Skip to content

Rocky View County council votes to pursue library for Langdon

The community of Langdon is in luck, as Rocky View County (RVC) council voted to pursue the development of a library in the hamlet on April 27.

The community of Langdon is in luck, as Rocky View County (RVC) council voted to pursue the development of a library in the hamlet on April 27.

During council's regular meeting, Coun. Al Schule made the motion for RVC administration to pursue the development of a library in the hamlet and prepare a formal plan, including all cost implications, to be presented to council in the future.

“I think we have a great opportunity here due to the gift the Langdon Library Society (LLS) received,” said Schule, who is the area councillor for Langdon. “I feel this is important and a great asset to the community.”

The motion comes after LLS was gifted a full-service library from the dissolved municipality of Cereal, Alta. last year. The gift, according to LLS chairperson Debra Carrobourg, is valued at approximately $150,000. It contains roughly 4,000 items, including shelves, desks, furniture, books, cabinets and computers.

During Carrobourg’s presentation to council, she said with a population of more than 5,300 in Langdon, with many children under the age of 15, a library would be an important addition to the community.

“Community members have expressed their desire to have a public library to benefit residents of all ages and economic means. Langdon residents consider this request to be a high priority,” she said.

According to Carrobourg, the two most important items to be dealt with to make the amenity a reality are finding a suitable location and the commitment of ongoing, sustainable funding from the County. 

She outlined four potential locations for council’s consideration. The first is Langdon’s old fire hall, which will be vacated by RVC Fire Services this year. Carrobourg’s presentation said the estimated cost to bring the facility up to code for public use is estimated to be $9,700. Costs for insurance, utilities and upkeep still need to be finalized in consultation with RVC administration.

The second option, according to Carrobourg, is a modular structure on the same property lot as the old fire hall, which would cost $465,000.

The third option is an existing commercial space located on Centre Street in Langdon, which Carrobourg's report indicated would cost in the neighbourhood of $216,000 for a five-year lease.

The final option presented was to use portable ATCO trailers, which would cost around $126,000.

“The need for conveniently accessible library services for such a large and youthful population is long overdue,” Carrobourg’s presentation stated. “There is no other community in Alberta with such a large population that does not have a public library facility. Seventeen other Alberta communities of comparable size to Langdon have a public library facility – established some time ago.”

The item was passed unanimously.

Jordan Stricker, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @Jay_Strickz

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks