The proposed new main library at Champagne and Scott is a pretty good location. It could be constructed soon and is on both the transitway and the O-train line.
But it lacks vision. It is a lacklustre design on a tiny property. Only the condos and the parking garage atop will have a view of the river.
We need the new main library to be a showpiece, not an afterthought tucked away where no one can see it. The ideal spot is still the Bayview yards, across the street, where the space can be landscaped down to the river and cafés and bookstores constructed as part of it.
The new main library should have a distinctive design, as the Vancouver and Toronto libraries do. It should be a landmark for all the travellers along the Ottawa River Parkway, the transitway, and the O-train.
Alas, the proposed library at Champagne and Scott has none of these attributes.
Let’s have a main library that we can be proud of, that serves the most people in the best location, that is a place that
encourages research and contemplation and refreshes its users with a view of nature
and the opportunity to walk outside on the grass.

Tom Trottier,
Albert Street