Thunder Bay Public Library is hoping to see city council approve the renewal of its lease agreement with County Fair Mall.
The lease renewal is on the agenda for the next council meeting.
According to the library, the new lease agreement includes new terms which will give the library additional space at the mall and extend the current rental rate.
An additional 20 per cent of floor space (just under 900 square feet) will be added onto the current branch on a permanent basis, while a larger space across the hall will also be made available to the library for occasional use while it remains unoccupied.
The change will allow County Park Library to offer a modest dedicated children’s play space, increase its programming offerings and host community gatherings and events.
“We’ve been listening to the community,” said CEO Richard Togman. “We know that Thunder Bay is counting on the Library to provide social, economic, educational, and cultural spaces for everyone. Our patrons have told us clearly that they want our branches to be better, and our statistics show that people are looking to us to provide opportunities for learning, sharing, building community, and helping one another. Increasing our footprint at the County Park branch is one of the ways we’re planning to meet these needs.”
Togman says the Library has reserve funding which will pay for the basic renovations needed for the add-on space, but that they will be looking to the community to take the plans from good to great.
“County Park patrons have told us how much they love their branch,” added Togman. “And now we’re going to be able to give them more of it. We can afford to knock out a wall and move ourselves into the space next door, but if we want to make that space really amazing for the families who will be using it, and we definitely do, we’re going to need community support. We plan to launch a major fundraising campaign later this year to make improvements across the whole Library system.”
In April the library was seeking to have the lease at the mall terminated to support a location at Intercity Mall, but that plan was declined.
