Issues is a series of articles exploring top issues impacting the town and the 2022 Newmarket municipal election, talking with experts and local candidates about their perspectives.
The talk of a new public library building in Newmarket has not come to the forefront of the 2022 election campaign after doing so in 2018.
It was in the platform of the successful 2018 campaign of Deputy Mayor Tom Vegh, who said a new building is needed. But no new building is on the immediate horizon, with the library board focusing instead on improvements it can make in its existing building.
Newmarket Mayor John Taylor, who has been acclaimed in the 2022 election, said the idea of a new building has not been an “overwhelming" issue for most residents. But he added that whatever direction it takes from here will be up to the new library board and council of the next term.
“We should be long-term planning for everything we do,” he said. “We know there's a lot of desire for enhanced parks, recreations, trails. A lot of interest in events and cultural offerings. The library should absolutely be part of that conversation.”
The current building on Park Avenue, near downtown Main Street, dates back to 1956, with a 1970s expansion. Talk of facility enhancements has come as the library finds itself below average in several benchmarks, including per capita financial support, materials expenditure per capita, hours open per week, staffing ratios per capita, and population served per branch.
But the library's strategic plan has focused on improving the existing facility, as well as outreach programming or “pop-up” spaces in other parts of Newmarket.
Back in 2018, Vegh said that “the debate over the need for a new public library is long over. The only question now is where and when.”
He has said the library’s current space has limitations, and pushed for a new library and seniors centre at the former Hollingsworth Arena site. But he has said a lack of action toward a new building has been due to the pandemic sidelining a facility needs task force that could have examined the issue, among other things. He said it is something he expects will return in new term.
“That was one of the things we just had to put on the back burner,” Vegh said, adding the task force could have examined several issues, including spaces for seniors. “We’re looking at very creative ways to meet those needs.”
But his opponent in the 2022 election, Gordon Prentice, said action on a new library could have made progress without a task force and could have been made a priority at the start of the term before the pandemic set in.
“There’s no leadership at all,” Prentice said. “People, they don’t fall out of bed in the morning thinking about politics. When they hear someone say, the time for talking is over, they believe that.”
No candidate in this election has campaigned on a new library building. The town has collected development charges totalling approximately $3.8 million for the library, which could go toward a new building but also other enhancements.
Taylor said he wants to give the newly elected council an opportunity to decide if there will be a task force to address new facilities. But he indicated that opportunities related to library expansion would be discussed in the new term.
“There’s various options for approaching that. There are existing town facilities that could support and be an opportunity for expanded library services."
He added that he feels Newmarket’s relatively small geographic area allows for its single site to work better than it could in other municipalities.
"Our library is accessible to everybody, really, in terms of a short drive, walk or transit," he said, adding that facility improvements are "something we need to get all the data, all the numbers, on.”
