Some library staff moved into new space last week in a move the library manager calls a “stop-gap.”
Nine St. Albert Public Library staff moved into the St. Albert Professional Building and out of St. Albert Place as an attempt to free up some space for other workers.
“We had a little survey amongst staff and we decided on the name Library Materials Centre,” said Peter Bailey, library manager.
The employees who have moved into the new office are technical and support services staff, who are now housed on the main floor of that nearby building.
Funds for administrative office rental in the downtown area were set aside as part of the 2014 budget.
The library has been advocating for more space to accommodate increased pressures for public programming room for years, including hosting a session with council candidates during the 2013 municipal election.
Bailey was adamant that the extra office space does not address the need for more room for the public.
“I see this library materials centre as a stop-gap measure. It doesn’t resolve the community’s needs for public library space,” Bailey said.
The change means the public services staff will get the space they were already sharing with the technical services staff.
One office has been freed up, and Bailey said the plan is for the writer-in-residence to be able to use that as a private meeting space – previously, the writer has had to share with a staff member.
The automation of some library tasks has meant a stagnation of staffing levels over the years, Bailey said. It’s also changed the nature of some of the roles.
“Less people at the front desk helping to handle materials and more of them in the back figuring out what great programs to present to the public,” Bailey said. “That requires a desk.”
The change is going okay so far, Bailey said. Materials have to be shuttled back and forth between the library’s main space in St. Albert Place and the new office, and they’re using a delivery company for that rather than buying a van and paying someone to run it.
Because the staff and the tasks that have moved operate largely backstage at the library, there likely won’t be an apparent difference to library patrons.
“The public probably won’t notice any changes,” Bailey said.
The issue of more space for the library – with a community branch being the current preferred option for the library – will be back in the public eye soon.
Bailey said they are preparing a project charter for consideration during the 2015 city budget process that would build a new branch.
“We’ve been looking at this for over 10 years, and I sense in the community people are starting to think, ‘Okay, it’s time,’” Bailey said.
