Victoria's downtown public library is likely to grow by over 40%, according to the GVPL's new facilities plan. Photo © by VibrantVictoria.ca.

Downtown Victoria’s public library will one day grow to nearly 46,000 sq. ft. from it’s current size of 32,025 sq. ft., according to the Greater Victoria Public Library’s (GVPL) new facilities plan that will guide library operations over the next 15 years.

The downtown library, located in an area the GVPL will soon officially designate as the “Core District” (more on these designations follows below), will be the largest in the region and is expected to become a part of a “totally new facility” located in an “easily accessible, landmark location — potentially, at Centennial Square.”

But before we see any bricks laid for such a project, the GVPL will introduce several changes, changes that will identify the library needs of the region by focusing on three geographical areas of metropolitan Victoria and three levels of library services within them.  The new library “districts” will be referred to as the Core District (Victoria, Oak Bay, Esquimalt and View Royal), the Saanich and Peninsula District (Saanich and Central Saanich) and the West Shore District (Highlands, Colwood, Langford and Metchosin).  Each district will have one district library between 35,000 – 45,000 sq. ft., community branch libraries with space between 10,000 – 15,000 sq. ft., and neighbourhood branch libraries of 3,000 – 5,000 sq. ft..

Apart from being designated as the most active of all districts and home to the downtown branch that is earmarked for a major expansion, the Core District’s Oak Bay and Esquimalt municipalities will each see new and expanded community branches, while two neighbourhood branches will be operated in James Bay and the Hillside/Shelbourne area.

The Saanich and Peninsula District’s Nellie McLung library will become the district library, and improvements or renovations will be undertaken for the Bruce Hutchinson, Saanich Centennial and Central Saanich community branches. The Emily Carr library will become a neighbourhood branch.

Juan de Fuca library will become the West Shore District’s primary facility, and a new neighbourhood branch will be opened in either Langford or Colwood to join the Goudy Express library that is slated to increase in size to meet the neighbourhood branch target.

The GVPL is also looking at ways to increase organizational efficiency which it hopes will enable it to streamline delivery systems of materials and services in its facilities.  Combining system and administrative services under one roof is also a major goal given the GVPL’s current operations out of three facilities.

Plans, of course, are just that, and implementing the GVPL’s goals as stated in the document may prove to be a considerable challenge.  As a testament to the difficulty of moving forward with a major library expansion project in the capital region, plans to relocate the congested central library in downtown Victoria into a new facility have been aired for well over a decade.  Various ideas have come and gone since the concept was first discussed, although no definitive decisions by Victoria’s city council or the GVPL’s board have been made on location or the exact scope of the relocation project.

While Centennial Square has been named as an ideal location for a major civic project undertaking that includes a new library, the City of Victoria’s recent focus on replacing the Johnson Street Bridge has apparently sidetracked the planning of what was once envisioned to become a major redevelopment of Centennial Square with offices for city hall employees, a new public parkade and a new downtown library.

Other plans for redevelopment of a large swath of land bordered by Belleville, Blanshard, Douglas and Humboldt streets in downtown Victoria (dubbed as the Crystal Garden block) were sidelined in 2008 after city politicians decided to dispose of ideas for re-purposing a seldom used lawn bowling field and a lot currently used as a rental car facility into a multi-use residential, commercial and civic hub that could have included a new downtown library branch.

To read the Greater Victoria Public Library facilities plan, click here.  To discussion the GVPL’s operations in the Victoria area, refer to VibrantVictoria.ca dedicated discussion thread here.

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