Update on Matrix Planning Associates report

It’s amazing what you can find out when you consult a professional librarian! I was unable to find the 1988 report by Matrix Planning Associates in the Legislative Library online catalogue, but a quick phone call revealed that it is indeed conveniently located just down the hall from those who would like to eliminate the library. The reason I couldn’t find the report was because it was authored by a previous incarnation of Matrix, William Wood Consulting Ltd., and it appears that it was published in 1993, five years after it was completed. Why the delay in making the report public? I wonder if there are any other reports out there that we don’t know about?

In case anyone would like to go down and read this report, it is titled “Facilities study, Legislative Library, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, British Columbia,” with the call number Gov Doc BC B62 D:F2L4 1988. I’ll hopefully be taking a look at it this week. Stay tuned.

Reaction in the blogosphere

Here’s a quick roundup of what bloggers are saying about this issue.

LibTech Life: “The Legislative Library houses an important piece in this province’s history. Limiting its access by boxing it up and sticking it in a warehouse would be a shame. Let’s hope the library still has a future.”

Offal News: “The fact that the BC legislature has closed their library without any explanation or replacement will hobble all the members of their legislature whether they realize it or not.”

Flotsam and Jetsam: “Rattenbury is no doubt spinning in his grave end over end…”

slaw.ca, Library Tech Confidential, Concerned Librarians of British Columbia have also linked to the news stories.

Keep it coming, bloggers!

“Historic legislative library faces uncertain fate”

Here is the full version of the story first printed in the Vancouver Sun on March 16, 2007.

Historic legislative library faces uncertain fate
90-year-old facility to be closed for upgrade but may move permanently

Miro Cernetig
Vancouver Sun; with file from CanWest News Service

Saturday, March 17, 2007

VICTORIA – It has existed for 144 years as one of B.C.’s great democratic institutions: The library within the legislative buildings devoted to tirelessly researching and cataloguing the political events, laws and history of British Columbia.

But B.C.’s Speaker of the House, claiming the legislative library is in a wing that needs to be seismically upgraded, is about to close the library down for up to two years, and perhaps move it from its historic site for good.

About half the 30 librarians will be sent to other jobs in government. The millions of precious items in the library’s dusty stacks — historical Canadian documents filled with esoteric government business dating back before Confederation — will be sent to a warehouse.

“There will still be a library on the legislature’s precinct,” said Speaker Bill Barisoff, who holds the library’s fate in his hands. “The only thing difference will be the location of the books.”

That isn’t good enough for those who see the library, which has been at its current site for 90 years ago, as an important resource for non-partisan research in the heat of political debate. Documents that can sometimes be found nowhere else can be signed out by politicians, academics and journalists in a few minutes, often in time for deadlines and ongoing debates.

“It’s a tragedy,” said veteran Times Colonist columnist Jim Hume, who has used the library for more than 50 years. “My God, if the legislative chamber is the heart of the legislature, the library is its soul . . . . This is our history. If you really want to do research, you use the library where you can find everything, not the Internet.”

Barisoff said it is unclear where the contents of the library will be warehoused, but promised that materials can be available to users within 24 hours.

The New Democratic Party, which relies on the library for its research, as opposition parties always have, said nobody should panic. NDP house leader Mike Farnworth said the library will not be “banished” and that the “core collection” will stay near the legislature, if not in it.

The uncertain fate of the library only became public knowledge Friday morning, when reporters walked in for some research and were met by teary-eyed librarians.

The library here is under siege while the federal government has recognized the importance of having a library of Parliament. More than $136 million was spent on refurbishing that institution over four years and it was reopened to widespread praise.

But word is that the government covets the library’s five marble floors — all housed under a towering dome that covers cosy reading rooms with a fireplace — for office space. The legislature has faced a space crunch for decades as the number of MLAs steadily expands — now at 79 and with another four expected after the current review of electoral boundaries.

In recent weeks, Premier Gordon Campbell, a book lover who likes to promote literacy as one of the great goals for the province, checked out the facility, but not any books. That raised librarians’ suspicions something was up as the government eyes a major refit of the legislature.

Joan Barton, who ran the library for more than 30 years, told the Times Colonist the legislature’s space crunch has been long ignored and has now precipitated a rush to action. “Now they’re in crisis mode, and the premier’s office is driving this agenda,” she said, dismissing the argument that in the digital age a legislative library a few hundred metres away from the debating chamber is a waste of space.

