By Diana Bumbaca
The renovations underway at the Ottawa Public Library’s main branch don’t replace the need for a new facility, say library staff.
At a cost of $406,700, the renovations began during the last week of September at the main branch on Metcalfe Street and are expected to be complete by January 2004.
The current renovations will meet one of the cost-cutting targets that were set three years ago by city council when the city was amalgamated and will “enhance the branch’s ability to meet the needs of its users,” says city librarian Barbara Clubb.
“We had to reduce circulation costs by $300,000,” says Clubb.
The renovations won’t replace the need for a new location to accommodate the growing needs of the city’s busiest library.
“These renovations will allow us to operate until we can build a new facility,” says Linda Standing, acting division manager of the main library and centralized services.
Clubb says that although “everybody hopes for [a new facility] to happen as soon as possible, it looks like it’ll be in five to 10 years.”
The library is revamping its checkout and return areas. The main branch will be reducing circulation desks from two to one and receiving four self-checkout units.
These units will permit the public to check out their own material.
The Ottawa Public Library has had success with the self-checkout machines at its Nepean location, where 60 per cent of the material checked out has been through this new technology, says Clubb.
“Now, we can re-deploy staff to other areas of the library and to interact with the public,” says Standing.
Users returning material will be using “internal self-sort bins.”
Readers will be asked to sort their books in the correct bin based on the genre of the book, says Clubb.
“This means faster access to materials being returned to the shelf,” Standing says.
“The renovations allow us to put in an exterior drop box, something our patrons have been asking for for years,” he adds.
In addition to an improved circulation system, the library is renovating the branch’s main entrance.
The changes will see the removal of the stairs to create a more accessible entrance for all users.
“We are essentially improving access. We are creating barrier-free access so there won’t be any more stairs in the front foyer,” says Standing.
“With 10,000 users a week, we need better access for those with disabilities, parents with strollers and large school groups,” says Clubb.
The Friends’ Bookshop, the used bookstore run by the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library Association in the main branch, will also be relocating.
It will move from the third floor down to the basement.
Donna Medved, president of the association, says she is “excited and pleased” by this move and feels that it “will increase sales potential because we will be more visible.”
With the exception of one full-day closure in early December to complete the construction — the date of which is still to be determined — the library will remain open and fully operational, says Standing.