Dozens gathered at the Nellie McClung library branch to mark the closing of the building which has served as a community hub for 48 years.
“The ... branch has been a cornerstone of connection, learning and inspiration, welcoming generations through its doors and providing access to knowledge, resources and a place to belong,” said Maureen Sawa, the CEO of the Greater Victoria Public Library (GVPL), on Dec. 6. “Today, we close this chapter in the branch's history, but we also begin an exciting new one.”
The next chapter will start on Dec. 14 when the library on McKenzie Avenue closes its doors for the next three years. Next summer, work begins to replace the two-storey building with an 18-storey tower, which will house a new library and over 200 rent-geared-to-income and below-market apartments. The multi-year project is slated for completion in 2028.
In the meantime, the library’s thousands of books will be transferred to an “express location” at 3561 Shelbourne St., which is set to open in mid-February. The temporary facility will offer browsing collections for adults and children, holds, pick-ups, returns and express computer access.
Saanich councillors unanimously approved rezoning for the Nellie McClung library site at a June 10 council meeting.
“The library was in need of ... significant refurbishment, but probably a good candidate for replacement,” Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock explained. “And so the opportunity was there to get a new space built for the library so that it will be at twice its current size, and then to be able to use this space to put affordable housing on top.”
In part, a need for more housing in the district spurred this development, added Murdock.
“What we hear probably most often from residents is a concern about affordability in our community,” he said. “It's so important that we prioritize affordability, and this was a great opportunity for us to be able to increase the supply of truly affordable homes so that everybody can afford to put down roots in Saanich.”
This won’t be the first time the library has been rebuilt. In 1989, a fire destroyed the facility, incinerating some 45,000 books. It reopened two years later.
“The community rallied around this branch, and the resilience and determination to rebuild showed how much this space was important to the community, how much it was cherished,” said Andrew Appleton, the chair of the GVPL board.
At the event on Friday, which boasted treats, coffee and Greater Victoria Public Library swag, attendees of all ages expressed their love for the library.
“It has always been a busy, busy, busy library,” said Anne Parker, who worked as a children’s librarian at the branch for over a decade. “When we opened the new library, it was a year later that I came to work here. We were just run off our feet. So busy – lineups for checkout and phones ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing and people asking questions.”
Parker hugely enjoyed the hustle and bustle.
“It was full of kids and it was just noisy. I always called it happy noise,” she added. “It was absolutely wonderful. It felt like family.”
Another attendee, Phyllis Dalton, who has worked at all of the GVPL branches, was bitter-sweet about the library’s closing.
“Everybody in this community is going miss it,” she said. “It's good that it's going to be bigger because this community is going to grow so, so much with all these apartment buildings that are going up.”
Others expressed the importance of the library as an institution.
“It's public, it's free, it's accessible,” said Sher Morgan, who has been coming to the Nellie McClung branch for 25 years. “Public education and public libraries are the things that are egalitarian about learning and loving to read, and the library is a welcoming place. It's magic.”
Murdock expressed a similar sentiment.
“This is a place where my children came to spend time, that they gravitate to and where we had puppet shows and picked out picture books and then later graphic novels,” he said. “That established strong roots for them in reading, learning and curiosity.”
Like everyone at the event, Murdock voiced sadness about the library's closing.
“It's hard to say goodbye to an old friend,” he said.
But that old friend will be back soon – bigger, more modern and better than ever.
