essex County system.
“When you lay on top of that, Amherstburg is going to grow significantly in the next five to ten years,” he said. “I think it is important we put this on our radar to, sort of, see if we need to start very early the process of addressing this, if that’s the will of council.”
Despite its size, the Amherstburg library is the fourth busiest branch in the county by circulation.
“We definitely have a very well run, well used library,” he said. “Putting my library board hat on, I think Amherstburg residents miss out on all the other libraries all the other services in a modern public library.”
Gibb said the building is beautiful but no longer serves the purpose of what a modern library is. He didn’t put a timetable on addressing it, but said it is an issue and a lack of square footage would become a bigger problem in future years.
Library board looking for more space in Amherstburg
By Ron Giofu
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