The Silver Creek branch of Okanagan Regional Library is looking for a new place to stack its books.
School District #83 no longer uses the Silver Creek School annex building that currently houses the library.
And while the school district has made clear that the library is welcome to remain in the building, they will have to assume operating costs as well.
“The school district used to use part of the building but moved out about a year-and-a-half ago,” says Sterling Olson, School District #83’s secretary treasurer.
“The library is the only occupant and because we’re not needing the facility, they will have to be responsible.”
Meanwhile, Okanagan Regional Library communications manager Michele Rule says the organization cannot afford to take over the entire annex building.
“We are looking at other opportunities and no decisions will be made until we do have community consultation,” she says, noting ORL plans to give members of the public an opportunity to provide input on the Silver Creek library in the near future. “So we hope when we hold the community consultation a lot of people will come.”
Olson also quashed rumours that the Silver Creek School will close because of a shortage of students.
No such conversation has been held at the board, he said, noting that if a school gets to a point where there is a four-grade split, the board would be concerned about the quality of education being provided in such a mix. And the solution in that case would not necessarily be to close a school. There are currently 50 students enrolled and there are split-grade classes in every age group.