Library and Archives elated about prospective library move

The head of Library and Archives Canada said he couldn't be happier about the prospective move to the newly proposed central branch of the Ottawa Public Library.

On Thursday, the city's library staff recommended city-owned land just west of Bronson Avenue as the site for a new $168-million central branch, with the option for a partnership with the Library and Archives Canada to be part of the site. 

City and federal library officials have been working together closely on the project since they announced their "partnership opportunity" in January 2016.

Library and Archives Canada would move its exhibitions and displays into their own designated space at the library and vacate much of their current 395 Wellington St. address, said ​Guy Berthiaume, Librarian and Archivist of Canada.

If you ask the man on the street, he thinks of us as stacks of books and papers turning yellow. It would be a crime to not tell people that we have all those riches.- Guy Berthiaume

"We want to give access to as many people as we can," he said. "Being with a public library gives us a great opportunity."

The partnership would include a $69-million contribution from Library and Archives, which would be offset by savings from moving into the new space.

'The lightbulb went on'

A joint report by Ottawa Public Library and Library and Archives highlighted the extensive limitations of the building at 395 Wellington St., including no space for the public and significant maintenance costs due to the building's heritage designation. 

Berthiaume said Library and Archives had been hoping for a partnership for years and when he heard the library was looking for a new location "the light bulb went on" for how to popularize the stamps, medals and genealogy currently hidden deep inside the archive's building.

When the new 216,000-square-foot central branch is opened, everything but the bulk of the files will be moved. The library is anticipating about 1.6 million visitors each year, something that has Berthiaume excited.

"You have all of this beautiful traffic we'd never get at 395 (Wellington)," he said. "I would be hard-pressed to name something I'm not happy about."

The final decision on the site is expected to be made at the Feb. 8 city council meeting. The Library and Archives partnership should follow soon after.