Category: News

The Sackville Public Library is too small, and local leaders are looking to fix that with a bigger, better space to serve a growing local population.

The current library is “a far cry” from the 8,200 square feet recommended by the provincial library service, said board chair Merrill Fullerton.

With the basement of the library only accessible by stairs, that leaves the main floor of the small building to host the library’s books, public computer workstations, circulation desk and programming areas.

“We’re only talking about usable space of about 2,600 [square feet],” Fullerton said, “so we’re a fraction of where we should be.”

The target of 8,200 square feet comes from a needs assessment by the provincial library service based on Sackville’s 2021 census population of 6,099, according to Fullerton.

The province said it cannot share the needs assessment with CBC News because it is a draft document.

Fullerton recently presented the board’s case to Tantramar council, requesting the municipality’s help in addressing the need for more accessible space.

While New Brunswick’s public libraries are run by the province, local municipalities are responsible for the facilities, and local library boards serve to advocate for the community’s needs.

“This is [the municipality’s] building,” Fullerton said. “And they have been very gracious and generous over the years in terms of keeping it maintained.”

But now it’s time to start figuring out what a larger facility might look like, he said.

Larger, multipurpose space preferred

The Sackville library board is open to any proposal that would meet its space and accessibility requirements, said Fullerton, including private partnerships or leasing opportunities.

Currently, the municipality leases space for the Dorchester Public Library from the non-profit Westmorland Historical Society.

The board’s preference, Fullerton said, is “to see us be an anchor tenant as part of a larger facility that can serve other needs in the community, whether that’s the farmers’ market or theatre or arts or performing arts.”

“I think there’s some real, interesting potential to see a multi-use facility emerge,” Fullerton said.

Multipurpose building a recurring conversation in Sackville

A new multipurpose municipal building has been a topic of conversation in Sackville for decades, said Tantramar Coun. Michael Tower, who sits as a liaison on the Sackville Library board.

The idea has come up every few years around the council table, but because of the high probable cost and the difficult question of locating such a building, it “never really got off the ground,” Tower said.

In recent years the Sackville Farmers’ Market has been pitching the idea of a new multipurpose municipal building as it searches for a permanent year-round location to host Saturday markets.

Market chair Greg Burton said the market participated in a rough construction estimate for a building in 2021, and council voted to form a committee to work on the problem in 2023.

Ultimately, the proposition “doesn’t make sense for the town to invest in something solely for the Farmers’ Market.”

“The market can’t do it on its own,” said Burton, who welcomed the library board’s push for it as well.

Board open to fundraising

The current library building opened in 1984 after a grassroots funding campaign, and Fullerton said today’s board is also open to helping fund the new building.

“We have the ability to fundraise right now,” he said, “once we know what this is going to look like.”

“We really need to hear officially from [the municipality] on where they see this going and how that can tie in to some other community needs.”

“This is going to be many years in the making, we recognize that … but we want to see that officially get underway.”

Decisions on any future library or multipurpose building projects “will be on the new council,” Tower said.

With municipal elections just two months away on May 11, the veteran councillor said it’s not appropriate for the sitting council to take on a major new project.

But the library’s current size limitations may be a hard issue to avoid, Tower said.

“With Sackville’s population still growing, I think the new council would have to give great consideration towards doing something.”

Source: CBC New Brunswick

The board of trustees for Saint John’s public libraries is calling for more security after its branches have seen an increase in safety-related incidents which have, in some cases, left staff afraid to be at work.

“That’s the hard part because we are a community area where people come to either read or take part in some of our programs,” said Johanne McInnis, who chairs of the board.

“We should be a safe environment for our patrons as well as our staff.”

McInnis sent a letter to Saint John council asking for more security funding for the three public library branches — one each on the east and west sides of the city and a central branch uptown in Market Square.

The letter was a part of the city council’s Feb. 9 agenda and is currently being reviewed by city staff. The city said in a statement that staff did not have additional comment to share at this time.

The frequency of incidents, McInnis said, grew in 2025 and has so far continued in the early months of 2026.

“The fact that these are escalating at such a high rate just in the last year is what caused the board of trustees to go back to the City of Saint John and look for a larger budget for security services,” she said.

McInnis said library management has tried different mitigation strategies, including procedures for reporting violent incidents and monthly safety talks.

“But regardless of everything that we’ve tried to put in place, it is a rattling effect when someone comes in and very disruptive and sometimes a little scary,” she said.

“We feel at this point that we don’t want to risk anyone getting harmed, be they patron or otherwise.”

Province says safety incidents increasing in major cities

Saint John police spokesperson Staff Sgt. Shawna Fowler said in a statement that police responded to public safety-related calls a total of 48 times across all three branches in 2025 — the previous two years it was between 37 and 39.

Police responded 39 times to the central branch in 2025. So far in 2026, police responded to the three branches a total of nine times. Those are the calls that needed “outside intervention.”

In total, McInnis said that 179 incidents were documented in the past year. She said she couldn’t give specifics but said 45 incidents in 2025 and 15 this year so far involved “intolerable” or “unacceptable” behaviours.

Those include drug use or paraphernalia in the library, disruptive behaviour, refusing to leave the library when asked, verbal or physical harassment and others, including criminal acts according to the library’s conduct policy.

The central branch does have Commissionaires security. But the guards can only work in an observational capacity and can’t intervene if need arises, McInnis said.

She said the municipal board of trustees will be meeting with city staff in the coming week to discuss the request and next steps.

Libraries in the province fall under a provincial department — the New Brunswick Public Library Service — but, according to the department’s website, “participating municipalities are responsible for providing and maintaining library facilities.”

