Southwest Library

Canada invests in new public library in Kitchener

The Government of Canada announced a federal investment of more than $5.9 million to build a new public library in Kitchener as part of the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program. 

Now accepting Public Art Expressions of Interest 

We are looking for Expressions of Interest (EOIs) to create a public art commission for the Southwest Library.

We invite artists or artist teams to submit a proposal to be considered by a jury in Kitchener Public Library's Southwest Library Public Art Competition. This is the first stage in a two-stage competition.

This call for Expressions of Interest (EOI) is open to established artists or artist teams with experience creating public art projects. The selection team will give preference to submissions from artists or teams with Indigenous, immigrant or other equity-deserving backgrounds.

Learn more about the EOI process.

Community engagement about Southwest Library began in 2019 with a Kitchener-wide community engagement strategy that saw more than 7000 participants.  

In 2020, strong support for the project was confirmed through an online survey specifically aimed at individuals living in the surrounding neighborhoods, which saw more than 1200 responses.  

In 2021, working in partnership with 4 Directions of Conservation Consulting, SpruceLab and Trophic Design. KPL held public focus groups, community partner engagement sessions, and Indigenous engagement with Land Rights Holders.  

Throughout we received feedback about design considerations and service priorities.  

Questions asked included:

• How do you want to feel when you are visiting the library?
• What activities would you like to do inside and outside the library?
• What physical elements would make it easier for you to visit and stay at the library?
• What considerations are important for making the library a safe and inclusive space?
• What community program or partnerships would benefit from a stronger relationship with the library?
• How can we respectfully acknowledge Indigenous communities in the design of the library?

We heard from the community that priorities include:

• Needing to serve a range of functions to offer both quiet and collaborative spaces
• Offering natural light
• Architectural features that welcome everyone into the space
• Providing space for art, music, and performance space 
• Animating the space with children's play and exploration space
• Bringing the outdoors in

Through Indigenous Engagement with Mississauga of the Credit First Nation and Six Nations of the Grand River we heard:

• The importance of water and access to water – library landscape design incorporates bioswales to receive rainwater runoff and a rain garden
• A desire for spaces for ceremony and gathering – library design includes spaces small and large for community gathering and opportunities for ceremony including smudging
• The importance of establishing a relationship to nature – landscape design recognizes that relationship and includes 4 directions garden and opportunities to bring outside – inside
• Consideration of circular elements in design – design presents opportunities for gathering/meeting in open space circles, circular elements included in lighting and outdoor seating
• Opportunities for teaching and sharing of Indigenous cultural practices – design incorporates opportunities for smudging. As we continue process of building relationships with Indigenous communities, there is the opportunity to develop programming to teach and share Indigenous culture

We want to foster meaningful ongoing engagement with Indigenous Right Holders to ensure that the land, building, and programming reflect the shared relationships and responsibilities to the land.

Engagement about landscape features highlighted:

• The importance of establishing a relationship with the parkland, and building connections with the adjacent school and community centre
• Making space for outdoor programming, and incorporating shade elements for gathering
• Establishing connections to planned trails through and around the site
• Establishing a learning garden

The vision for the new Southwest Library is to create a space that inspires the community and offers unique opportunities to explore traditional, digital, and emerging library services.

We want this to be a true community destination with space for gathering and connecting.  We understand that this will be a long term community resource and we want to ensure the space is flexible to accommodate future needs.

Our goal is for the space to be:

• Accessible and Welcoming
• Vibrant and Creative
• Diverse and Inclusive
• Inspiring and Engaging
• Flexible and Adaptive

With a demonstration kitchen, multi-use program room and access to surrounding outdoor space, the library is positioned to build on its nutritional literacy and gardening programs that honour the land and encourage sustainability.

A creation centre provides the community a space where they can learn skills such as coding, create audio and film recordings, and access specialized technologies.

The modular nature of the library design presents opportunities for community groups and individuals to gather, create, learn, and celebrate together.

As heard through community engagement, establishing a relationship with nature is an important part of this build. Landscape architects SpruceLab and Trophic Design have created an outdoor space that includes:

• Learning gardens
• Connections to the adjacent park and trail system
• Easy and clear circulation
• Shaded areas for seating, gathering, and reading
• Features that showcase or suggest water
• Indigenous elements to respect First Nations’ cultures and educate library visitors

Kitchener Public Library is committed to the sustainability of our services, spaces and resources. Libraries, by their nature, are a publicly-funded version of a sharing economy.  

Keeping in mind responsible stewardship, and ensuring an environmentally conscious build, the Southwest Library will be a NetZero building. This means that it will be a high energy-efficient building that produces 100% carbon-free renewable energy to offset the annual carbon emissions from the building materials and operations. This will be one of the first public libraries with this designation in Canada. 

NetZero features will include:

• Controlled use of glazing to capture solar heat
• An all-electric building (no natural gas)
• Geothermal technology
• Photovoltaic systems (solar panels)
• High performance building enclosure features include triple-panel glazing, and a thicker roof wall and floor insulation
• Custom heating, cooling and ventilation system

We are committed to creating an accessible library space that is open and inclusive for everyone in our community. Accessibility features of the Southwest Library include:

• AODA compliant design
• Design review by Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee
• Single-storey design
• Barrier-free parking
• Bus stop in front of library
• Gender neutral washrooms
• Lower shelving with wider aisles
• Open sightlines to aid interior wayfinding
• Accessible technology (screen reading software, text-to-speech software, etc.)