New Library Link for Coquitlam on the road by next summer

The Coquitlam Public Library (CPL) will soon have a new set of wheels.

Last month, city council OK’d $636,000 to buy a new Library Link — a mobile library service that reaches neighbourhoods far from the library’s two branches: City Centre and Poirier.

CPL board chair Natasha Knox thanked mayor and councillors for the purchase, saying the "service is impactful and beloved by the community."

Funding for the new Library Link will come from Coquitlam's Land Sales Reserve Investment Fund; the vehicle will be owned and maintained by the municipality and operated by library staff, said Lanny Englund, Coquitlam’s general manager of parks, recreation, culture and facilities.

Englund said the current van is at the end of its life and the new one will be ready by next summer.

It will also feature:

more collection space and storage
better work spaces for staff
new technology
an improved HVAC system and generator
a hybrid electric booster

The new Link is set to last 15 years, Englund said, and will cost $55,000 a year to maintain.

As well, the sale of the current Link will offset the cost of the new vehicle.

Coun. Trish Mandewo said the mobile library is especially handy for seniors and families.

"It’s a service that brings a lot of smiles to people’s faces," Mayor Richard Stewart added at the June 20 regular public meeting.

Started in 2009, the CPL Library Link ran six days a week — visiting eight neighbourhoods — during the COVID-19 pandemic, said library spokesperson Samantha Wink in a news release.

"Each year we hear directly from the public about the difference these stops make both in their discovery of new materials and in their sense of community," she wrote.

"Coquitlam Public Library is grateful to the city for approving this important support to our ability to serve the community, in particular, to the city's fleet staff for their expertise and future management of the vehicle, which will free up our staff to do what they do best — serve our customers."