POPULAR SERVICE
Demand for library services continues to rise
Demand for library services continues to rise.
Popular wisdom seems to suggest that libraries are a relic from a pre-technological era but use of the ever-broadening services offered by the Cape Breton Regional Library could serve to rebut that argument.
The library recently released its annual report for 2017-18. While overall circulation across the library system was down slightly to 361,112 items borrowed from 366,396 a year earlier, that occurred in a time when the population is in decline and when other services offered by the library are in greater demand, regional librarian Faye MacDougall said in an interview.
“We had increases in circulation at a number of branches, we had some slight drops at others but not really significant drops,” she said.
Membership is also holding steady, with more than 22,000 active members in Cape Breton and Victoria counties. In-person visits to branches also increased by 2.8 per cent over the previous year, with more than 244,000 visits to branches. The number of visits to the McConnell branch in Sydney was up by about four per cent.
The modern library offers a range of services for users, from the traditional borrowing of books or serving as a place to do some research to providing author readings, wireless internet access, technology programs and children’s programming and have become more community hubs, MacDougall said. This week, it even offered a robotics program for young people.
“Programs have grown significantly over the year,” MacDougall said. “We’re doing programs for all ages. We have programs for our very youngest, Babies and Books, and it continues right through one’s life.
“Learning takes place in many different ways and people learn by doing, by reading, by seeing, by listening to an expert in a particular field come in and talk about what they do in their field.”
The regional library continues to have challenges. Funding has been stagnant for a decade while at the same time demand for many programs has risen.
The McConnell Library is an outdated building that was forced to close early twice this week as temperatures hit extreme levels because it is not air-conditioned. Those conditions are not optimal not only members of the public and for staff, but also for the collections housed at the library, MacDougall noted.
“We have the region’s special collection housed at McConnell Library which is a very valuable print collection about Nova Scotia history so when we get weather such as we have had in the past few weeks it can be really difficult to try to keep that collection from being damaged,” she said.
Use of e-books is also continuing to grow, but the printed word also remains popular with readers. MacDougall noted the library even has items like tennis rackets and be-fit kits available to borrow.
Discussion of what a new McConnell Library could look like have been underway for several years, with the most recent vision calling for an 80,000-squarefoot residential tower next to a commercial mid-rise building about the same square footage in size. A relocated Sydney library would be built nearby along with a marine activity centre that could include Ambassatour’s amphibious harbour hoppers, a 96-room extension to the Holiday Inn and a relocated Casino Nova Scotia.
The Cape Breton Regional Municipality gave Sydney businessman Marty Chernin, who heads up Harbour Royale Development Ltd., an 18-month exclusivity agreement to develop the land parcels between the Holiday Inn hotel and the Sydney Marine Terminal during its council meeting last month.
“We were very happy to see that there was a new library included within the proposal put forward by Mr. Chernin and his associates and I know the library board and the build committee have both indicated that they support that location,” MacDougall said. “We’re looking forward to hearing what the decision will be.”
She noted there is much more further study to take place on the proposal.