In a last-ditch attempt to remain in the building at 4855 Kensington Ave, the Fraser-Hickson library will begin charging for annual membership—a move they have avoided for 121 years.

Adults will pay 10 dollars, teenagers two dollars and children one dollar for the use of the privately owned NDG institution. This will postpone the closing until Jan 31 at the earliest.

“A lot of people are upset about the closing,” says chief librarian Frances Ackerman. “We’re giving the public the opportunity to contribute.”

If this plan fails to sustain the library until a permanent solution can be found for its financial woes, the organization will put the building up for sale and will relocate to an as of yet unknown location.

“It would affect parents with young children, it would affect seniors who live nearby and who have been coming here for a long time and it would affect those people in between,” says Ackerman.

The spacious building that has housed the library since 1959 is as much a community center as a library. It has provided services that are not included at other libraries, such as computer training for the elderly and a children’s chess club.

“Our programming goes beyond checking in and out books” says Ackerman. “We believe in welcoming people and not saying shhh…”

Serge Bouherovich has been using the library since 1965. He describes its potential closure as “a stab in the heart.”

“I feel like I’m part of it,” he says. “It’s my home library.”

The fraser friends

“A lot of people describe [Fraser-Hickson] as NDG’s living room,” says Raj Ramtuhol of Fraser Friends, a group of citizens with a mission to save library.

Two weeks ago they presented Mayor Tremblay’s office with a petition of over 12,000 names, asking the city to contribute financially to the library. They have held a demonstration at city hall. They will hold another one at 6 p.m. on Dec. 11.

“This library survived on its own for over a hundred years. It’s saved the city millions of dollars,” says Ramtuhol. “It’s only fair that the city chips in.”

Aliya Ahmad is an NDG resident and mother. She devoted the entire month of November single-handedly tracking down signatures for the petition. Much of that time she spent camped out at the Vanier library on Loyola Campus.

“I found Concordia a very good place to defend the library,” she says.

Fraser Friends is asking the city to contribute an additional $200,000 per year. Added to what has already been promised from the borough and the private sector, that should be enough to save the library.

Tremblay’s office insists that it will not contribute any money.

Sacrificing for books

Fraser-Hickson has been struggling to survive for over a decade and has taken many steps to avoid closing. Staff today is half of what it used to be and the library relies heavily on volunteers to shelve books, assist users, and drop off books to elderly members.

The library shut down temporarily in 2003, until the borough provided $600,000 that helped to sustain it until now.

In 2001 the idea of charging annual fees was raised but received a chilly response from the members. This time, says Ackerman, the idea came directly from the members themselves.

But this latest plan to generate funds may be a long shot. Until now, the enthusiasm for this local institution and landmark has done little to halt its gradual but invariable slide into financial unsustainability.



Find out more on the Fraser friends at fraserfriends.org