“There is no such thing as ‘everything is on the Internet,’ ” she said. “When you say that to a librarian, they’re too polite to say so, but their first thought is: ‘I’m dealing with an idiot.’ “

mcernetig@png.canwest.com

FOR THE RECORD(S)

1863 — Library is founded with a grant of £250 to serve the Colonial Legislature of Vancouver Island.

1893 — The first librarian, R.E. Gosnell, a close friend of Premier Sir Richard McBride, establishes a separate collection of material relating to B.C. history. That forms the nucleus of the provincial archives.

1898 — Known as the Provincial Library, the collection begins a travelling library service to bring books to British Columbians because of a lack of libraries.

1974 — The library is re-christened the Legislative Library and focuses on serving the legislature, its MLAs, academics and the press gallery.

1985 — The Speaker of the Legislature takes over management and control of the library.

March 16, 2007 — News leaks out that the government plans to shut the library for up to two years for seismic upgrading and likely move it to another location.

Letters to the editor

Here are some of today’s letters to the editor of the Victoria Times-Colonist.

Save the library

Times Colonist
Tuesday, March 20, 2007

It’s truly astounding that a premier who promotes literacy would consider closing the legislative library. While I understand the space shortage, the voraciousness of wanting it for parties and receptions just because it is beautiful is repugnant.

The library should be preserved as a heritage site.

Pieta VanDyke,
Victoria.

Library’s documents cannot be in storage

Times Colonist
Tuesday, March 20, 2007

My father worked in the legislative library for 28 years, the later years in charge of government documents. Part of his work (and other of the staff) was to supply reference material to the MLAs during sessions, no matter how late an hour the house ran.

Opposition members could check on what was promised in former sessions and all could look up laws, etc. There is a serious reason for its existence. It is not simply a collection of fictional works.

I cannot understand how our elected members can have so little appreciation of the value of the library. The books of a library should be in the library, not in a warehouse across the street. This is supposed to be a government that promotes education. A library is a depository of knowledge as well as works of the imagination.

Does Speaker Bill Barisoff really expect a staff member to go out in the dark, possibly in the rain, and retrieve an item from some area on Superior Street? Has he really considered the logistics of retrieving material?

Reference librarians have special training to find material. Not everything is on the Internet. Perhaps this is a case of “spending a day in someone else’s shoes.” What is the government thinking?

The parliament buildings exist for the governing of our province, not so that a few select politicians can have wine and cheese parties.

Joyce Harrison,
Victoria.

No vanity spaces for our MLAs

Times Colonist
Tuesday, March 20, 2007

The plans for the legislative library sound ominously like the government’s earlier intention of moving Victoria’s Land Registry to New Westminster without credible regard to why it shouldn’t be. Luckily the First Nations stopped it.

Librarians who know the usefulness of their work and the diligence effect of a library atmosphere convenient for users don’t have that clout. For citizens, the quotes of former head librarian Joan Barton on the lack of space planning ring true.

Given the level of citizen distrust of government motivation shown in its recent “Conversation on Health” session, what is the standard for the government’s public accounting for its library intention that allows sensible challenge?

It should honestly state its intention, who it thinks would benefit from the intention, how they would benefit and why they should in the manner intended; and who it thinks would bear what costs and risks and why they should — both immediately and in the longer term.

No intention advances until knowledgeable people have publicly challenged the premier’s assertions and have had them audited for their fairness and completeness, including the dollars. It’s not a Speaker decision; it’s the executive government’s.

The increased number of MLAs may well mean new efficient offices, but they don’t need to create vanity space.

Henry McCandless,
Victoria.

“Legislative library will be closed to make space for offices”

From the Vancouver Sun.

Legislative library will be closed to make space for offices
 
Miro Cernetig
Vancouver Sun

Friday, March 16, 2007

VICTORIA — It has existed for 144 years as one of B.C.’s great democratic institutions: The library housed inside the capital’s legislative buildings devoted to tirelessly researching and cataloguing the political events, laws and history of British Columbia.
But B.C.’s Speaker of the House is about to close the legislative library down for up to two years, and perhaps move it for good from its historic site, claiming it is in a wing of the legislature that needs to be seismically upgraded to make it safe in an earthquake.

