St. Albert celebrates grand opening of new Jensen Lakes library

Dozens attended the grand opening of St. Albert's Jensen Lakes branch library on Jan. 18, 2020.

EDMONTON — St. Albert’s newest library held its grand opening on Saturday.

The Jensen Lakes branch location opened at the beginning of the new year, but welcomed book lovers to celebrate it being up and running on the weekend.

CEO Peter Bailey said the library was excited to welcome people to the new location.

“We’ve been out of space at our facility in St. Albert Place downtown for almost 20 years,” he explained.

“So any new item – like a book – that we added, we had to pull something out of the collection.”

The 3,700-square foot storefront space will host roughly 8,000 items and allow the library to expand its programs.

“Libraries, right now, are as important for the things that we do as the things we have. So we’re really focusing on programs and getting people in and building community,” Bailey said.

St. Albert Public Library signed a 10-year lease for the space.

In the 2017 municipal election, residents voted against building a $22-million library.