“[Funding] usually falls to the municipalities because we usually have a memorandum of understanding when a library is set up in a city, village or a town for that matter,” McInnis said.

“And that’s basically who provides the funding for our operational day-to-day budget.”

CBC News contacted the library directors of both Fredericton and Moncton’s libraries, but requests were referred to the Public Library Service.

Communications officer Rebecca Howland said in a statement that libraries have seen an increase in the frequency and severity of incidents in the larger cities.

Howland would not provide an interview but said Moncton’s libraries saw 21 “intolerable” incidents — mostly verbal abuse — since library reporting policies changed in 2025. Fredericton saw 27 and Saint John’s main branch 26.

Roughly a quarter of both Saint John’s main branch and Moncton’s libraries involved “physical violence.” Ninety per cent in Moncton and 42 per cent in Saint John involved verbal abuse.

A nationwide problem

Libraries across the country have been facing similar public safety challenges for years.

Mary Chevreau, executive director of the Canadian Urban Public Libraries Council, said that libraries nationwide have been seeing issues steadily increase since 2017.

Previous reporting showed sharp increases in security incidents in 2022 and 2023 in cities like Toronto and Winnipeg.

Saint John’s uptown-based library is also surrounded by businesses that have in recent years seen increases in criminal behaviour, which have been attributed to the growth in the city’s homeless population.

Chevreau said increased homelessness along with increases in fentanyl use have been factors around the country and that libraries, being open spaces, feel the impacts.

“Libraries play into this because we are still one of the most welcoming, most open spaces available to anyone within our community,” she said.

“We don’t ask questions. They don’t have to spend money — they can come in and get warm.”

McInnis said that for Saint John — specifically the main branch with the highest number of incidents — its centralized uptown location makes it a target.

Both Chevreau and McInnis say this has resulted in library staff having to respond to these issues. Chevreau said in many libraries this has meant library staff having to administer naloxone in overdose situations.

For Saint John, McInnis says, this has meant staff have been trained to de-escalate conflicts that can become violent.

“But there’s only so much staff can do before it could become dangerous,” she said.

Chevreau said that while these incidents are the current reality of libraries, they aren’t the majority of incidents. She doesn’t want people looking at libraries as unsafe spaces and encourages people to visit their libraries.

“You will find a very beautiful space where you can relax, you can read, you can learn, you can develop a community,” she said.

Source: CBC New Brunswick

The Atlantic Provinces Library Association administers the Carin Alma E. Somers Scholarship Trust. The trust provides an annual scholarship in her name to assist a Canadian citizen who is an Atlantic Provinces resident needing financial assistance to undertake or complete the academic requirements leading to a master’s degree in library science and information studies. The program must be accredited by the American Library Association. Applicants must be accepted or currently enrolled in an accredited program. The terms of the scholarship restrict eligibility to residents of Atlantic Canada. Funds are awarded on a competitive basis and financial need is a consideration.

Application, including supporting documentation should be submitted by March 31, to the attention of the Vice-President/President Elect at president-elect@cna.nl.ca

Carin Somers Scholarship Application

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La Atlantic Provinces Library Association gère la Bourse d’études postsecondaires Carin Alma E. Somers Scholarship Trust. À chaque année, le fonds distribue une bourse en son nom afin de venir en aide à un citoyen ou une citoyenne canadien(ne) qui réside dans une des provinces de l’Atlantique et qui a besoin d’aide financière pour entreprendre ou terminer la maîtrise en bibliothéconomie. Le boursier ou la boursière est accepté(e) au programme de la maîtrise en bibliothéconomie dans une institution postsecondaire accréditée par la American Library Association.

Les critères de la bourse limitent la participation aux résidant(e)s du Canada Atlantique. La bourse est offerte sur une base compétitive et les besoins financiers sont considerés.

Les demandes avec documents à l’appui doivent être soumises d’ici le 31 mars et envoyées à l’adresse suivante: VP, President Elect president-elect@apla.ca

La Bourse Carin Alma E. Somer

Change is coming to Halifax’s North Memorial Public Library where no significant renovations have been completed since its opening in 1966.

The $34.5 million project will modernize the library, lining up the building’s accessibility features with the Rick Hansen Foundation’s gold standards and improving the building’s energy efficiency.

“It is a major renovation but our goal is to keep it familiar to the community,” said Megan Gainer, director of facilities with Halifax Public Libraries.

Gainer said the library has about 1,000 users per day with only one program room and one small meeting room, both of which are booked around the clock. The renovations will double the space accessed by the public by making use of the building’s lower level which has become a private area for library services such as the IT department.

“The plan is to actually take over that whole lower level again and give it back to the public,” Gainer said.

The project’s design is being guided by public input to ensure the library’s historic and community value is preserved through the renovations.

The library was built around the same time African Nova Scotians were displaced from the city’s historic Africville community. It became an important community space and saw the birth of the Black History Association in 1987. The library continues to be important to the community today; in 2019, the space was used to discuss illegal and discriminate street checks by police.

“The residents were displaced, they were put into a home that didn’t feel like home, and so they really turned the library into their home,” Gainer said. “We want to make sure that it remains that familiar anchor within the community, so things will change but things will also stay the same.”

The project is still in its design phase which is expected to wrap up this year. The plan is to begin renovations in 2027 with a 2029 completion. During that time the building will be closed but a separate, temporary location will be leased nearby so the public can continue to have library access.

A community engagement session will be held at the library on Saturday, Feb. 28 from noon to 4 p.m. to discuss the project and receive feedback from the community. There is also a survey available on the project’s website.

Source: CBC Nova Scotia