Expansion of Library Services for the Courtice Community Executive Summary Municipality of Clarington / Clarington Public Library

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1 Expansion of Library Services for the Courtice Community

Project Scope

• Strategy for enhancing library service delivery in the Courtice community • Identify space needs and an optimum facility size • Estimate capital and operating costs • Evaluate and select a preferred location for the branch Trends & Library Space Public Libraries are relevant, important and integral to our lives:

• Libraries are destinations needing space for community gathering, economic development, cultural expression and collaboration • Growing demand for shared or collaborative spaces where people learn from each other and from experts • Dedicated spaces for children and youth, designed in a manner that promotes creativity, skill development, and digital literacy • Spaces for seniors with large print materials, computer stations dedicated to older adults, and comfortable seating • Demand for both print and digital materials requiring sufficient space dedicated to collections

Serving the Population

180,000 Municipality of Clarington 171,000 160,000 Courtice Urban Area Courtice Library Market Area* 155,700 140,000 140,400 120,000 123,900

100,000 109,800 97,100 80,000 87,980

Forecasted PopulationForecasted 60,000 47,275 38,800 41,675 44,475 40,000 36,075 29,500 32,775 41,900 39,250 33,900 36,600 20,000 28,100 31,300 24,900 0 2011 2016 2021 2026 2031 2036 2041

Source: Hemson Consulting, Clarington Community Forecast Update 2013; 2036 and 2041 population derived by MBPC through straight-line growth assumption using the 2021-2031 projections. * Planning Department suggests that no more than 25% of rural and hamlet population be allocated to the Courtice Library Market Area

Space Provision

Clarington Public Library Branch Library Type Size (ft2) Bowmanville Main 24,000 Courtice Community 6,000 Newcastle Community 9,100 Orono Community 3,604 TOTAL 42,704 SQUARE FEET PER CAPITA 0.49

Space Provision Targets in Nearby Library Systems Library System Space Provision Target Library System Space Provision Target Ajax 0.55 ft2 per capita Milton 0.6 ft2 per capita East Gwillimbury 0.6 ft2 per capita Mississauga 0.6 ft2 per capita Innisfil 0.7 ft2 per capita Pickering 0.6 ft2 per capita Markham 0.6 ft2 per capita Vaughan 0.61 ft2 per capita Recommendations

• Continue to target an overall provision rate of library space at 0.6 square feet per capita.

The existing Courtice Branch provides approximately 0.2 square feet of library space per capita falling significantly short of this target resulting in a lack of ability to provide needed space for collections, services and programs.

Recommendations

• Utilize a facility components approach to define library space requirements for specific library branches with further definition of space requirements and layout being undertaken at the design/construction phase.

– Collections Space – Electronic Resources – User Spaces Recommendations

• Implement the Service Delivery ‘Considerations for the Future’ in evolving the Courtice Branch Library to better meet existing and long-term community needs.

– Collections & Circulation – Circulation Processes – Programming

Recommendations

• Target the provision of one ‘District Branch’ library (as defined in the 2007 Library Services Delivery Model) in the Courtice Urban Area at a size of 20,000 square feet to meet community needs to approximately the year 2031, designed with the ability to expand to 24,500 square feet by 2041 to meet longer-term space needs.