The first chapter in the book on the relocation of the Trail Library could be written after a request for a proposal study was announced in Trail city council last week.
Councillor Robert Cacchioni said the city will be investigating if they could move the Trail and District Public Library from inside the Trail Memorial Centre to a new, larger location within the downtown.
“My position is yes, it should be downtown, yes it should be more accessible, and yes if it fits into the downtown plan as an anchor,” he said. “Whether council supports it is another story.”
In October, 2011, there was some speculation the library would be included as an integral part of the Trail Downtown Plan, including the possibility of a new museum, Teck interpretive centre and a river interpretive centre all under one roof.
That did not happen. The library was not included in the plan when it was released to the public on May 28.
In 2011 the library recorded an increase of 66 per cent in visits, or 166 of its 4,524 members stopping in per day. Computer usage jumped up by 175 per cent in 2011 — aided by the addition of 12 public access computers — along with the circulation of electronic materials increasing by 63 per cent.
But the current 5,000-square-foot facility lacks a lunchroom for its staff, is about half the suggested size needed to serve its members, and has little room to host programming.
Beyond $55,000 from the province, the library’s $530,000 budget is now funded by Trail, Warfield and Area B and the library is now up to 61.5 hours of operation per week.
In 2009 the facility had its hours chopped in half and 10 employees were laid off in an attempt to balance a budget cut made when the Greater Trail communities could not all agree on funding the regional service.
Cacchioni said, once an author is selected, the study would be completed by the end of the year.
