Chilliwack is feeling a bit of a pinch as it chugs into its first full year of operations at the freshly built Sardis library.
"We are seeing a significant increase to our library budget," noted Coun. Chuck Stam at the last council meeting.
The brand-new $2.5 million library building, which opened in May on the Twin Rinks site, has been "well used" by the community ever since, he underlined.
All new materials were stocked on the shelves from shiny bestsellers, to just-released CDs and DVDs.
Chilliwack's library budget for 2014 is $2.8 million, which is up from $2.6 million the year before. The operating costs for the Sardis library were about a million dollars.
But it's a pinch to the budget that they fully expected and planned for. City officials saved up to pay for the library-building project in advance with their pay-as-you-go philosophy, rather than financing it.
The design-build team of Titan Construction and Craven Huston Powers Architects created a sustainable design for the Sardis library building, which is expected to conserve resources, reduce operating costs and create a high-quality environment.
The name was chosen by city council in a vote, after a survey was conducted at an open house event.
jfeinberg@theprogress.com
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