[ISL] On the place of the Charlottetown library in the Confederation Centre

[rfmcdonald]

I received an E-mail this afternoon from my parents letting me know that the Confederation Centre of the Arts complex would like to move Confederation Centree Public Library, the central location of Prince Edward Island's provincial library system and the main library of Charlottetown, out. At the Centre's end, apparently it would like to take the space back and use it for events of its own. At the library system's end, meanwhile, apparently it would like a more functional space. The story was detailed by the Charlottetown Guardian's Ryan Ross.

The provincial library in Charlottetown could be on the move after the Confederation Centre of the Arts approached the government about finding somewhere else to house it.

Few details were available Wednesday about a potential move, but a statement from a Tourism Department spokesman confirmed the centre approached the province about freeing up the space the library uses.

“The province has not yet received an official proposal from the centre and the discussion is very preliminary in nature.”

[. . .]

Although the Confederation Centre has housed the library since it opened in 1964, the provincial government staffs and runs it and pays $178,000 a year to lease the space. The centre pays for maintenance and upkeep.

[. . .]

In an interview with The Guardian, Jill MacMicken Wilson, acting director of libraries and archives, said she couldn’t talk about a potential move, but did discuss some of the issues the library has to deal with because of the space it’s in.

MacMicken Wilson said the centre has served the library well over the years but its changing needs aren’t being met.

“Libraries are not just places where you can borrow books,” she said.

The library has turned into a community gathering space with different programs on offer, such as reading clubs for teens and social media training for seniors, but it doesn’t have meeting rooms where groups can get away from other library patrons, she said.

The library is a fit for the Centre, and I'm not saying it only because I worked there for three years. The Confederation Centre is a cultural complex; the library is about culture.

Where would it move to? Is there any space nearby that would be suitable for the library? I'm concerned.