Essex County Library Board calling for further communication and agreements among branches

Essex County library branch at 1695 Elgin Street, Ruthven, Ont. on Monday, Mar. 6, 2023. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

The Vice Chair of the Essex County Library Board wants to see formal agreements with all local municipalities to ensure everyone’s responsibilities are properly identified.

Essex mayor Sherry Bondy raised a notice of motion during the Library Board meeting on Wednesday evening, requesting that the library administration work with local municipalities to get formal agreements in place that would set out level of service benchmarks, heating and cooling agreements, health and safety expectations, or other requirements. The motion was unanimously passed.

Bondy said following the air quality concerns that were brought up and are currently being addressed at the Stoney Point Library branch, she began to question what level of service each municipality has to provide in order for the Library Board to provide adequate services.

Bondy, who also serves as the Vice Chair of the Essex County Library Board, added it would be good to spell out exactly what each municipality would be responsible for.

“And this would spell out exactly who does what,” she said.

“It could be down to the condition of the building, it could be down to snow removal, whether the building is accessible or not, it could even be the size of the building, potentially even the location. It depends on what the municipalities in the County or the Library Board come up with.”

She said that everyone needs to know what their role is, helping to ensure that services aren’t disrupted.

“Nobody wants to shut down a library, or not to have an area in service, but we also have to make sure that as the Library Board, we’re providing services in places that are safe, not only for employees, but for members of the public that goes to these branches.”

By delegating a responsibility to each, that would also put costs for improvements on the specific branch in charge.

“Municipalities would have to incorporate that in their budget,” said Bondy.

“If a roof is leaking or an air conditioner needs fixing. Another example is Amherstburg Library. The air conditioning is not working to its full potential, so that branch had to be closed. So, it could potentially spell out areas of improvement for local municipalities.”

She added that this will take time for the conversations to take place.

The Stoney Point facility closed to the public on April 30 following concerns of air quality issues as staff and library users were experiencing throat and eye irritation during periods of warmer temperatures. The Municipality of Lakeshore has opened a temporary facility to be used for the next year while those issues are being addressed. The Essex County Library posted to social media on Wednesday that the Amherstburg Branch would be closed for the day due to extreme heat and air condition issues.

- Written by Rob Hindi/AM800 News.