New Appleby Branch Relocation Update
Have you heard? Our New Appleby Branch is on the move, relocating to 5151 New Street in 2025. The Branch’s new home will be in the soon-to-be Robert Bateman Community Centre, a recreation and education hub that is under construction at the former Robert Bateman High School.
We’ve been hard at work with the City of Burlington and the project’s architects and builders, dreaming up a new and improved location for one of our beloved branches. Keep reading for a progress update. But first, we’d love to hear from you.
Share Your Input
If you couldn’t attend one of our live engagement sessions in February, we have two additional options to share your input.
- Pop by the New Appleby Branch location for one of three casual drop-in chats on March 9, March 11, or March 12.
- Complete a short survey about access to spaces and resources, technology needs, programming, and options for children and families. The survey closes March 31.
Progress Report on Planning and Construction
The Library will be one part of a community hub at this new site. We are working with our partners to plan and are on track to be part of the first group of tenants to move into the building in Fall 2025.
We’ve Got a Name!
Drumroll, please… The new location of our New Appleby Branch will be named: New Appleby!
The BPL Board decides on the name for new branch locations under our naming policy, and unanimously decided to keep the branch’s name as it relocates to this new site. The name was given to this branch decades ago when it was originally located near the corner of New Street and Appleby Line.
“This name is a reminder of how connected our branches are to the neighbourhoods they serve,” says Lita Barrie, Burlington Public Library CEO. “While New Appleby Branch is moving geographically, its staff, warm atmosphere, and strong community will remain.”
Design and Construction Update
How people use the Library has changed a lot. We are no longer simply a quiet space to borrow books and read. “This new location is all about inviting the community to explore, connect with one another, and spend time,” says Meg Uttangi Matsos, Director of Service Design & Innovation at BPL.
Construction of the Library space is part of the larger Robert Bateman Community Centre design and building project, led by the City of Burlington. Based on branch use data and growth projections, the space is designed to provide more of what you love about the existing New Appleby Branch.
The Library is located in the old cafeteria with a large bank of windows facing New Street and lots of soft seating and high ceilings. These renderings show the main areas of the branch, which feature flexible zones that can shift and evolve with changing community needs.
The design also includes sound baffling features to trap noise, individual and group study space, and a substantially larger program room. The new branch location is approximately 16,000 square feet, three times the size of the current location.
Community Engagement to Date
Early in the planning process, our team reviewed data and input from our Customer Satisfaction Survey to understand what New Appleby customers want and need. Priorities like additional space for quiet and group study, soft seating to relax or socialize, and a larger area for kids and families were included in the design.
In September and October 2023, we sourced specific input for this project to guide planning for services, resources, and programs. Between staffed outreach activities and self-guided sticker input boards at our branches, we received nearly 6,000 responses about what is important to you. These responses can be viewed in the embedded presentation below.
On February 26 and 29, we hosted in-person and virtual engagement sessions to get more detailed feedback about priority areas. Combined with the results of our current input survey, these responses and comments will help us make decisions about services, resources, and programs for the new location.
What’s Next?
We’ll continue to share progress updates on planning and construction here on our website. When our move-in date gets closer, we’ll let New Appleby customers know how branch operations will be affected during the relocation. We plan to minimize service disruptions so customers can borrow and use the branch with as little interruption as possible.
The City of Burlington also continues to plan and connect with the community regarding the entire Robert Bateman Community Centre project. You can follow their updates and provide input on their community engagement web page.
If you haven’t already, complete our online New Appleby Branch Relocation Community Input Survey. This survey closes March 31.
