Council nixes library budget request

By JOHN MOORHOUSE Wednesday, March 5, 2008 Penticton Herald

The city‘s tight money situation has the Penticton Library sitting out in the cold. A $125,000 request for detailed planning work on a proposed expansion of the aging Library-Museum Complex faces city council rejection in this year‘s budget deliberations. Library director Larry Little said Tuesday the decision doesn‘t come as a surprise, noting the budget request has been made for the past three years. "We‘re really desperate for space. We‘re storing things in the basement,” he said. “We‘ve putting shelving units up in areas where we really shouldn‘t, just to accommodate things.” The museum faces the same situation, as it looks for more elbow room in a cramped facility. The Library-Museum Complex was built in the mid-1960s. The library hasn‘t been expanded since 1988. Little said the expansion would add about another 900 square metres onto the library‘s existing 1,242 square metres. This would provide enough space for the next 15 to 20 years until a new facility could be constructed. Estimated capital costs of the project range from $3 million to $5 million. “It‘s something affordable. It‘s something that‘s do-able,” he said. “It‘s not like some of the projects that have been batted around the community that are very expensive. Little added the expansion would give the facility a badly-needed facelift.

“It‘s old and it‘s showing its age, with the washrooms and some of the paint and the carpets,” he said. “I know money is tough, but the infrastructure in our community is in dire need of upgrading.” An estimated 5,000 people a week visit the Penticton Library. Little said the library board will likely try again next year to get the planning funding. Although the library came away empty-handed, council approved the full $118,700 budget request for economic development and tourism promotion. The Penticton and Wine Country Chamber of Commerce had feared council would cut back on funds available for external marketing this year.
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PENTICTON PUBLIC LIBRARY, RECORDS EST. 1969, RECORDS

The Penticton Public Library reports to the City of Penticton through a Library Board which is appointed by the Mayor and Council. The City of Penticton provides ongoing funding for the Library. When School District No. 15 (Penticton) was formed in 1946, Penticton automatically became part of the Okanagan Union Library, a regional library established in 1936. In 1953 the Union Library changed its name to the Okanagan Regional Library. In 1969, Penticton left the Okanagan Regional Library system and became an independent municipal library. The Penticton Public Library Association, established ca. 1922, became the Penticton Public Library Board in 1969. Today, the Penticton Public Library also services the West Bench.