Time For A New Library, Or A Second New Library

‘Hi I am Matthew. I am three years old and I want library card please‘ – Matthew asked the library lady at the information desk.

‘Do you have Driver’s License‘ – she asked with a serious look on her face.

‘Yes‘ – he replied.


The registration process began and only took few minutes. I am just glad that Matthew is a little happy camper and was not able to sense the annoyance factor we sensed from the lady. However, Matthew is now a proud owner of the library card and got much better treatment from the librarian in the children’s section.

Promoting early reading is a great idea and really helps in my case. Matthew is attempting to read and to have such resources available to keep him advancing, again it helps. We using more and more of our local library. Step by step Matthew is showing interest in the library books. Elevator is becoming now necessity as opposed to a ride. A sweet treat from the food court outside the library will not go away for a long time.

For a while it was Petch house, now we got museum talks. The other day I was thinking again, as I wrote in the past, and I am sure that I am not the only to think about it – but exhibits in our library can keep the Aurora artifact alive and breathing again, well at least until we find a new place for them. So what do I see on the display – a very old old typewriter, a display by Aurora Historical Society.


So I been reading. ‘Time for a new library?‘, an article on page 7 caught my eye couple of weeks ago in The Aurora, Week of August 23, 2011. The population is growing in Aurora. Times are different. We are in the electronic age. Definition of the library is changing – it is not just for taking books out.

Do we need a new library? Or do we need a second new library? I did read the article twice and I cannot tell what is really in the plans. To build a new library and have the current become obsolete – that’s overkill. A second library – that is a better idea. We don’t need more traffic in downtown of Aurora.

State of the art look – yes for our current library. Space utilization and functionality – not really. Tim Hortons had a right idea selling timbits, so I think having second floor as full floor would have been a better idea. Heating buildings with high ceilings cannot be that cheap also.


So I will throw few cents of mine into the idea bucket. Things to consider is the future of the book. More and more books will be electronic. This also means probably less books on the shelves. Less space for the books. So if the current library design was for a better air circulation for the books, we may not need that in the future new library. Functionality, space utilization to accommodate more users is a must in the future library building.

Let us not forget the green initiatives. Investing in green technologies might not be a bad idea – especially to reduce energy consumption. Picking right location for the library for the public to access it by walking or public transportation – something to think about again.

May be it is too early to talk about the design, but it never hurts to think about it.

So by the time we left the library we had three Dr. Seuss books. That will definitely keep us busy for three weeks. Kids love repetition.