The second floor of the Bob Prittie Metrotown Library will soon enter the 21st century thanks to $400,000 in federal and municipal funding.
A $200,000 national grant under the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program was announced last week, and that money will be matched by the city, according to chief librarian Edel Toner-Rogala.
She said the $400,000 will be used to revamp the library’s second floor, with the creation of more small meeting spaces, upgrades to furniture and shelving, and the addition of a lot more electrical outlets for charging personal digital devices.
“The building is 30 years old,” Toner-Rogala said, “so the way in which people used the public library 30 years ago was a little different from how it’s being used today.”
More small meeting spaces are especially needed, she said.
“One of the things we’re asked for most frequently on the second floor is, ‘Is there a place that I can sit with a couple of my friends and work on a project?’”
Renovations will begin next spring and be complete by May 2017.
Library officials hope to avoid closure of the entire second floor during the renovations, but Toner-Rogala said that will depend on construction plans that are now being finalized.
“We may be doing work in one side of the space and leave the other side open,” she said. “It all depends on how much noise we, in the end, figure out we’re going to have to contend with.”
The Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program, part of the federal government’s activities to honour the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017, will deliver $150 million over two years to regional development agencies across the country.
Last week’s announcement also included $1 million for upgrades to two Burnaby trails: the Burnaby Central Park multi-use trail and the Burnaby Willingdon urban trail.
“There is no better way to celebrate Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation than by making improvements to our community infrastructure,” said Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan in a press release. “This Federal support will help us to advance projects that improve the quality of life in our community and the services that citizens receive."
