Windsor Public Library’s new Central Branch is ready to welcome patrons.
The new location at 400 City Hall Square officially opens today after staff spent the past several days moving books, technology, and equipment from the former Paul Martin Building.
The new branch is on the main floor at the northern end of the building, across from Service Canada.
The library had been expected to remain in the Paul Martin Building until early 2028, but developer Rob Myers agreed to end the lease early to allow the library to relocate sooner as work proceeds on a boutique hotel.
The branch is still a temporary location as the search for a permanent home continues, and it will have a smaller collection on site than the former Central Branch.
Windsor Public Library Board chair and ward 4 councillor Mark McKenzie says the move has was smooth and the space looks amazing.
“When we first went through this space, you’ve got to try to imagine it being a library, right? And we said, ‘okay, you know what, this will work’. And then going through it now, all the books are in there, and the shelves are up, and things are set up properly, and desks are in and computers are in and it actually looks bigger than it did when it was empty. And it looks like it’s just always been a library.”
He says they weren’t able to move everything over to the new location.
“We actually were able to fit more than we originally thought. You know, obviously the material housed on site, again, it is smaller, but the access to the collection isn’t being reduced at all. So, customers are still going to have access to the Windsor Public Library’s entire collection through the library holds and the delivery system. So a little bit of an on-site, smaller on-site collection, but it doesn’t mean reduced access.”
McKenzie says while it’s temporary, it’s a great space for the branch.
“It’s going to be a lot safer than the Paul Martin building. We did have some safety concerns at the Paul Martin building, which we’ve addressed here. We have in-house security here. We got the coffee shop, and there’s a lot of synergies just with City Hall Square as well. So I’m inviting everybody to come on down, check it out, judge for yourself, and hopefully you’ll come back to the Windsor Public Library.”
McKenzie says the city is continuing conversations with the province as they hope for the permanent location to be within the Ontario Tourism Building, which is right outside of City Hall.
He adds that this will be a soft-launch and that a larger grand opening event is expected in the coming weeks.