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The
Board heard from the following delegation:
John D.
Reid from the Hunt Club Community Association (HCAA) spoke to the substandard
library services he believes the urban south area of Ottawa receives. He was
initially surprised by the recommendation in the Carlington report; however, the
HCAA supports the need to take advantage of this opportunity to explore library
services within the Alexander Community Centre (ACC). Mr. Reid said a 2,400
square foot library facility would be a major addition for the Carlington
community, making the 50 square foot holds locker kiosk space at the Hunt
Club Riverside South Park Community Centre feel insignificant. Aside from the
direct benefit to the community, Mr. Reid hoped that the work for library
services for the Carlington community will help break down what he perceived
to be silos between the Ottawa Public Library and community centres. He pointed
out that, while they are in the same ward, library services for the
Carlington community are not useful for the Hunt Club neighbourhood, which is
more than five kilometres away from Carlington. Mr. Reid said statistics in
the report claimed to be from the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study (ONS), but some
were not; he thanked staff for the clarification on this matter in the revised
report. He further highlighted that several neighbourhoods of the city,
including Hunt Club, are the most socio-economically disadvantaged, according
to the ONS. He provided percentages regarding the racialized population and stated
that he believes there is ageism and systemic racial bias in library services.
Mr. Reid looked forward to OPL progressing in tailoring library services to
neighbourhoods. He concluded by saying the scope for meaningful public
dialogue with the Board regarding the budget is extremely limited.
Trustees did not have any
questions for Mr. Reid. The Chair opened the floor to questions by trustees
to staff.
Trustee Meehan was delighted
at the prospect of a library for River Ward, as it is needed. She stated that
she did not believe OPL had discriminated against this area; however, she
asked why this large and diverse neighbourhood has waited so long for a
library. Anna Basile, Division Manager, Corporate Services said that, in
short, most of OPL’s facilities are “legacy” facilities that existed prior to
amalgamation, and have been carried forward into the current OPL system. Ms.
McDonald added that how libraries are funded also has a profound effect on
how, and where, new facilities are built. She mentioned that either
development charges or reserves are needed to build new branches. Lastly, she
commented that while examining the opportunity in Carlington, staff will be
exploring the specific services needed in this community.
Trustee Meehan asked
staff to comment on services currently in River Ward. Ms. Basile mentioned
that there are three branches that are within five kilometres of the proposed
Carlington location: Rosemount (2.9km), Emerald Plaza (3.7km), and
Carlingwood (4.5km), as well as two Bookmobile stops: Carlington (pilot) and Caldwell.
Vice-Chair Fisher asked
how the planning work will be undertaken with the $200,000 funding envelope for
potential library services. Ms. Basile said the work in 2020 will be
two-fold: one, it will determine the service needs and gaps, and two, it will
explore the facility-related opportunity with Recreation, Culture and Facilities
Services (RCFS), Department. RCFS is working on a study that will present
three options, of which the “library option” will be one. Staff will explore the
cost for OPL to convert the space in the ACC. She indicated that normally,
these two pieces of work would be done sequentially, however, the plan is to
do them simultaneously given the current opportunity. As for the cost, RCFS
is expecting to do the design work in 2021, and the $200,000 is intended to
fund the initial study on the facility and preliminary design work for the OPL-specific
space. Ms.
Basile further clarified that the budget is also designed to provide flexibility to
proceed before the end of 2021, assuming the outcome of the review is a
recommendation to proceed, and that the Board approves this recommendation (a
report is expected to come back by Q3 2021). Given the budget cycle, staff
did not want to run into a situation where funds were not available to
proceed, resulting in a potential 6-month delay to the facility partners. Ms.
Basile said if staff do not proceed with the opportunity, all unspent funds
would be returned to the budget via the annual Capital Works In Progress
(WIP) close-out,
which is completed in Q2 of each year.
In response to Vice-Chair
Fisher’s question about progress on the Facilities Master Plan (FMP), Ms.
Basile said the FMP was delayed due to COVID’s shifting priorities. She indicated
that the Ad hoc has now developed draft criteria, and she expected that the
criteria will be used for a facilities development assessment (size,
location, etc.), which will be presented to the Board in February 2021.
Trustee Brockington reminded
the Board that a decision is not being taken to build a new library at this
time, and that the recommendation in this report will allow OPL to
participate in studies that will help determine the options available, and
help inform staff and trustees about potential next steps. He highlighted the
opportunity in the ACC for the library to use the gymnasium space, which
would be a good fit for a library and save over $1M in capital funds. He
reiterated that staff will come back to the Board in Q3 2021 with a report, in
order to recommend whether to proceed with the facility at that point. He listed
the letters that were provided to the Board from the main stakeholders in the
community. He is supportive of the report and budget allocation, and believes
that the studies need to happen. He indicated that the City has not yet
approved the ACC renovation or capital project at this point, and that he has
been paying for the studies to date out of his Councillor “cash in lieu”
account. He said that while he is the local councillor, he also wants to be
sure that the best decision is made for OPL.
Chair Luloff was pleased
to see the report and was encouraged that staff will explore an opportunity
with the ward councillor for library services for an underserved area.
Trustee Begg inquired
whether staff are exploring a different service model, referring to language
in the report regarding new technology. Ms. Basile said that staff will
explore new technologies; this will form part of the FMP, underpinned by the
requirement to determine community service needs and gaps. Ms. Basile
provided examples of new technology such as RFID shelving that may assist
staff.
In response to a question
from Trustee Begg regarding the risk that the Board may spend $200,000 for
planning and then staff could recommend that the opportunity may not be a
good fit, Ms. Basile said the intent of the report is to put time, money, and
effort into exploring the opportunity initially in order for trustees to make
an informed decision based on the data.
Trustee Begg was
supportive of the recommendation in the report, as it would support the work
of the FMP. He asked if the work will impede any future decision the Board
may make about the neighbourhood as a result of more broad master planning;
Ms. Basile said this decision does not hinder this process. Lastly, Trustee
Begg expressed some concern that the ACC was not on a “main street,” and
wondered whether this concern would be addressed by the current study. Ms.
Basile indicated that it would not be addressed at this time.
Written correspondence in
support of the recommendations in this report was submitted to the Board
prior to the start of the meeting, from the following organizations, as
noted:
·
Carlington
Community Association;
·
Carlington
Community Health Centre;
·
Neighbours
of Meadowvale Park;
·
Ottawa
Central Park Community Association; and,
·
Ottawa
Community Housing.
There being no further
discussion, the report was CARRIED as presented
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