Building ideas about Central Library

Posted on February 16, 2020 | Leave a comment

On Feb. 5, members of the public talked about what they would like to see in library services at Central Library.  The participants also gave many suggestions regarding the library building, such as:

  • keep the current building,
  • add another storey or two onto the current building,
  • build an addition on the land west of the current building,
  • build up and over the current building,
  • use the City Hall parkade in some way,
  • become part of the development along the railroad west of the Main Post Office,
  • use some of the other vacant lots in the downtown,
  • have more than one library building location downtown,
  • have a library building and a community centre downtown.

These suggestions have been made in the past, and the Library Board claims to have looked at them. But the public has not seen any reports that review these ideas.

The library must first look at what services it wants to provide. This was part of previous consultations with the public and library staff.  https://www.reginalibrary.ca/cld/ The public views will be updated by the current survey. The summation of these ideas should be presented to the public for thorough discussion and prioritization.

The public should also see engineering and architectural reports on the possibilities of the many options concerning the Central Library building, including costs.

After public consensus is achieved, then decisions should be made and efforts to get community support behind funding options could go ahead.

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Deadline Feb 20 9 am

Posted on February 16, 2020 | Leave a comment

Thurs. Feb. 20 at 9 AM is the deadline for filling in the survey about Central Library.

The consultants will be compiling their report for decisions by the Library Board. The next public RPL Board meeting is March 24. It is not clear if they will be deciding at that point in time on the major directions of: renovating Central Library, adding on to the current building or demolishing the building and adding on. It is unclear whether the RPL Board will share a tentative decision for public feedback before making the decision final. However, the discussions at the public meeting on Feb. 5 seemed to indicate that the Board would just go ahead with its decision based on the consultants report, “sometime in the spring”..

Of course, later on the consultants will certainly present pictures of design details, but that will not give public scrutiny to the Board’s major decision.

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Survey on Central Library

Posted on February 12, 2020 | Leave a comment

The RPL has a survey about Central Library.
– fill it out online https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DCBBK5Y
– print and fill in the attached PDF and bring to a library
– ask for a print copy at any library branch to fill in there

The deadline for filling out the survey is not know, but the consultants want to get their report done in the next couple of months, so try to fill out the survey in the next few days. Public opinion does work and we are the public.

Some things to note:
– The questions are reasonably open-ended.
– Question 8 allows you to add your own comments.
– Question 5 neglects to mention:
………..the Prairie History Room
………..being a source for reference material and research
………..literacy programs
………..Outreach Services https://www.reginalibrary.ca/services/outreach
– The survey doesn’t ask whether you would like to see the current building preserved or ask ideas about how the space could be expanded (extra floors, build on to the west, build up-and-over, use the City Hall parkade for parking, locate some services in another building). How to improve it cost-effectively. Please indicate your suggestions.
– Think about what the Central Library’s role should be in Regina’s downtown. And the options for other organizations or buildings to fill these roles.

We encourage you to look at the previous reports.
Project Main page  https://www.reginalibrary.ca/about/major-projects
Previous reports https://www.reginalibrary.ca/cld/
– Dialogue community survey
– Central Library building assessment
– Development plan, lots of information and ideas here, see page 85-86 for overview of site, ideas about each area of the library, services that could be provided and space needed.

FRPL members will be meeting to discuss plans concerning Central Library. If you would like to participate in these discussions, please email us, or phone (306) 535-9570

Over 100 people turned out for the meeting on Feb. 5 ! Most were in favour of retaining the current library building, some agreeing with renovations or additions if needed. Many good questions were asked and suggestions made. Here is CTV news coverage https://regina.ctvnews.ca/regina-public-library-looking-to-improve-downtown-location-1.4801093?fbclid=IwAR1vhRuZjsJ9W-y9B8lMfR-1qbB05nSD3FGOJO–9XjsTtbs811j1qR91Ao

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Central Library building future Feb 5, 2020

Posted on January 30, 2020 | Leave a comment
The future of the Central Library building will discussed on Wednesday February 5 at 7 pm on the Mezzanine floor of Central Library.

PLEASE ATTEND as these meetings by consultants will guide future steps regarding Central Library.

See invitation letter from RPL below and attached poster. More information is also available on the RPL website https://www.reginalibrary.ca/about/major-projects

******************
Subject:RPL Open House – February 5th – 7 p.m.Date:Thu, 30 Jan 2020 18:46:33 +0000
From:Jeff Barber
Dear Partners & Stakeholders,
As you may be aware, the RPL Board of Directors and Management team are reviewing options for a renewed Central Library. To support the review of Central, the Board of Directors contracted the services of Colliers Project Leaders and KPMG to develop a business case about the future of Central Library.
RPL is hosting a community open house to provide background, a summary of activities to date, main objectives of the business case, and potential future activities stemming from it, followed by a Q&A session. Your feedback is important to us and we want to ensure you are invited to have your say!
Details are provided in the attached poster as well as below:
Date: February 5, 2020
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Mezzanine
Second Floor, Central Library
2311 – 12th Ave
We hope that you can attend to provide your valuable feedback.
Sincerely,
Jeff Barber
Library Director & CEO
Regina Public Library

