I am a 14-year resident of Fergus. Fergus is a town that I love dearly and am very proud of. Fergus is a town that my husband and I have chosen to raise our four children in, despite my husbands hour commute to work everyday. I am writing today because I am utterly dismayed by the unfolding of the proceedings regarding the library expansion. I cannot even begin to wrap my head around the fact that members of our very community are actually opposing this expansion. What could possibly benefit our community more than a wonderful new library and expanded green space right in our core? A library is a place that promotes knowledge, creativity, education and communal gathering. It is a place that is all-inclusive regardless of age or financial status, where you can find a quiet corner to sit and learn something new or let your imagination sore. It is also a place where one can join in a kids sing along, a book reading, a study group, a community meeting or just a nice old-fashioned conversation with a neighbor or friend. Are these not things that we should all promote and value? We are being given an amazing opportunity to expand and improve upon all of this. So much of our community will benefit from this expansion. As a parent of four and as a previous student myself, I know how vital a library becomes to the success of students studies. To have a place for my children to walk to in order to gather the resources they need for a certain project, to type up a paper, when our computer is on the fritz, or to have a safe, quiet space to join a group of fellow students in a study group is so important to myself and my husband, as I imagine it is to many parents in town. I also see a huge benefit to the overall health of our downtown. We have all seen the downtowns of many small towns around us struggle to survive, especially in the face of encroaching big box stores. This kind of public facility can only increase the foot traffic downtown and help to make our beautiful, historic downtown our centre for living. The architect of this project suggested that this building could become the living room of Fergus. What a glorious thought! I do understand that a number of parking spaces must go in order to make room for this building but it is my opinion that we need to re-evaluate our priorities somewhat. Yes, you may have to walk a block to get to your exact location but, truthfully, could we all not use that extra 3 minutes of exercise a day? I believe, that in order to keep the library accessible to all, it is important to save what spaces remain closest to the library for those that have mobility issues and that is entirely possible with appropriate signage. Please, lets be a little more creative when it comes to the towns parking, so as not to endanger this valuable project. Fergus library is currently the busiest library in the county. The library is the same size now that is was when it was built in 1911 when it served a community of just over 1,500 people. Our community is now one of over 19,000 people and is continuing to grow. It is time! We need a larger library and we need one that the people of this town can walk to. A larger and updated facility would be such a gift to all of us. Please do not allow the complaints of a vocal minority overshadow the excitement of the rest of us. As the representative of our family, I ask you to please not cancel this expansion over a few parking spaces. As we see it, the benefits of this project so outweigh the smaller inconveniences that may result. Yours truly, Tara Galberg – a proud citizen of Fergus and a huge supporter of the expansion to the Fergus Carnegie Library.
Tara Galberg