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Services During Construction
Under construction . . . but open for business!
Work is continuing to progress on our renovation and expansion project. Excavation of Phase One of the underground parking garage is now complete. Over 7,000 dump trucks of earth were removed from the site for the underground parking complex! Concrete is now being poured and the underground garage is starting to take shape.
A 230 ft. tower crane has also been installed on our construction site to move heavy materials and equipment into and out of the construction site. What an impressive sight!
Once phase one of the underground parking complex is completed, construction will begin on our new 25,000 square foot addition to the rear of the library, followed by the complete renovation of the original library building.
Despite construction, the Main Library remains open for business, and continues to serve over 1,000 customers each day out of the Queen Street location. In addition, Kitchener Public Library’s four full-service Community Library locations will remain open as usual throughout the Main Library’s renovation project. Your library Card is valid at all KPL locations, and borrowed materials can be returned to any of our five locations.
We encourage you to use the construction period as an opportunity to visit your nearest neighbourhood library location. For your convenience, each Community Library has free parking!
We are committed to giving our customers as much advance notice as possible of any disruptions to service that we may encounter. The list at right are services or collections that have been impacted by construction.
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Our Community Library Network
Click on the links below to learn more about our Community Library locations.
(Note: links will open in a new window or tab.)
"On-the-grow" Collection
We’re “On-the-Grow!” To thank our Main Library customers for their continued patience and loyalty during our renovation and construction period, we’ve created a special collection of popular, high interest items, available exclusively at the Main Library. These new books, CDs & DVDs for children, teens & adults are identified with a special construction helmet sticker. Unlike Express Reads & Express Views, regular loan periods apply. Borrow your favourites for longer!
The new “On-the-Grow” items are located near the Main Library’s Circulation desk.
Come inside to see what’s new!
Parking Access
To accommodate the construction of our new underground parking garage and subsequent new library addition,
the small parking lot behind the Main Library has been closed. Pay-and-display parking is available at the adjacent
Centre-in-the-Square lot and some on-street parking is available on nearby streets.
Short duration and all-day parking is also available at the Duke & Ontario garage, City Hall garage, Kitchener Market
garage, and the new parking structure at Charles & Benton St. (scheduled to open in spring 2011).
Click on the parking maps below for detailed information on available parking near the library and throughout the downtown.
Despite ongoing construction work, the library remains open as usual.
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Book Drop Relocation
To accommodate phase one of our construction project, the Main Library’s book drop has been relocated to the front Queen Street entrance. The relocated Main Library book drop will only be available when the library is closed. During regular opening hours, customers are asked to return their material inside the library.
For your convenience, library materials can also be returned to any of our four community library locations.
Lower Floor Closure
In order to accommodate the relocation of staff to the Main Library’s lower floor during Phase One construction, there is NO PUBLIC ACCESS to the Main Library’s lower level, with the exception of the lower floor public washrooms adjacent to the Queen Street stairwell.
The relocation of staff will begin the week of November 8th.
We anticipate the move of staff and equipment to take approximately three days. Although we expect minimal
disruption to normal library operations, there may at times be higher than usual demands on our elevator.
We apologize for any inconvenience this relocation process may cause.
Meeting Room Rentals
In preparation for our Central Library renovation and expansion, Meeting Rooms will not be available for rental at the Main Library on 85 Queen Street North as of June 30th, 2010, and for the duration of our construction project. Meeting Room availability will resume at our new Central Library following the completion of our renovation project, which is anticipated in early 2013.
Room rentals will continue to be available at our branch library locations. Click here for room rental details.
Free Flicks Movies
Effective the end of August 2010, our Free Flicks program at the Main Library will be taking a temporary break to accommodate the renovation and expansion of our Central Library. Construction is scheduled to begin this fall, and Free Flicks will resume following the completion of our renovation, which is anticipated in early 2013.
Materials Donations
Due to limited storage space available during our renovation and construction period, Kitchener Public Library will no longer be accepting material donations at any KPL location. However, the Grace Schmidt Room of Local History will stil be accepting items of historical significance. If you wish to make a material donation to our Local History colleciton, please conact the Local History Librarian at 519-743-0271 ext. 252.
The suspension of material donations is a temporary measure only, and to accommodate construction. KPL will resume accepting donated materials once our Central Library renovations are completed.
Please click here for a list of alternative organizations who may be able to accept your donated materials
Toy Library & Parenting Resource Collection
To accommodate for the relocation of staff during our Central Library Renovation and Expansion, the Family Resource Centre
and Toy Library will be closed effective Friday, October 1st. The Parenting Collection will be relocated to an area adjacent to the Children’s non-fiction collection and will continue
to be available throughout construction.
A lending Toy Collection is also available at our Pioneer Park Community Library, located at 150 Pioneer Drive.
Homework Centre
To accommodate our Central Library Renovation and Expansion project, the Homework Centre will be closing. Group and individual advance bookings will cease as of October 1st.
We anticipate that all six computers from the Homework Centre will be relocated near the existing Teen Area and the Level 1 Information Desk. There will be a short delay between the closing of the Homework Centre and the availability of the computers in their new location.
Reference Collection Integration
Beginning the week of September 27th, all adult non-fiction and reference material located in the upper floor reference wing, and spanning the range 000 – 299, will be integrated with the non-fiction collections located in the adjacent area behind the Information Desk. This shift is needed to accommodate the demolition of the rear portion of the library in preparation for the construction of our underground parking garage and new addition.
It is estimated that the integration process will take about 10 days to complete and we do not anticipate any major disruption to customers accessing the materials involved.
Autism Collection Relocation
Beginning the week of September 20th, the Autism Collection will be relocated to our Grand River Stanley Park Community Library. We do not anticipate that the relocation process will result in any significant disruption to accessing this collection. Location codes will be updated in our online catalogue to reflect the new location.
Musical Scores Collection Relocation
Beginning the week of September 20th, the Musical Score Collection will be relocated to our Country Hills Community Library. We do not anticipate that the relocation process will result in any significant disruption to accessing this collection. Location codes will be updated in our online catalogue to reflect the new location.
Community Information Boards
With the closure of the Main Library’s lower floor, the community Information bulletin board (formerly used for the display of posters and community announcements) will no longer be available. In addition, due to the adult non-fiction collection shift on the upper floor, space for take-away community information brochures and flyers will no longer be available. However, our Information Staff are always available to assist customers with questions about community organizations and events.
Our Community Libraries will continue to display community posters, announcements and flyers, space permitting.