Library looks to expand its space and improve digital literacy and tech offerings

City council was briefed Feb. 10 on a proposed 10-year growth management plan that would reshape how the Kawartha Lakes Public Library delivers services, expands space and manages long-term growth across its 14 branches.

The four-phase plan, drafted by consulting firm Nordicity, identifies three core priorities – building capacity, enhancing services, and improving and expanding library spaces – and is the result of extensive stakeholder engagement.

Key recommended actions include refreshing the memorandum of understanding between the library and the city, expanding digital literacy and technology support services, improving the accessibility and flexibility of library spaces, and developing a new central hub branch to anchor the system.

“This is a highly collaborative process; growth strategy is not any one-person decision, it really reflects the voices from staff from all 14 branches, the library board, city partners, residents – everyone who shared their experiences, challenges and hopes for the future of library services in Kawartha Lakes, as well as our own library sector experience and expertise,” Mila Dechef-Tweddle, Nordicity’s director, told council at the committee of the whole meeting.

Phase 1 focused on understanding population growth and demographic trends in Kawartha Lakes and how those changes could affect library services, as well as reviewing the operations and activities of all 14 branches.

During Phase 2, more than 380 people – including library leadership, users and non-users, community partners and city staff – were consulted to ensure the strategy reflects community needs. Input was gathered through 244 surveys, 40 “pop-up participants,” and 37 internal and external interest holders.

Phase 3 brought that information together through validation and planning workshops designed to “connect the dots” between data and community feedback, Dechef-Tweddle said.

“At this stage, we identified what’s working really well at the library, where some of the challenges and gaps are and what the key opportunities for the next 10 years could be,” she said.

The final phase involved refining the strategy and presenting it to council.

The plan’s vision positions the library as a community hub that creates connections, builds skills across Kawartha Lakes and prepares the municipality for future opportunities.

Four guiding areas underpin the strategy: strong governance and leadership; programs, services and collections that serve residents at all stages of life and reflect community diversity; welcoming service and visitor experience; and modern, accessible library facilities.

Following the presentation, Ward 4 Coun. Dan Joyce pressed for more information on the recommendation to develop a new central hub branch and how it would affect the main branch in Lindsay.

Jamie Anderson, the library’s director and CEO, said the system currently has about 39,000 square feet of space across all branches, roughly half the commonly used guideline of one square foot per resident.

One option to address that shortfall, he said, would be to build a new central hub branch that would also house administrative services, which currently occupy about 5,000 square feet at the Lindsay branch. Relocating those services would free an additional 5,000 to 6,000 square feet at the Lindsay library, he said.

Ward 2 Coun. Pat Warren asked about a timeline to build the proposed new hub, should the library receive future funding for its development.

“My guess is it would be at the end of the 10-year plan,” Anderson said.

Mayor Doug Elmslie said the library system is a point of pride in Kawartha Lakes, as the new Vital Signs research shows.

“Wherever I go, the one thing people say to me is ‘the libraries are wonderful, staff is wonderful,’ ” he said. “So let’s be careful – you know the old saying, ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.’ Let’s make sure we don’t do that, but I also think that if you don’t plan, you plan to fail, so we need (to plan) as well.”