Thunder Bay, ON - Wednesday, May 21: The Council agenda for May 26 includes a motion to approve the renewal of the lease agreement between Thunder Bay Public Library and County Fair Mall. Library management is eager to see the agreement finalized, as it includes generous new terms which will give the Library additional space within the Mall and extend the current rental rate for a longer period of time.
An additional 20% of floor space - just under 900 square feet - will be added on to the current branch on a permanent basis, with a larger space across the hall from the branch to be available to the Library for occasional use while it remains unoccupied. The change will allow County Park to offer a modest dedicated children’s play space, increase its programming offerings and host community gatherings and events.
The signing of the lease with County Fair Mall marks the next step in a series of significant improvements planned for the Library system over the next three years. Library CEO Richard Togman says the intention is to create welcoming and engaging spaces at all Library branches.
“We’ve been listening to the community,” Togman said. “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,” Togman said. “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.”