SYDNEY, N.S. — It was the meeting that was supposed to provide clarification on the status of Sydney’s aging library.
After all, the full-day session hosted by the Cape Breton Regional Municipality council’s general committee on Monday was attended by a wide array of stakeholders. They included Cape Breton Regional Library officials, representatives from the new library advocacy committee, the private developer hoping to integrate its proposed waterfront development with a new library build and a number of opposition MLAs who had been invited to the council chamber.
The special committee meeting was also timely in that it came just four days after the CBRM learned that the federal government had finally kicked in its one-third share for a $75,000 study looking into options for the central, Sydney-located library.
However, if anything, the session led to even more questions from CBRM councillors baffled by the lengthy process that has yet to lead to any concrete options, let alone decisions, for council to consider when it comes to either renovating the existing McConnell Memorial Library or building a new and improved facility on the Sydney waterfront.
District 7 Coun. Amanda McDougall took to the microphone several times seeking clarifications on certain aspects of the issue.
“There is so much clarification still needed — everything is up in the air,” said McDougall, who specifically asked for the creation of a list of things needing to be addressed.
“It’s just so confusing that we are where we are after so many years — I don’t even know where we go from here.”
To be fair to McDougall and her fellow council members, the library issue is complex as it involves multiple players and more than a few moving parts.
Regional librarian Faye MacDougall spent considerable time at the chamber podium answering questions about the present state of the 60-year-old McConnell library that also serves as Cape Breton Regional Library headquarters and storage and distribution centre for the facility’s resources.
“The role that this building serves is very significant to the entire region, but the building is aging, it’s extremely over-crowded and it is not fully accessible,” said MacDougall.
She also noted the library was forced to close down at least 12 times last year due to the high heat on the main floor of the building that she said can get up to around 39 C.
“If you have a series of very warm days you might start off closing at five o’clock, but the next day it might be 3:30 and the following day it could close as early as one o’clock — the building keeps the heat in,” said MacDougall.
But while the state of the existing library lends justification for replacing the aging edifice, moving forward on the construction of a new central library remains a complicated matter. And, as the meeting clock ticked off the hours, some of the municipality’s elected officials became increasingly frustrated by the lack of clarity involving even the CBRM’s application for federal and provincial funding for a new library that previous studies indicated could cost up to $31 million.
That figure is based on a funding formula that sees the federal government provide 40 per cent of the monies with the province expected to chip in 33 per cent, which would leave the CBRM to cough up the remaining 26 per cent.
But acting chief administrative officer John MacKinnon said the municipality was informed that the province currently has no open funding streams from which to draw the funds.
That didn’t sit well with Mayor Cecil Clarke, who spent a decade as an MLA.
“I’ve been part of many, many, many infrastructure programs from the cabinet table to the department level to the CBRM, and where there is political will there is a way — when it comes to funding streams, the province can open them up if they want to open them up or they can do other things until funding streams open up,” said Clarke.
“It’s very frustrating when we’ve done everything that was requested and yet at the same time everyone is trying to find an excuse to deflect this to someone else — but, by God, we have a library that is old, can we afford not to be a modern city, if it’s good enough for Halifax then it’s good enough for Sydney and that’s the bitter part of this.”
Sydney councillor Eldon MacDonald, who is a staunch supporter of a new library, also expressed frustration over the complicated nature of the funding application.
“They (the province) need to get in this room and tell us how it works and how it needs to be done,” opined the District 5 councillor.
Others, like District 2 Coun. Earlene MacMullin, expressed concern about whether the municipality could afford to operate a new library even if everything came together, and a new facility was constructed.
“We don’t even know if we can run it — if we can’t afford it we shouldn’t even be considering it and I know that based on our current budget that if someone cut a ribbon on it today that we couldn’t afford to run it,” she said, while at the same time admitting that the present state of the McConnell library was unacceptable.
“McConnell will not suffice — we need to do something with the facility, but at the same time we need to be realistic.”
But Cape Breton Regional Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer Kathleen Yurchesyn, who was speaking for the Library Advocacy Committee, said a new library is essential to the growth of the community.
“This conversation is not about whether we can afford this, it’s about how we can afford not to build it — we need to demand better,” said Yurschysn.
“The library is about more than just books — libraries are community hubs that serve as centres of learning, collaboration, professional development, refuge, community connectivity and so on — it’s a critical piece of infrastructure that is free and safe and that welcomes everyone and encourages people to find opportunities within our community.”
Meanwhile, Mayor Clarke came up with a list of issues and points that need to be addressed.
“We need clarification from the province on a number of things and we need the provincial and federal governments to communicate,” he said.
“We just need some clarity on the application process.”
Council will revisit the issue when it holds its regular monthly meeting on June 18.
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