In response to Sylvia Foreman's defense of the Bright's Grove Library/Community Hub, I want to propose that the Gallery in the Grove simply move out and rent a space elsewhere instead of taking up half the library's premises rent-free. Then the library could expand back upstairs and add a small elevator to make it accessible […]
In response to Sylvia Foreman's defense of the Bright's Grove Library/Community Hub, I want to propose that the Gallery in the Grove simply move out and rent a space elsewhere instead of taking up half the library's premises rent-free. Then the library could expand back upstairs and add a small elevator to make it accessible to all.
Ms. Foreman is inventing "needs" that the Grove doesn't have. This whole project is aimed at imaginary users–not the people who actually live in the Grove and find our library quite sufficient–especially since we can reserve items not only from other Sarnia-Lambton libraries but from other more far-flung libraries… and we can pick them up right at our own convenient local! Our library staff are helpful and friendly and they know their users. I have lived in the Grove since '08 and there is no "community" to speak of beyond those who gather at Kenwick park for music and sports and french fries or those who attend various churches' events or those who participate in parades. The last time we "needed" space for a "community" gathering, we used Huron Oaks to discuss the (then-) proposal to bulldoze Herbie Crabb's to build a bunch of houses for imaginary people. We didn't have to build a place to gather to have our say. As it is, we also have schools and churches who are generous with their spaces when needed.
Let's spend that money on improving the infrastructure of the city for those who live here already, rather than trying to cater to imaginary needs of people who might move here sometime in the future.
Carla MacDonald
