Library system ready to branch out with new growth plan for 2025

A new chapter is being written for the Kawartha Lakes Library system as demand grows from a burgeoning population.

Jamie Anderson, CEO of the local library system, says based on the current population of Kawartha Lakes and its projected growth, “we should be targeting to add additional space right now.”

This is especially true at the Lindsay and Fenelon Falls branches, he said.

In Fenelon, the library will be expanding into the old adult education side of the building. This will almost double the size of the current branch from about 2,600 square feet to about 5,000 square feet and allow the branch to expand the amount of programming being offered to the community. It will also allow more space for community events.

In Lindsay, the library will be the beneficiary of the Kawartha Art Gallery moving to their new home on 19 Cambridge Street. This will add about 1,000 square feet of much-needed space to the Lindsay branch.

“This will become our creativity lab, which will be a flexible space where people can come to work, learn and share skills,” says Anderson of the top floor. The lab will include a mobile maker space, private meeting pods and open space for studying and working.

That kind of space for quiet work is apparently in demand, especially post pandemic.

“One change we have seen since COVID is people needing private space to do Zoom calls and webinars by themselves,” he says.

The CEO says what libraries in general have been seeing for more than a decade now is the demand for physical items decreasing and the use of digital materials increasing. “This holds true for Kawartha Lakes.”

There’s also growing demand for library events, programs and classes. The past year, in 2024, was the busiest year yet for programming, says Anderson, with more than 54,000 people attending a library event last year.

Despite these growth improvements in both Fenelon Falls and Lindsay, the additional space still does not meet the needs of the current population, let alone the expected growth coming over the next 10-15 years.

To plan for that future, the library will be developing a comprehensive growth plan throughout 2025, according to Anderson.

“The final plan will be presented to council and will be incorporated into the long-term capital planning. It is expected this will guide library development of new spaces and branches over the next five, 10, and 15 years.”

While at this point the library is in early discussions with city staff on future space needs for the library, no specific potential locations for a new library branch have been talked about, nor the potential associated costs. That should all be covered in the comprehensive growth study the CEO mentions.

“But this will then allow the city to start putting aside funds each year in the capital budget to build additional space for the library,” he explains.

In 2018, only about 22 per cent of city residents had a library card. The library embarked on a drive the past few years to try and increase this, and did end up boosting membership by nine per cent over the last couple of years.

“I was hoping for a bigger increase,” Anderson admits. These are active members who have used the library in the past year. At the end of 2024, membership was well over 15,000.

While card-carrying membership growth may be modest, there’s no doubt about the higher usage overall. Space constraints – including shelf space – has been a big challenge at many branches, but none so much as Lindsay’s. Last year they decided to move all TV-series DVDs into storage, keeping only copies of season one on the public shelves. This decision was made with the understanding that patrons are unlikely to start a TV series in the middle of its run.

“Like our other collections, these titles are still accessible through our catalogue and can be quickly retrieved upon request,” says Anderson.

The children’s French collection has also been temporarily relocated downstairs, other than a selection of the more popular French titles, as they work on re-organizing and re-allocating space in the children’s programming area. However, all books are still available in the catalogue, and staff can retrieve any title within a few minutes, he says.

“We constantly navigate the balance between shelf space for books and space for library programs and events.”