CREMONA - The Cremona Municipal Library is currently closed while work is done on an addition to the building. Work on the expansion began in May and is expected to conclude in September, at which time the library will reopen.
Library board chair Patti Kirkwood said they are excited about all the new features and space that will be available for library goers. Kirkwood said the addition has been much needed.
"We have probably the world's smallest library," said Kirkwood. "I'm sure we could have set a record. We weren't able to accommodate everything we want to within that space. For instance, we didn't have magazines because we didn't have room. We didn't have room for people to just sit and read. We had a DVD collection and we had to pick and choose because we had no room. We had no room for spiritual books."
The new expansion will also allow the library to have five computers available for public use.
"We have three, but currently they're in the town office because we didn't have room in the library," she said. "But now that we have the addition, we're going to have five."
Kirkwood said the decision to expand the library was made a few years back. She added that all the money for the expansion was brought in through fundraising.
The total cost for the project is not yet known, she said.
"The money is all in place," she said. "The Cremona Library Board has been economizing, scrimping and saving for 20 years for this addition."
Although the construction of the addition has taken a little longer than usual, Kirkwood said everyone is excited.
"The library manager (Tracy Westerson) has come up with such amazing programs she'd like to introduce," she said. "We were just there today and we were looking at where the furniture was going to go, and where the children's corner will be, and where we will have chairs for adults to come in and relax. Oh my gosh, it's so exciting. It's amazing."
The addition to the library will also mean a washroom facility in the building.
"It's going to be a totally new face," she said. "We'll have a washroom. We never had a washroom before. Everything will be wheelchair accessible. Before it wasn't. When this building is finished with the addition everything will be wheelchair accessible. I know the computers are well used. I think having five will be an improvement."
Kirkwood said the new, expanded library will be welcomed by the community. The addition will have the library space go from 10 feet by 12 feet to 24 feet by 30 feet.
"We have such a wide array of ages here," she said. "We have tons of young families in the community as well as lots of people in their 50s, and quite a few retired folks. We really want to accommodate everyone and have programs running for everyone in the community. We're super-pumped!"
With the library being closed until construction is complete, patrons can use their library cards at other Parkland Regional Library system libraries such as Water Valley, Carstairs or Didsbury.
