The Kerrobert Library is getting ready to open the doors at it’s new location in less than a week.

Kerrobert’s iconic Court House will be the new home to the community library, which previously occupied another historic building in town.

The former building, according to the Wheatland Regional Library, was built in 1911 and was home to the Canadian Bank of Commerce and the Post Office before becoming the towns library space. The now Heritage Buildings still stands as an important part of the communities history, however, requires numerous upgrades.

Heather Wack, Town Councillor, shared that the maintenance required on the old building was a large reason they decided to move the library.

“It is a great building and one that holds a lot of history for the town, but it does require a lot of work and with any town, money can be an issue and with the upgrades that need to be done at the Court House, we thought we would focus our attention there and bring the library into that space,” said Wack.

She added that aside from the financial aspect of maintenance and upgrades, the library will be able to add another cultural aspect to the Court Hourse which already houses the Town Office, Museum and Art Gallery.

“Library’s all around the world are shifting where they aren’t just a place to lend out books, they are focusing on programming, such as child programs and books clubs and we are going to focus on adding those into the new space as well,” shared Wack.

A $5000 grant was recently provided to the library from Macro Properties for the development of child programs and Wack said they are thankful for the funds and look forward to providing different learning opportunities within the new library space.

Wack added however, that the community response to the new location hasn’t all been favourable. She shared that some residents have expressed they are apprehensive about the change due to the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the old Heritage Building location.

“We have not made any decisions on what to do with the old building, but we know it is important to protect the history of the community and we have had some buildings we have lost because they were not able to be taken care of. It is my hope that we are able to give it the extensive face-lift it needs, it is still a structurally sound building, but face-lifts do cost money,” said Wack.

As the Town decides what to do with the old building, numerous community members have been hard at work getting ready for the new space.

With finances in mind, volunteers have taken the shelves from the old library and have spent the last few days re-painting the shelving units to bring a fresh look to the new location.

The planning process has taken up the better part of a year, along with a large amount of work being done in the last month to get the new space ready and move the contents of the old library over.

Residents will be able to see and experience the new library in the Court House when they open their doors on May 7.

Wack said they are planning to have a grand opening, however, work will still need to be done after the doors open to the public and estimates the grand opening will be sometime this summer or even fall.

 

The final days of work before the library opens it's new doors, in the Kerrobert Court House, on May 7.