NIAGARA FALLS LIBRARY GOES BACK TO SCHOOL

POP-UP AT A.N. MYER SECONDARY SCHOOL FILLS VOID LEFT BY TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF STAMFORD BRANCH

School was out for the day, but the learning commons at A.N. Myer Secondary School were still buzzing with activity.

That's where staff from the Niagara Falls Public Library (NFPL) were operating a temporary full-service library while the NFPL's Stamford Centre branch is being renovated. The branch, shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic, briefly reopened in 2021 before closing for renovations that December. One of NFPL's busiest hubs was lost.

In 2019, for example, attendance at the Stamford branch was 97,645, with 94,262 items circulated. There were 583 programs offered, with 13,186 people attending them.

"It's one of our highreadership branches," said Laura Martin, NFPL's community development and programming manager. "A lot of seniors have it as part of their routine of their day, going to the grocery store, going to the library."

The closure was only supposed to be temporary, to allow for a much-needed renovation and expansion of the space located at the Town & Country Plaza on Portage Road.

The pandemic, however, also delayed those plans, Martin said.

"It was supposed to be open long before now. The delays have just been more about paperwork. The construction tender is posted

right now. It's estimated that once the construction begins, it will be about an eight-month construction project."

The closure has left a gap in the area served by the branch, Martin said.

The NFPL wanted to do something to bridge the gap; that's when the idea for a temporary branch came to be. The only question being, where would it be?

That's when the District School Board of Niagara (DSBN) came into the picture. The board often rents out space to community organizations. Phone calls were made, and eventually, some space at Myer was offered.

"We've had great partnership with the DSBN over the years," Martin said. "They've always been a partner with class visits. We've just worked together on many, many projects."

Carolyn LoConte, communications officer for the DSBN, said the board has a history of working with community groups.

"We do a lot of community rentals, but this was a little bit different in nature," she said.

Most of the time, the DSBN rents out space for groups to use school gyms. Partnering with a library has also been done before.

"There is there is one school, I believe it's Diamond Trail, that has a shared public library with the Welland Public Library, but it was built that way."

A.N. Myer principal Kim Carruthers said the idea was new to her.

"I don't think I'd heard of it before, but we were certainly very open and willing to support it," she said. "We are part of this community and obviously we want to have the community in our building and utilizing our building and experiencing our building."

Martin, meanwhile, said the branch is offering the services of any regular

branch, including holds and pickups. Programming being offered includes a family story time, a teen program and the library's "Crafternoon" program.

Martin said materials from the NFPL's collection are bought to the site each day the branch operates.

"We're trying to keep it fresh, so we're bringing different things. And as this grows and we get to know our customers, that will help us fine-tune what we bring."

Maya Park was at the library for its teen program. A student at Myer, she liked the idea of having the NFPL branch at her school.

"It's nice, because we have more access," she said as she worked on the design of a button she was making. "A lot of students don't drive. The Grade 9s and 10s can come here."

The Myer branch operates on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 3 to 6:30 p.m.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Niagara this Week looks at how a temporary library branch at A.N. Myer Secondary School is filling a void left by the temporary closure of the Niagara Falls Public Library's Stamford Centre branch.