Members of the Essex County Library were at Amherstburg town council recently to give an overview over what has been happening locally and within the entire system.
Essex County Library CEO Adam Craig was joined by library board chair Joe Bachetti, the county’s deputy warden and deputy mayor of Tecumseh, as well as Essex Mayor Sherry Bondy, the vice chair of the board.
Bachetti said they were there they were at town council to promote the board’s strategic plan and that “the libraries are more than books.”
“Before coming to the town hall, I stopped at your library and the parking lot was full. I walked inside, it was packed. We’re talking Monday night at 6 p.m. and all ages were in there,” said Bachetti.
Craig said 2024 “was a banner year for the library.” He said there was a 62 per cent increase system-wide in program attendance.
“It’s remarkable,” he said, crediting the work of the staff. “I think it highlights that people across the county still loves their library.”
In Amherstburg, there was a 12 per cent increase in program attendance from 2023 to 2024. A total of 218 programs were delivered by staff in 2024 with 4,700 coming in just for programming.
“I think our staff here deserves a lot of credit for that,” he said.
Hours and staffing grew at the Harrow branch, Craig continued, with “Green Bench” initiative programs in partnership with Schlegel Villages being so successful in Tecumseh and LaSalle last year that it will expand county-wide this year.
Over $1 million was put into the Tecumseh branch and it re-opened. The Essex County Library launched video games and Wonderbooks collections. Craig said the library also launched its “Pitch In with ECL” program, to help see which area could clean up the most waste.
A lot work was also put into the library board’s strategic plan, he added. The mission statement is “the Essex County Library is a space of discovery for all at the heart of our communities” with the vision statement being: “The Essex County Library strives to be a trusted community partner, enriching the lives of residents by providing responsive services and creating connections to information, entertainment, and knowledge. As a cornerstone of our county, the Library fosters engagement and lifelong learning through spaces and services that evolve to meet needs of the community.”
Values include responsiveness and adaptability, service excellence, a community-first approach, accessibility, empowerment and life-long learning.
A set of objectives were set up, Craig pointed out, with those including enhancing community engagement and relevance, fostering a county-wide culture of life-long learning and empowerment, improving accessibility and inclusivity in services and programs and to transfer the library into “a vibrant third space.”
Regarding the latter, Craig said “we need to make our branches dynamic, welcoming places for people to gather. They need to be modern, they need to be functional and safe.”
Craig added they want to develop stronger partnerships with schools, local businesses and community organizations. They also want to host library events in underserved areas, expanding adult and digital literacy programs, partner with local experts and institutions to provide free learning opportunities for all, expanding digital access through loaning of devices, Wi-Fi hot spots and accessible online resources.
The Essex County Library also wants to see the redesigning of physical spaces to create welcoming, flexible branches that are accessible and moder. There is also a goal to facilitate community-led initiatives by providing space and support for activities that promote civic engagement.
“We see this plan as a shared opportunity to work more closely with our municipal partners,” he said. “How can we work with you in Amherstburg? Do you see areas of opportunities for collaboration. Do you see community needs that are inside of our wheelhouse that we can help to address?”
Councillor Don McArthur said upgrading branches to make them modern may present challenges in a place like Amherstburg, where the town has a beautiful building but one that is older and not as accessible.
Craig called the Amherstburg library “an incredibly welcoming space” but noted “it’s a 110-year-old plus building. There’s a lot of history there. The staff goes a long way to make it welcoming.”
Challenges are logistical and operational in Amherstburg, he said. Craig speculated programming numbers could be even higher with a more modern space, stating caps have to be put in place “because after a certain point it becomes unmanageable.”
Programming is on two floors with older architecture and equipment, he noted. At newer libraries, there are dedicated spaces strictly for community and library programming.
“There are a lot of things we could be doing,” he said.
Craig said meetings were held with CAO Valerie Critchley on “preliminary conversations” but things haven’t gone much further.
The system-wide increase in programming is due a lot of both staff and drop-in programming, Craig added. He said, in response to a question from Councillor Linden Crain, that the library system is trying new things.
“The creativity of our staff has a lot to do with our success,” he said.
The public is responsive and engaged to what the library system is doing, Craig added.
Crain said it starts with the readers in the schools, and asked about satellite locations in Amherstburg such as ACS or other sites, for additional space. Craig said they want to branch out further into the community with the first steps being to get out there more.
Councillor Molly Allaire said she is a proud user of the Amherstburg library and sees the use it gets. She was also praised the staff in Amherstburg. The elevator at the library goes out “quite often” and is “a constant problem,” she added.
Craig said the elevator issues happen more often than they would like, and “that is unfortunate because of the layout of the library.”
The Amherstburg library is 3,200 square feet but over two floors, “you’re really running two separate facilities at that point. It’s just not really a principle of good library design.”
Ideally, libraries are more modern and on one floor, he said.
Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb, another member of the Essex County Library Board, encouraged people to use the library board. There are no additional costs for people to use their local libraries, he noted.
“Use your library. We sort of joke at our library board meetings that your taxes are already paying for it, so you might as well get as much use out of it as you can,” said Gibb.
By Ron Giofu
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