The former Lytton library building. (Image Credit: Village of Lytton)

By Victor Kaisar

Lytton Library Update

Future of Lytton Library set to be discussed this summer

Mar 24, 2025 | 6:30 AM

LYTTON, B.C. — Staff at the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) will be looking at a number of options and partnership opportunities as they try to determine the future of library services in the Village of Lytton.

Residents in the Lytton area are currently being served by a mobile library every third Thursday after the library at the Village Office was destroyed by the Lytton Creek fire in 2021.

The new direction to TNRD staff comes after the Board of Directors voted in favour of a notice of motion from Area “I” Director Tricia Thorpe during their March 6 meeting.

As part of her motion, Thorpe wanted TNRD staff to investigate opportunities to establish library services in partnership with non-profits and/or nearby First Nations. She also wanted staff to determine whether to continue with mobile library only, and to also review any other options that may come up.

“The community has gone through a lot,” Thorpe said. “I would really like to see a physical library reestablished in the community. But this isn’t up to me. We are a board of 27, and what we need to do is look at whatever solution — whether it is putting in the hub, whether it is working with First Nations, or whether its working with a non-profit.”

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Lytton Mayor Denise O’Connor was among those who voted against the motion, saying she was of the preference that the library be located at the new community hub, which is in development.

“[The Government of] Canada has provided funds to build a hub in the village,” O’Connor said. “Part of the criteria of that is to include public accessible services within that hub. They listed library as one of the types of services that could be included.

“All of the First Nations in our area support our hub project… I’m just concerned that [this motion] is getting in the weeds and its directing staff to do things that I think [Chief Librarian] Judy [Moore] and her team would know how to reach out and find out what services are needed in Lytton.”

“When I said library at the hub, I meant the services,” O’Connor later clarified. “Whether it’s a parking space to put the mobile library or whether it’s a physical space within the hub [remains to be seen.]

But Thorpe said that her motion does not exclude that possibility, adding she is hoping to find the most effective solution for the community and for the TNRD’s taxpayers.

“I’m not saying that we don’t put it in the hub,” Thorpe said. “I’m saying we owe it to all of our taxpayers to look at every option and figure out what is the best solution for everyone.”

TNRD Board Chair and Ashcroft Mayor Barbara Roden also spoke in favour of Thorpe’s motion.

“I think many people are stuck in an idea of a library being stacks and stacks and stacks of books, and to those people I say, ‘well then maybe you should have a visited a library since Ronald Reagan was president of the United States,'” Roden said. “My feeling about this report is that it’s going to find out what people in the area want a library to look like.

“Do they want lots and lots of books or do they want lots and lots of computer desks where they can access services?”

A total of eight TNRD Directors — O’Connor, Mike O’Reilly, Kelly Hall, Nancy Bepple, Dale Bass, David Lepsoe, Merlin Blackwell, and Lee Morris — voted against Thorpe’s motion.

That vote means TNRD staff are now expected to present their findings at a Committee of the Whole Meeting in late June, at which point, a decision could be made.

“I think staff will provide a thorough and fulsome report,” TNRD CAO Scott Hildebrand said. “It’ll share all the options for the board to decide on. We sat down and talked about this and felt it would be good to get this in front of the board to make sure there is some clear direction on next steps.”