By Jenel Hunt
The results of the Killarney Library survey are in.
With 121 valid responses from a pool of 134, the survey showed that a majority of respondents (74 per cent) wanted to see a browsing collection in Killarney within six to 12 months.
The biggest group (36 per cent) thought the best way to provide library services to Killarney was to construct a new building on vacant land, while renovating an existing building was a close second at 34 per cent.
The establishment of a book exchange received a positive response from only 2 per cent of the respondents.
Constructing a new building on vacant land would not be able to be accomplished in the six- to 12-month timeframe desired but was more like a two- to four-year project with a price tag between $500,000 to $1 million, depending on variables such as the size of the building, set-up costs and fit-out. Operational costs, staff wages and vehicle costs were likely to be between $70,000 and $100,000 a year.
In a presentation to council it was pointed out that although utilising an existing building and renovating would be considerably cheaper in capital works at an estimated $135,000 to $200,000, there were no suitable sites available. Also, with lease costs added, the operational costs could be up to $150,000.
Council’s Manager of Community Services Michael Bell told councillors the quickest way of providing a browsing collection in Killarney was through a community book exchange, which could happen relatively quickly and could be hosted and managed by a community group as a free service to their community.
He said 80 per cent of respondents to the survey had indicated that they thought book deliveries should continue, especially for the benefit of housebound or elderly members.
Mr Bell said the council could develop a regional access library program to provide a more dynamic array of services like drop off/pick up, continuing the home run, providing pop-up services once a month and have face-to-face services provided by library officers to help with reservations, information and other library services. A quarterly outreach program could be run for people who wanted help making online reservations and accessing other services.
He said it was recommended the council establish a community book exchange as soon as possible, initiate the regional access library program to include fortnightly home run and drop off/pick up at a central place, have monthly pop-up services for face-to-face communication in Killarney and deliver quarterly outreach programs. As well, long-term strategic planning for a library branch in Killarney should begin.
He reminded councillors that the book exchange concept was a stop-gap measure to give the town accessibility to books. It did not mean that the other options fell away.
There were seven options on the books and an enhanced service had to be reviewed across the whole region.
“While there is a focus on Killarney, it’s not just about Killarney. It includes all villages and townships,” he said.
