Morden South Central Regional Library Branch Administrator Gail Hildebrand said it is exciting news to announce renovations will begin Saturday January 6th, temporarily closing the branch until Tuesday January 23rd. This is the first renovation in a long time.
"Most of our library has remained largely unchanged. We've painted here and there, but structurally and the desks, the book returned, everything is as it was when we moved into this building from the art gallery in 1996. So, we have doubled in size as far as the town goes, but at the library, our accommodations have stayed the same, so we have outgrown our space very much so."
Hildebrand outlined some of the work being done.
"We are expanding our desk. We are bumping everything out about 5 feet both ways, just to get some more workspace back there. So, we are losing a little bit of our sitting area, but it won't be a big difference. We're moving some of our things around so that we don't have to lose that because it (the sitting area) does get used a lot. People come in and just want to chill at the front window and read or wait. We're trying not to lose any of our other space, but we're just utilizing it differently and reorganizing."
This project was made possible from a $25,000 provincial grant from the Arts, Culture and Sports in Community Fund this fall and a Morden Area Foundation grant for $1500, leaving approximately 5-6 thousand more dollars needed to pay for the full project. The City of Morden will be paying for the trades work.
Hildebrand had more on the wish list to address other needs due to the city's growth.
"We wanted to do the book drop. It has been the same size since we were built here in 1996. There are Mondays when I come in where it is full to the top and people can't put things in anymore. But, because we had to draw the line somewhere, we did not do the book drop right now. And like I said, that's another $5000 that we would like to do in the near future. We don't want to do too many changes here. We are still hoping to do a new library on this site at some point in the not-so-distant future."
Hildebrand said the library is used for more than borrowing books and magazines, recently games and puzzles have been a new and popular addition to movies and audio books as well as free Wi-Fi and computer stations, it is a place for everyone in the community. Making a special note Morden is the "puzzle city" with the largest number of puzzles taken out as the four other libraries combined.
"Libraries are one of the last free spaces that you can go. You can come here, and you can read. You can come here, and you can just hang out. We have a lot of people that this is part of their day. This is just part of their routine. They come in, they read the paper. Sometimes they just come in and puzzle. We always have a puzzle table set up, but it's a social Center for some people. It's their people contact. You can use our Internet. You can use our services. You can just come say,' Hello.'"
The library will be closed from Jan 6th to 23rd, residents are encouraged to visit other centers in the region. She had hoped contactless pick up would still be an option, but due to the amount of dust created by the renovations, all the stacks will be wrapped up. Books can still be returned to the Morden branch.