About half the 30 librarians will be sent to other jobs in government. As for the millions of precious, and in some cases priceless, materials in its dusty stacks, a treasure trove of Canadian history filled with the esoteric businesses of governments dating back before Confederation, will be sent to a warehouse. It’s also not clear the institution will ever come back to the legislature since the politicians, who are are short on space, have been eying the cavernous space for a warren of offices.

“There will still be a library on the legislature’s precinct (the property around the legislature),” Speaker Bill Barisoff, who holds the library’s fate in his hands. “The only thing different will be the location of the books.”

That wasn’t good enough for those who see the library — first moved into the legilsature aboout 90 years ago — as an important outlet for nonpartisan research in the heat of political debate.

Documents that can sometimes be found nowhere else — or take weeks to obtain — can be signed out by politicians, academics and journalists in a few minutes, often in time for deadlines and ongoing debates.

A response from the Speaker

The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Bill Barrisof, has responded to comments made by former head librarian Joan Barton (see here for her comments in the Times-Colonist).

Decision on library not made
Speaker

Times Colonist
Tuesday, March 20, 2007

I am surprised and dismayed by comments made by retired legislative librarian Joan Barton on the prospect of relocating the legislative library.

In a 1988 report on the legislative library, resubmitted in 1992 to then-Speaker Joan Sawicki, Barton herself recommends to “build a new library on the Armouries site with modern facilities to meet the conditions of the 21st century to improve library efficiency and free up space in the present building for the office needs of MLAs.”

She saw that the demands for space in the building and the demands of the library itself would continue to grow.

That demand still remains. In the past 20 years the number of MLAs has risen from 65 to 79.

An Electoral Boundaries Commission report due later this year could recommend increasing that number by up to six more MLAs.

Space requirements in the buildings are a challenge, but how to resolve that challenge is yet to be decided.

A seismic upgrade for the library is our first priority in order to ensure the safety of the staff and documents.

Beyond that, it will be up to an all-party committee of MLAs to decide how best the legislative precinct can serve the legislative assembly and the public.

The legislature and its library are important to us all and represent a proud tradition.

Jumping to conclusions without the facts does a great disservice to that tradition.

Bill Barisoff,
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.

Curiously, Barisoff does not mention the other 1988 report that concluded that moving the library off-site would not solve the space problem back when there were only 65 MLAs.

A view from back East

Offal News explains why closing the B.C. Legislative Library is a bad idea:

One sign of civilized legislatures everywhere is the presence of a well-organized and accessible legislative library for use by the legislators and their staff. Without a dedicated library and staff to support elected members and provide them with useful information they need on which to base their decisions, the quality of the legislative process as a whole can’t help but suffer.

And when that suffers, we all suffer.

Read the rest here.

Legislative library was on the chopping block before

Apparently this is not the first time that a B.C. government has eyed the library wing as a way to expand office space in the parliament buildings. In the late 1980’s, Matrix Planning Associates was contracted to study this option, and here is a summary of their findings:

The Legislative Library occupies 3500 m2 on four levels of the Legislative Building South Wing. The purpose of our study was to examine the potential to release some of the space for alternative uses. Analysis focused on determining possible reductions in the Library’s collection and identifying functions that could be relocated outside of the Legislative Buildings. We also assessed the suitability of the released space for use by other Legislative functions. We concluded that, while reductions were identified, reassigning space occupied by the Library did not offer a ready solution to escalating space needs and it may be best to consider all demands on the Legislative Buildings in an overall, long term strategic development plan. Completed in 1988.

It is 20 years later now and officials are still looking for quick and dirty solutions to difficult, long-term problems. Adding on to the parliament buildings would certainly be expensive but it makes far more sense than cannibalizing the legislative library. Consider that there were 14 fewer MLAs when Matrix concluded that converting the public library to private offices would not solve the space problem. To think that it would solve the problem now is ludicrous. It was a short-sighted plan in 1988 and it is still a short-sighted plan in 2007. The difference is that the politicians of 2007 have this taxpayer-paid report to refer to; they have only to ask for it. This is a prime example of why the legislative library and its librarians are sorely needed by MLAs in order to give us good government.

“Library captures B.C.’s history”

A letter to the editor from the Victoria Times-Colonist:

Library captures B.C.’s history

Times Colonist

Tuesday, March 20, 2007
 

CREDIT: Ray Smith, Times Colonist The reception area of the legislative library creates a dazzling first impression for the visitor. Many letter writers question the government’s reasoning behind a proposal to move the library and its collection to another site.

