Residents rally behind 'landmark' library.
Residents discussed several ways the Perth-Dupont branch of the Toronto Public Library could be expanded at a meeting this week.
Staff file photo/MARY GAUDET
The Perth/Dupont Library should be a "landmark" building and "an anchor" in the community, said those who attended the first of a series of workshops to discuss the branch's renovation and expansion.
The third smallest branch of the Toronto Public Library, Perth/Dupont was one of the first - if not the first storefront library in the city, said Kevin Putnam, co-founder of the Junction Triangle Library Expansion Committee. Area residents say they don't want to lose their branch's "store-front quality," he said.
There are three different ways the Junction Triangle library could be expanded, explained Putnam during the meeting, held at the Wallace Emerson Community Centre Wednesday, Feb. 15. These include making the two-storey library more accessible by installing an elevator, adding additional washrooms and improving the front facade at a cost of $1 million; tearing down the existing building and replacing it with a 6,000-square foot, two-storey library, doubling the space of the current building. This scenario would come with a price tag of $3 million; or, building a 10,000- to 15,000-square foot branch, which is the standard size of most libraries being built today. This option would cost more than $4 million and would require a new location.
"We have an opportunity to totally change our library, a library that lifts that part of Dupont Street," said Putnam.
An injection of $1.2 million has already been allocated for the expansion. The money is coming from the condominium project slated for Dupont Street and Lansdowne Avenue called Fuse by the Neudorfer Corporation. Section 37 of the Planning Act permits the City of Toronto to authorize increases in permitted height and density through the zoning bylaw in return for community benefit funds.
Staff Sgt. Philip Van Andel of 11 Division's Community Response Unit spoke of the positive impact a new and/or improved library would have on the area.
"It might be the start of the whole neighbourhood improving," said the officer.
Van Andel also raised the subject of literacy and how important it is for a safe and productive society.
"The quality of life for families directly relates to the literacy levels of parents," he pointed out. "Having a community library promotes literacy. Literacy allows for good jobs, which leads to economic stability."
A library, said Donna Cowan, chair of Dig In, the community group committed to the cultural, social, environmental and economic vitalization of the Bloor Street West neighbourhood surrounding Bloordale, provides a place for kids to escape to, to meet friends and "stretch their imaginations in a book."
Braden Root-McCaig, who works with Davenport Councillor Ana Bailao, spoke of the importance of providing a community meeting space, citing the newly refurbished Bloor/Gladstone library has an example.
Dig In's Ann Homan, who chaired the meeting, said she wanted the library to remain where it is, on the south side of Dupont Street, two blocks west of Symington Avenue.
"It is a neighbourhood institution," she said.
For those who could not attend the workshop, the Junction Triangle Library Expansion Committee is asking everyone to take a moment to complete a survey. You have until Feb. 29. The survey can be found at www.junctiontriangle.ca