After 60 years of serving Central Alberta from their building at 5404 56th Avenue in Lacombe, The Parkland Regional Library (PRL) is pleased to announce that construction has begun on a new, two- storey head office in the Iron Wolf Crossing subdivision in the south end of the city of Lacombe.
PRL Director Ronald Sheppard explains the decision to build new was carefully evaluated over renovation and was deemed to be more cost effective.
“Our current building was constructed in 1960, and renovated in 1989. Due to our current operating requirements, it is not feasible to renovate the existing facility to meet our present and future needs,” he said
Facilitated by the sale of the current office building, as well as a $2.4M capital funding grant generously provided by the Government of Alberta, construction of a new head office is not expected to negatively impact its municipal stakeholders financially.
‘The Parkland Regional Library System is really a library for libraries,’ explains Donna Williams, Manager of Finance and Operations at PRL. ‘We offer support, material, training, resources, and IT network support to 49 public libraries serving 64 municipalities throughout Central Alberta, including the Mary C. Moore Public Library in Lacombe.’
The new building will incorporate many new features that will enable Parkland to offer state of the art services to support public libraries in the 21st century. “Careful planning and consideration for the present needs and potential growth of the region were implemented in the design and function of our new head office,” says Sheppard, “with flexibility to adapt to new technologies and service demands well into the future.”
The transition to the new building is expected by Fall 2020. Careful planning is underway to ensure there is minimal disruption to services provided to member libraries.
Front & Side Elevation rendering supplied by The Tricon Group – not final.
It is the belief of PRL that now, and in the future, libraries will continue to grow and adapt to the needs of the communities they serve. With traditional offerings such as internet access and book-lending, to new resources such as radon-detection kits and virtual reality headsets, the member libraries of the Parkland Regional Library System provide world class service from right here in Central Alberta.
“Moving forward and growing to meet the demands of our region is a wonderful thing.” Sheppard comments. “Our new building is the foundation for another 60 years to come.”
Details on the grand opening of PRL’s new head office will become available closer to completion.
-Submitted by the Parkland Regional Library