Heather Wright/The Independent

With just 17 people checking out books and no room to expand, the writing was on the wall for the Shetland Library.

Tuesday, Andrew Meyer, general manager of cultural services, and Darlene Coke, the manager of Lambton County’s libraries, came to Dawn-Euphemia council laying out the facts and presenting their solution; the closure of the Shetland Library. And Dawn-Euphemia agreed.

Libraries across Lambton are staffed and operated by the county but each municipality owns the physical buildings. The Shetland Library, a tiny building on the corner of Florence and Shetland Road, has served the community for decades. In 2016, almost 9,700 books and videos were taken out from the Shetland branch. But when the pandemic hit in 2020, that slowed to a trickle – just 677 items. Circulation has bounced back a bit to 986 in 2023, but it is just a tenth of what it was a decade ago.

“While the library’s patron records reveal that there are 56 patrons who have selected Shetland Library as their ‘home’ library branch, in the last year, only 17 of these patrons borrowed physical items from the library,” writes Coke in a report to Lambton County and Dawn-Euphemia councils.

The building is also in need of repairs. The branch is too small to meet the guidelines set for Lambton libraries. There is not enough room for the book collection, study space, programs, and place for a maker space. It also needs another computer. 

The building is also in need of repairs and there is not room to make changes for accessibility. 

County officials are also concerned about accessibility. That can only be solved with an addition. And that, according to Dawn-Euphemia Mayor Al Broad, is the biggest problem. The property line tightly circles the building and there is not land available to buy. “We’re not able to do anything without that. If you look at the actual property, it’s very limited in space,” he says.

Councillor Paul LeBoeuf agreed; “We can’t fix it.”

The closure of the community library which has served the Euphemia portion of the municipality since the 1940s, wouldn’t mean less service in the township, says Coke. Shetland’s hours could be transferred to the Florence Library, also within Dawn-Euphemia. That would double service there, providing 24 hours of service five days of the week. 

Coke added more services, like a 3D printer, could be placed in the Florence Library with the added room and extra hours. And it would allow the Florence library to offer more programs. Coke says libraries like Shetland – with just rows of books – are a dying breed.

For people who wouldn’t be able to get to the Florence Library, there is a ‘Library by Mail’ service that allows people to order books and have them sent by mail to their homes. They also return them by mail – with a postage-paid envelope provided by the library.

Council unanimously approved the closure.

“It’s a shame,” says Councillor Ann Gray, “because it was a pillar of the community. Iremember my kids going all the time… but yeah, like you said, times are changing, and they don’t have a lot of room there.”

Broad agreed it was the end of an era in Shetland saying he remembers riding his bike to the library as a young boy.

Even county officials admit its tough to close what was once an important part of the community.

“It’s challenging to contemplate a closure of a library,” said Meyer. “Certainly that’s not our priority … especially when it’s a loss of service to the community. “But we think this provides a good alternative where the service hours can be maintained and the actual service delivery can be enhanced,” he said.

A closing date has not yet been set.