Deer Park library not in danger

The books will remain.

The Toronto Library Board has handed its Deer Park Branch over to the city’s newly created Build Toronto for possible redevelopment, but that doesn’t mean the library will be closing anytime soon.

“We will be keeping the libraries at the locations,” library area manager Maggie Gosselin told a June 18 parent council meeting at Deer Park Junior and Senior Public School.

Any redevelopment proposal must include a new public library, she added.

“There is no intention to not have a library,” she said.

The Toronto Public Library plans to have a community consultation in the fall to talk about Deer Park Public Library’s future, Gosselin told the crowd.

Despite the reassurance, many citizens wanted to be involved in the process from the beginning, said St. Paul’s public school trustee Josh Matlow.

“People want to be part of the decision making process rather than subject to the city’s decisions,” he said. “Local residents and parents should have been part of the discussion from day one.”