Tracey Smith with the Prince Albert Public Library speaks before a crowd celebrating the completion of their renovations. (Rob Mahon/paNOW Staff)

By Rob Mahon

Library Renos Complete

Library unveils finished product after years of renovations

Jun 23, 2022 | 5:00 PM

Over the course of four phases and ten years, the Prince Albert Public Library has received a major facelift. The results of those renovations were officially unveiled today.

At a ceremony attended by local and provincial politicians and members of the library’s board, the newly renovated adult area and Grace Campbell Gallery were officially presented to the public. Renovations in this fourth phase began in 2020.

“It turned out beautifully, so it’s so exciting for us to see the completion of the adult side renovation,” said Tracey Smith, vice-chair of the board of directors. “We did this through the pandemic, which was a positive thing out of all the things of the pandemic because we were able to finish these without any interruption of services.”

The interior renovations included paint, flooring, new shelves, and bar-style seating. It was a bright spot in a pandemic that was otherwise hard on the library, as it was on so many others.

“It was difficult, for sure, but the library staff here, they came together,” said Smith. “They offered the curbside pickup, which was so great, people still had that opportunity to take out books and have services from the library like that.”

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The first phase of renovations began in 2012 with the upgrades to the HVAC and windows. From then until now, with new wi-fi and plug-ins for workspaces, more modular shelves, and much brighter space, the library is hugely different.

“This is a meeting place, a gathering place,” said Prince Albert city councillor Dawn Kilmer. “A place where people can come and find the information they need. Businesses can find what they need for economic development. It’s vital. It’s the heartbeat of our community.”

As the pandemic restrictions have eased off, the library has looked to get a lot of its old programs back up and running again. As such, the end of the renovations comes at exactly the right time to welcome the public back.

“We will be able to start taking in more people,” said Smith. “More programming can restart again, that was all put on hold, any programing we had whether it was for adults, children, toddlers, babies, all of those things are going to start up again.”

Smith added the library is taking a breather from renovations, but they know their theatre and meeting rooms downstairs are on the list of things they still want to improve.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP