Why a Renewed Central Library is Vital for a Healthy Downtown Regina

Did you know a busy downtown library is vitally important for a healthy downtown?

Roughly one-quarter of Regina Public Library’s 1.5 million annual visits occur at Regina’s downtown Central Library.

These visits are an essential part of Regina’s downtown, making downtown a safer, more vibrant, and more attractive area for other businesses, and for Regina residents and tourists.

The Canadian Urban Institute’s Report, The Case for Canada’s Public Libraries reminds us that “libraries are catalysts for neighbourhood and downtown revitalization…they’ve anchored plans to create strong downtown.”

One of the biggest spin-offs is that downtown libraries serve as a catalyst for economic development: people who visit libraries also visit nearby shops, restaurants, and businesses.

How do we know that?

We can look at what’s happened in other cities when they build a new central library:

• Calgary built a new library, doubled the number of visits to its downtown location and it has sustained that foot traffic ever since. Revitalization continues around this new library and the increased number of library visitors are key for this healthy downtown neighbourhood.
• The former Halifax Central Library welcomed the same number of annual visits that Regina’s Central Library currently sees at around 400,000. When Halifax opened a new library in 2014, the number of visits soared to two million per year. It also prompted development and revitalization of nearby businesses and housing.

We are confident a renewed Central Library will bring more foot traffic downtown:

• Central Library currently averages 400,000 visitors per year.
• We expect to add an additional 250,000-500,000 annual visits with a modern building. If we have the same experience as Halifax, we will see even more annual visitors.

More people downtown also encourages more people to live downtown and, just like in Halifax, we expect a renewed downtown library will spur new residential development.

Research Junction, a University of Saskatchewan and City of Saskatoon joint initiative, looked at ways to make downtown Saskatoon a more desirable place to live. They cited feedback from downtown residents indicating that public library facilities are important to increase the number of residents in a downtown location.

We anticipate that a renewed Central Library will contribute to a healthy downtown Regina where more people will want to live, work, and visit.