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| Lindsay Public Library The left side of the photo is the original Carnegie building, with the addition seen on the right. |
The Lindsay Public Library first opened in March 1899 as a free library to meet the needs of the town. In June 1904 the library was re-built with the funds that were granted to the town by the Carnegie library funds. The original Carnegie building still stands but now contains only the children and young adult collections while the addition that was built in 1977 serves as the adult and reference section. Additionally, the Lindsay Gallery also operates out of the second floor of the library, sharing its space with the reference department. The Gallery offers the community art classes, courses and workshops for adults and children in addition to varying art exhibits.
The Lindsay branch of the library is located on the main street of Lindsay (Kent Street), directly across from the RBC, where my Dad is the manager. Located nearby are Victoria Park, the Victoria Armouries, and the City Hall. Considering Lindsay is a small town, it is centrally located. The area is primarily commercial, but it is less than a five minute walk from the LCVI (the public high-school) and Central School (public school for grades 7 and 8).
I wish that I could add right here some cute, loveable or funny story about growing up with the library right there in town, however I do not have any. Growing up we moved a lot, and I moved to Lindsay in grade eight. As I went to a Catholic elementary school, it was not close to the library where we could easily make a class trip like the students at Central can do. For high-school I also went to a Catholic school in Peterborough. By the time that we got home from school (especially the days when we took the late bus to accommodate after-school activities), the library was often closed. I am not trying to make excuses – I have lots of pleasant memories of other public libraries, but this is why I don't have a fun story to start this blog entry.
When looking at the statistics that are available, it is important to consider that it relates to the entire City of Kawartha Lakes, not just Lindsay. In 2001 the former Victoria County amalgamated to the City of Kawartha Lakes (CKL), despite popular opinion. As a result, any official statistics that are acquired include other communities such as Cambray, Fenelon Falls, Bobcaygeon, Omemee and Woodville. For this project I am going to focus on the Lindsay public library, but it is important to remember that there are eight other community branches and nine neighbourhood branches that work together with the Lindsay branch. The population statistics include all areas that are served by these libraries, but Lindsay is the largest community within the CKL.
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| This is the view of Kent Street, facing east of the library |
When looking at the statistics that are available, it is important to consider that it relates to the entire City of Kawartha Lakes, not just Lindsay. In 2001 the former Victoria County amalgamated to the City of Kawartha Lakes (CKL), despite popular opinion. As a result, any official statistics that are acquired include other communities such as Cambray, Fenelon Falls, Bobcaygeon, Omemee and Woodville. For this project I am going to focus on the Lindsay public library, but it is important to remember that there are eight other community branches and nine neighbourhood branches that work together with the Lindsay branch. The population statistics include all areas that are served by these libraries, but Lindsay is the largest community within the CKL.
The CKL is a large tourist destination in the summer months, especially for people in the GTA who have their cottages in the area. It is also a popular place for people to live after retirement from the workforce in the GTA. As a result, our population is largely skewed toward the older generation. Our median age for the City is 6.1 years higher than the provincial median. This is another case where the statistics for Lindsay would be different than the CKL because the smaller communities often have a younger population than Lindsay. The two major employers of the CKL are Armada Toolworks Ltd. and ICT (call centre) which each employ 150 people. However, it is very common for the residents of Lindsay to travel to a bigger city (such as Oshawa, Port Perry or Peterborough) for their jobs. Within the last decade, Lindsay has lost their major factories including Crayola, Northern Casket and another factory that produced trailer homes. According to the census data, the majority of employers for Lindsay residents are either in the manufacturing or retail sectors.
The Lindsay branch of the CKL libraries is 10,000 square feet, but it is experiencing pressure by the provincial government to expand to the recommended 12,900 square feet. As a result, much of the collection cannot be made easily accessible for the patrons and everything appears over-crowded and disorganized (which is the wrong impression). Unfortunately this would cost the City $754,000 just to meet the space standards. When I visited the library it was very evident that the circulation and reference sections of the library were extremely over-crowded and in desperate need of the expansion if they are going to provide all of the services that are expected of the library. Since all of the branch libraries (except for Kinmount) are significantly under the recommended size, the total expansion costs to meet the requirements would exceed $3,718,000. Clearly the public libraries in the CKL are underfunded and need more funding by the city council.
In addition to the Gallery on the second floor, there is a display case near the main entrance. Although it could be used for great displays, it has not been changed since before 1998. I personally thing that they have lost the keys to the display case! The branch does not have any inviting furniture or sitting places, and only provides the minimum number of computer access pcs (twelve) which always seem to be in use or broke. This is a problem that has been raised at many community meetings. As a result, there are often very few people just sitting around except for in the small sitting area in the fiction section. The majority of people that I saw during my visit were young people (both male and female) who were using the computers for recreational purposes. However, it was a very cold day so it likely discouraged many families from bringing their children to the library. Unfortunately our town is not very ethnically diverse, as only 75 people in the CKL identified a language other than English or French as their first language. Out of the 73,365 residents of the CKL, only 855 people were not Canadian citizens.
With all of this said, the Lindsay public library strives to meet the needs of the under-privileged and marginalized members of the community. It is a small town, where everybody knows everybody. The librarians try their best to meet the needs of the community with an insufficient budget and limited space. I am proud of the library and believe that it is an example of how an institution can continue to serve the community despite the limitations that are placed upon it, particularly in budget allocations.
With all of this said, the Lindsay public library strives to meet the needs of the under-privileged and marginalized members of the community. It is a small town, where everybody knows everybody. The librarians try their best to meet the needs of the community with an insufficient budget and limited space. I am proud of the library and believe that it is an example of how an institution can continue to serve the community despite the limitations that are placed upon it, particularly in budget allocations.
