We spent $87.85 million on the facility. Sorry there is no space for you

The City of Vancouver recently opened a new 7,000 square foot library branch. It is located in a community centre that is a legacy from the 2010 Winter Olympics. (The facility was the site of the curling and wheelchair curling events.)

The community centre has a full gymnasium, ice rink, indoor and outdoor pools, exercise and weight rooms, and a number of rooms that are available to rent.

So, why is it that the library is now having to limit the number of people that can come to story time? The one room for events at the library is only a couple of hundred square feet. It is not uncommon to have 50 people or more at a storytime.

Very quickly the library reached capacity for its storytimes and had to respond.

When a performing arts organization reaches a capacity problem there are two options.

1. Increase capacity by adding more "performances"
2. Increase capacity by moving to a larger "performance" space

Both options lead to more satisfied audience members, for an organization that charges admission, both can lead to more revenue. A good storytime is a performance. Puppets, music, singing, and of course stories.

Adding more storytimes would increase labour costs, a tough sell when the municipal budget is under pressure.

I'm a bit dismayed that the response to increased demand for storytime is to limit the audience size. Given the number of other spaces that are available in the community centre, a bigger room and more happy kids and parents would seem to be the logical decision.