Cool the rhetoric on new library

On Nov. 25, 2019, I stood before our city council and answered questions about Saskatoon's New Central Library project for what felt like days. The project, decades in the planning, hinged on the city borrowing funds on behalf of the Saskatoon Public Library. Fast forward through a lengthy, necessary and democratic interrogation of the project, and council approved borrowing, albeit with a significant reduction, and in so doing enabled the project to proceed.

The New Central Library project has recently once again hit the headlines, and I invite you to cool the political jets pointed at this project with perspective and practicality in equal measure. Perspective: We're now in the throes of a civic election campaign and the New Central Library has garnered political attention. I knew it would. You're likely not surprised either. Let's return to the facts — transparency has been at the heart of the New Central Library project from the getgo, and the Saskatoon Public Library has laid them out for the public at saskatooncentrallibrary.ca.

Practicality: We cannot afford to punt this project further into the future. The deficits in the current Frances Morrison Central Library are rapidly worsening and pose real risks for staff and the public. The economic benefits of the project for our city are well articulated in the business case, and ever more critical now as we regroup and begin to plan for post-pandemic economic recovery.

Lisa Erickson, former chair, Saskatoon Public Library Board