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A recreation centre in Breslau will soon be home to the community’s first-ever full-service Region of Waterloo Library branch.
The region’s Library Committee approved a plan on Tuesday to convert an existing satellite branch in the Breslau Community Centre.
Region of Waterloo council is expected to rubber stamp the project at the end of August, according to Helen Chimirri-Russell, the region’s director of cultural services.
The satellite library branch, or pop-up library, brought books to the community every week, allowing people to exchange books during limited opening hours.
Woolwich mayor Sandy Shantz said the new facility is one the community has been waiting to see for at least two years.
“There is a hope for some children’s programming … some seniors programming and working in conjunction with the township and some of our recreational programming,” she said, referring to the new library.
Shantz said the community has some dreams of getting a bigger library space in the future.
“There had been discussions with the library board and the library staff as to the optimum size of a library for the population of Breslau,” she said. “The optimum size is actually bigger than the space we have, but that gives us something to work towards in the future.”
Benefits of location
Chimirri-Russell said there are benefits to having the library located inside an existing community centre.
“Folks are already coming to that space to be together, to find out things, to be part of the community.” she said.
“If you’re there to watch somebody play – you’ve dropped somebody off for a rec program … Being able to come and hang out in the library while that’s happening and browse books or sit and read or look on the computer … [has] a lot of advantage.”
She said the new library will be a huge upgrade for a community that has only had access to pop-up libraries in the area.
“There will be a browsing collection, and there will be permanent spaces for programs to take place, and there will be meeting rooms for people to be able to book. These were all things that we heard from the people who participated, both on the online survey as well as the people who dropped in.”
Chimirri-Russell said Breslau is a growing community that will eventually need a bigger library.
She said figuring out when and where to build that facility is the next step in the community’s long-term plan.
“Now we’ll start to offer that more fulsome service, which has that permanent browsing collection, those computers, those spaces that people can both rent and use and hang out in. I think they’ll watch this and continue to work with the Township of Woolwich as the community grows, monitor what’s going on, where the uptake is, and keep an eye on opportunities as they progress,” she said.
“We’re really excited about how this can help us serve that community better. We’ll keep working with the township and with the community as those demands and interests grow — and we’ll see what happens next.”
The new library will open sometime in February 2024 on a part-time basis.
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