Access to the valuable resources in the legislative library is difficult enough due to the increased security measures at the legislature. The removal to another site may require further restrictions similar to those found in the provincial archives.

One of the advantages of the current library system is that, with the assistance of the librarian, one may “browse” through documents which relate the history and precedents of our parliamentary system before the existence of Hansard.

Using a system based upon that in the archives leaves the researcher dependent upon the cataloger’s opinion of what are the “key subject” words and oftimes leads the researcher astray.

For example, somewhere within the dungeons of the library lies the Report of the Select Committee of January/February 1895 which relates the problems the building contractor, Frederick Adams, was having with Francis Rattenbury or, to quote Premier Theodore Davie, “There is always trouble with contractors.” Published but lost, it cannot be found in archives but should be somewhere within the library.

Also, I’m sure that there is a report as to how, during the construction of the legislative library itself, 1911 to 1914, William John Bowser, Conservative member for Vancouver and then Attorney General, had, in 1912, a home constructed on Terrace Avenue (designed by Samuel Maclure) using the same contractors (McDonald and Wilson) and incorporating the same stone used on the partially constructed library. Makes someone’s back deck seem insignificant in comparison.

I hope that the matter of the closure or relocation be given careful consideration. The use of the library in its present form serves the public, students of political science and research and communications staff within the legislature.

The loss of this resource would be a serious one and the matter should be given careful consideration before proceeding.

Ken Johnson,

Victoria.

“Dark day for legislature library”

From the Victoria Times-Colonist:

Dark day for legislature library

Les Leyne
Times Colonist

The B.C. legislature library is closing down indefinitely for a seismic upgrade, and there is widespread concern it won’t reopen.

     The 29 staff in the 90-year-old building attached to the back of the legislature building were told this week to start packing for a move when the current session concludes this spring. The bulk of the library’s vast collection of historical documents will be shipped to a warehouse. A core collection of essential materials will be moved to another government building on Superior Street, just behind the legislature. Significant staff reductions are expected, but library staff have been told work will be found for anyone laid off.

     What happens after the historic building is quakeproofed still hasn’t been decided, Speaker Bill Barisoff said Friday. A management committee which includes the Speaker and members of the Liberal and NDP caucus will make the final decision, he said.

     The options include creating a reception area for official functions and more office space for MLAs and their staff. The steady increase in the number of politicians who inhabit the buildings has made space allocation a perennial concern. The number of MLAs has increased from 65 to 79 over the last 20 years. An electoral boundaries commission reviewing B.C. constituencies could increase that by another six.

     Speaker Bill Barisoff said the intent is to start as soon as possible in relocating the collection, but it will all be retrievable. Much of it is  headed for a warehouse in Central Saanich.

     He acknowledged the plans for alternate uses of the building, but said they have to be approved by a legislative management committee, which includes MLAs from the Liberal and New Democrat caucuses. 

     “There will still be a library,” he said. “The only thing different will be the location of the books.”

     The library was founded in 1863 for the Crown Colony of Vancouver Island. It was established at the rear of the legislature in 1915, when the annex was completed. It currently includes hundreds of thousands of historical documents, microfilmed newspaper archives going back 100 years and a reading room, among other features. It primarily serves the needs of the MLAs and their staff. Members of the public are allowed use at specified times when the house isn’t sitting.

     The reorganization of the venerable institution has outraged a former head librarian. Joan Barton, who ran the library for more than 30 years, said that successive legislatures have ignored the space problems in the building. “It was the optics. They were worried about building grand new offices for politicians.”

     Several plans were drawn up over the years to build new quarters and make more room. They included annexes, refurbishment of an old armory building adjacent to the legislature and a revamp of the whole legislative precinct. But nothing was done. “Now they’re in crisis mode, and the premier’s office is driving this agenda.”

     Premier Gordon Campbell and senior staff spent some time touring the library several weeks ago.

     One of the arguments advanced in favour of the reorganization was that much of the reference material often asked for is available online. But Barton scorned that explanation. “There is no such thing as ‘everything is on the Internet.’ When you say that to a librarian, they’re too polite to say so, but their first thought is: ‘I’m dealing with an idiot.’”

     Barton accused Speaker Barisoff of “just going along” with the premier’s plan and failing to defend the legislature.

     Barisoff said: “That’s the furthest thing from the truth.”

     He said he’s been working with the premier’s office to advance a wholesale renovation of the building, because it would cost a significant amount of money. But much of the concept came from his office, he said.