Port Moody Public Library is eyeing a strategic plan update next year and hoping for an automatic book sorting system, but a hiccup in renovation plans may put the latter project on hold.
Bids for the library's $450,000 renovation project, which has been discussed in various forms for more than a decade, came in significantly higher than expected last month for work that included increasing usable space, adding quieter study areas and improving the children's area. A request to the city for an additional $235,000 to complete the overhaul was denied at a recent finance committee meeting.
Instead, the committee voted to include the renovation project with the tender for the civic centre envelope repair project.
The decision means library administration staff are shelving months of work to prepare for the long-awaited December renovation.
"It was heartbreaking," said board chair Errin Morrison. "It won't go forward in the conceivable next few months, and if it does, we'll have to juggle it with the building envelope repair project."
It also means the heavily used library will be closed during a much busier time of year than over the Christmas holidays, when traffic tends to be slower, Morrison said.
Getting the $85,000 automated materials handling system is dependant on the renovations because the front counter area and Parklane meeting room would need to be reconfigured to accommodate it, she said.
And she noted that PoMo's population has grown tremendously but the library's space, technology and staff numbers haven't kept pace.
From 1996, when the library moved to its current location, to 2015, there has been a 129% increase in the number of items loaned each year, and a 103% increase in library visits annually, Morrison said in her presentation Tuesday.
Each year, more than 600,000 items are checked out — 175 per open hour in 2015 — in nearly 400,000 visits, or 105 per open hour.
Morrison said the number of visits rose significantly in 2013, the first year the library's strategic plan was implemented with the goal of popularizing the collection and increasing the number and variety of programs on offer. Last year, more than 18,000 people attended the library's 477 programs.
"There has been no corresponding increase in staffing," Morrison said. "We continue to accomplish these goals by re-allocating existing resources and investing in technology, which is one of our strategic priorities."
The board is also requesting $15,000 for next year's budget to update its five-year strategic plan, which expires at the end of 2017.
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