A central library is much more than a place to borrow books. It is a statement about the importance of information and ideas in the mainstream life of flourishing cities.

Public libraries serve as a key to engaging an educated population in the life of the city, and ensure that everyone in the community has the opportunity to learn, explore ideas and grow as individuals.

Calgary's central library is everyone's library. In addition to serving over 156,000 people who live and work in downtown Calgary, the central library supports all Calgarians by:

• Serving as the community's living room, providing the public space and size to accommodate the diversity of our community need
• Responding to the needs of specialized user groups, such as the business and arts community, new Canadians, and people with literacy challenges
• Providing in-depth subject expertise to customers and to staff in other branches
• Offering a depth and breadth of material that would be too expensive to duplicate in branches
• Answering 41 percent of all electronic, telephone and in-person information questions Calgarians ask the Library
• Serving over 40 percent of all the customers looking to use reference materials
• Ensuring that specialized and unique materials, including items that document Calgary's rich history, are equitably accessible for all Calgarians

The new central library will provide a dynamic hub at the heart of an integrated network of locations, supporting and ensuring access to library services for Calgarians in all parts of the city. With the Calgary Public Library's service model, the most cost effective in North America, both branches and the central downtown library are essential to the success of the entire library system.

The Central Library strengthens and supports branch libraries by:

• Enabling branch libraries of various sizes and capabilities to operate efficiently and cost effectively as part of an integrated library system
• Serving as the hub of the inter-branch system of holds and deliveries – almost 400,000 items from the central library's collections are borrowed by customers from other branches
• Centralizing key system functions, permitting branch libraries to focus and be more responsive to local community needs
• Making the entire resources of the library system available to all parts of the community
• Extending the reach and capabilities of every branch location through the services it provides

The construction of a new central library will not cause the closure of existing branches, and will not replace the need for new branches in new communities. In fact, new libraries are planned, but not yet funded, in Saddle Ridge (NE), McKenzie Town/Douglasdale (SE), Seton (SE) and Symons Valley (NW) areas.

Calgarians in all parts of the city need and deserve access to excellent library services. A new Central Library supports this vision.