'One more loss,' residents say of Port Elgin library closure

The public library in the village of Port Elgin is closing for an indefinite period at the end of August.

The library announced Thursday that the closure will begin Aug. 27, surprising some residents in the area.

"I'm shocked," said Sharon Cole of Cole's Grocery. "It has caught me off guard. I had no idea this was happening."

Cole, who has lived in Port Elgin for almost 30 years, said the loss of the library is devastating for the village of fewer than 500 people.

"I just find it unbelievable," Cole said.

Val MacDermid, a village councillor,said there was a mold problem with the old building, which also houses the municipal office.

To bring the building up to code and eliminate the mold would cost the village about$174,000.

"We have to get out,"MacDermid said. "That means we have no home for the library.

"It's a huge impact to the community."

The library is a hot spot, offering children story time, book clubs, Wi-Fi, computers, day camps and, most important, books.

"Drop in ... you'll feel right at home!" the library website says. "We offer city-size service in a quaint country setting."

"Books are knowledge. You lose your books, you lose your knowledge," resident Ryan McWhirter said. "You can't always depend on your internet out here. You're out in the woods one day you might have internet the next day you might not."

"You can't really get smart, if there [are] no books," Marissa, his eight-year old daughter, said.

'Great loss'

The library, which falls under the Albert-Westmorland-Kent library region, said patron records will be transferred to theSackvillelibrary.

"It's going to be a great loss for the little community," Cole said. "We've had so many things happening and you just have to wonder, what's next?"

In recent years, the community has lost a Service New Brunswick location, a bank and a credit union.

"When you close something like that, it's hard to get that back again after a while," Cole said. "And hopefully we can find another place where we can set up a new library."

MacDermidsaid the village islooking at options for relocating the library, such as the Port Elgin regional school, but it's uncertain when and where the library will be back up and running.

"If we keep losing services the community is going to die," MacDermidsaid. "It's very important that we add services, not take them away and libraries are so important. It's a privilege but a privilege that all Canadians should have."

"We're certainly not giving up,"MacDermid said. "Were not going to let it die, that's for sure"

Neither the New Brunswick Public Librariesor the Department of Post Secondary Education Training and Labour responded toCBC News queries about the closure.