Despite the continued and growing availability and popularity of ebooks and other technology-rooted reading sources, traditional printed books are more than holding their own in Peterborough.
At no time has that been more evident and celebrated than it was Tuesday morning (January 30) as the doors of the extensively renovated Aylmer Street main branch of Peterborough Public Library swung open for the first time.
“We are so very excited to be home again,” said library CEO Jennifer Jones as she welcomed a number of speakers to the podium, among them Mayor Daryl Bennett.
“It wasn’t an easy decision to spend $12 million of public money,” said Mayor Bennett.
“It’s $12 million that some people said we should be using for sports facilities, transportation infrastructure, affordable housing or homeless shelters. We spend money on all those, but we’re investing in this place because it represents good value for everybody in the community.”
“Libraries of the past have been called dinosaurs and, in some cases, that’s a true statement. This is not of that era whatsoever. We have built for the future. This renovation has reinvigorated not only this space but, in many ways, our entire downtown.”
With that, following the presentation of $250,000 towards the overall cost from the Peterborough Public Library Foundation, community members were led into the new space. To a person, the first reviews were over-the-top gushing.
VIDEO: The official opening of the Peterborough Public Library
“I am thrilled,” said former library board member Teresa Kerr.
“Number one is the light that shines and spreads throughout the building. It’s good for the people that work here; it’s good for the people who visit here. It makes you feel you’re not crowding anybody, you can move around.
“When I moved to this community, one of the first things I looked for was the public library. When I found it I thought ‘Well, OK, this is nice’. Over the years, I was convinced that the library wasn’t living up to its potential to serve its community and be a welcoming space for everybody. That has now changed.”
Equally impressed was Trudy Minicola.
“They’re using basically the same footprint but they’ve created all this airiness,” she assessed.
For her part, Tanaya Matchett said the hefty price tag is well worth the result.
“There are a lot of things that you can be critical about and not necessarily agree with, but I don’t think that investing in a free space that anybody can use could ever be a bad thing,” she said, adding, “It’s going to serve a lot of people and do a lot of good.”
With more than 600,000 visitors annually, the library’s main branch is arguably the most heavily used city facility. According to Jones, the printed book circulation stands at about 10,000 items weekly.
“That’s a big deal, but I think this space is more about learning in the community and our commitment to discovery. Everyone throws the word ‘literacy’ around, but it’s more about learning and discovery and being able to invest in that. We’ve gone our feet in both worlds. We still appreciate the print but we’re also embracing technology and this building meets us in the middle.”
Jones also spoke to the arduous process leading up to this day: a mammoth undertaking which saw the library move to a temporary home in Peterborough Square for 18 months while the branch was retrofitted and expanded.
“We’ve had our bumps. I’m not going to say we haven’t. You live in a motel for a year it wears on you, right? We’re so happy to be home.”
Opened in September 1980, the branch building was identified in 2013 by architectural consultant Michael Lundholm as no longer able to meet the community’s library needs, according to the city’s Community Services Director Ken Doherty. In 2015, he and the late Becky Rogers, library CEO at the time, secured City Council approval for the facelift.
“On my first tour (just after the building was gutted), I was struck by one comment made by the contractor site manager,” recalled Doherty. “He marveled at what good shape the building was in after almost 40 years. He said ‘It has great bones.’
“I have no doubt that’s due to the vision of people back in the late 1970s like Bob Porter, the library CEO of the day, and Jean Cole, on behalf of the library board, who hired renowned architect Raymond Moriyama to design and supervise the construction of the original building. Moriyama’s designs still inspire and provide the foundation for this new iteration of the library.
“The next time I toured the building was earlier this month. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked across the main level. Two thoughts hit me almost simultaneously — my first reaction was ‘Wow’ — the view, the brightness, the windows, the openness, they all surpassed my expectations. My second thought was more sombre and literally brought a tear to my eye. It’s unfortunate that Becky could not be here to see her vision become a reality.”
Saying “This is the new library you deserve,” Doherty commended library staff and volunteers for meeting the challenges of the transition, to not only the Peterborough Square location but back to Aylmer Street.
Meanwhile, taking in all the excitement with a glint in his eye was Peter Berton, partner-in-charge with The Ventin Group.
It’s always exhilarating come into a building you’ve been working on for so long and it looks exactly the way you imagined it,” he said. “I’m watching people. It’s really fun to see their reaction. When they opened the gate, that was a bit of a chill.”
He too credited original architect Moriyama with designing “a great building…all the basics were here.”
“The original idea was to add two additions to the building but we told the library board we felt that two additions would be more expensive than one. Why not put more stuff into the lower level where the kids’ area is and use the space they already have? And then build a nice addition on the facade of the building and add windows on Bethune Street, so there’s interaction with that street?”
Fully accessible — a feature praised by Peterborough Accessibility Compliance Co-ordinator Mark Buffone — the centerpiece of the new-look branch is a grand central staircase leading to lower-level children’s department.
That feature, along with the abundance of natural light, drew the most praise. In addition to those features, larger and brighter public meeting rooms are now in place, each set to welcome community groups looking for a new meeting location.
Buttcon Limited of Concord, Ontario was the lead contractor on the project. It was awarded the Peterborough library contract in June 2016 and went to work immediately. Earlier in May, the library opened its temporary branch at Peterborough Square after the City of Peterborough signed a lease with mall management.
Earlier this month, the City Public Art Program announced that Toronto architect Patrick Li create the artwork for the new public square being developed adjacent to main branch at Aylmer and Simcoe streets. Sponsored by LLF Lawyers, the square will create a vibrant place for people to gather in the heart of the downtown core.
Still, as thrilled as Jones is with her new workspace and its ability to better serve library patrons for years to come, there’s still one thing on her wish list.
“I want five more branches but I’m not going to bring that up yet,” she said.
“We still need to learn the space. You don’t throw the house party the first day. We did. Now we actually have to move into the space.”
For more information on Peterborough Public Library services, visit www.ptbolibrary.ca