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RPL Budget at City Hall Dec 9

Posted on December 9, 2019 | Leave a comment

City Hall will offer its approval or disapproval of the RPL request for a 2.3% increase in its mill rate. FRPL will be making a presentation to City Council about the RPL 2020 budget on December 9, 2019 at 5:30. FRPL is first on the agenda right at 5:30. https://www.regina.ca/city-government/city-council/council-meetings/ The FRPL presentation starts on page 8 of the agenda packet. http://reginask.iqm2.com/Citizens/default.aspx Also available for download here FRPL to City re RPL budget 2020 – final

The RPL Budget was first discussed by the City at the Executive Committee meeting on November 13 http://reginask.iqm2.com/Citizens/calendar.aspx
The RPL budget starts on page 103 of the Agenda Packet for the November 13 meeting of Executive Committee  http://reginask.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=3952&Inline=True

Public presentations will be on December 9, City Council will then meet on December 10 to handle motions relate to budget items. So the actual vote on the RPL budget mill rate request may not occur until December 10. This two day process is new to City Council this year.

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May 2 – Biblio Files photos and talk

Posted on April 25, 2019 | Leave a comment
Anticipate an excellent presentation on May 2 by the editors of Biblio Files – the book about the history of Regina Public Library!
https://uofrpress.ca/Books/B/Biblio-Files

THURSDAY NOON FORUMS

Thursday May 2nd.  12:00 to 1:00 pm.  Room 112 College Building, 2155 College Ave., Regina 

Course Fee: $5 unless otherwise stated (See note below re coupon)

BIBLIO FILES: A HISTORY OF THE REGINA PUBLIC LIBRARY

Join Biblio Files editors, Susan Birley, Anne Campbell and Jeannie Mah, to learn about the past hundred years of the Regina Public Library. Discover how the Library evolved, over decades of technological and cultural shifts, to reflect the needs of the community. The RPL story, told through the voices of Chief Librarians, library workers, RPL Board and community members, will be of interest to students of women’s history, social history, cultural institutions and anyone who loves libraries.

https://www.uregina.ca/cce/personal-enrichment/assets/docs/pdf/llc-program-guide.pdf

If you haven’t been to a Thursday Forum before, there are coupons for a free entry for yourself and a friend on page 25 of the PDF.

You don’t need to pre-register, but get there a bit early to ensure a seat.

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Last days for provincial library survey

Posted on January 23, 2019 | Leave a comment

NEWS RELEASE : Last days for provincial library survey

 Wednesday January 23, 2019

 REGINA, SK — Saskatchewan residents are being strongly encouraged to respond to the provincial survey on libraries. The survey will be open until January 25.

The survey offers opportunities to comment on a wide range of topics including funding, the one-card provincial library system, standards for library buildings, colocations with other services, how library boards operate and a review of The Public Libraries Act, 1996. “Indigenization” providing services on-reserve and programmes in other library locations is discussed. There is also an opportunity for people to write about their overall vision for their local library and for the provincial system as a whole.

The questionnaire is based on the Report of Saskatchewan Public Libraries Engagement comprised of meetings with library staff and trustees around the province. The report is one step in the provincial government following up on its promise to consult with the public after the province’s attempt to greatly reduce the provincial library budget in the spring of 2017 was met with widespread opposition. This support for libraries prompted the government to put its budget reduction on hold and promise public consultations.

“The questionnaire itself contains simple rankings for the importance of several issues and a space to fill in individual thoughts, so it is essentially a blank slate,” said Joanne Havelock, Chair of Friends of the Regina Public Library. “To make more sense and provide a strong response, people are advised to review the questions that were asked of the library administrators (listed in Appendix B) and the discussion of Themes in the report.”

The survey was announced on January 10, 2019 and thus was only available for 15 days, and is only available on-line.

“This is a very short window for people to hear about and respond to the survey. The survey reflects on issues concerning urban, rural and northern library users and people living on reserves, and opportunities for input should be including persons with disabilities,” stated Havelock. “It doesn’t include people who don’t have computer access. There should have been more promotion of the survey and the questions it is asking and opportunities to fill it in at library branches.”

“One of the recommendations is for a provincial library strategy”, said Havelock. “We hope that this survey is just a start in a process of the government obtaining feedback, sending draft recommendations out to the public, and getting further feedback. In addition to the survey, people are encouraged to send in their ideas to their library boards and to the Minister of Education.”

For more information contact:

frpl@sasktel.net

Joanne Havelock: cell (306) 535-9570

Government of Saskatchewan “Report of Saskatchewan Public Libraries Engagement Survey” https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/news-and-media/2019/january/10/libraries-report

 

-30-

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