Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today
DUFFERIN LIBRARY

Reading community thrilled by plans for new Kamloops library at future Dufferin arena multiplex

Jul 17, 2025 | 5:13 PM

KAMLOOPS – Earlier this week, it was announced that a new library will be incorporated into the plans for the new arena miltiplex in Dufferin, as part of the ongoing Build Kamloops initiative.

The Thompson Nicola Regional District (TNRD) will lease space in that new facility from the City of Kamloops, which will house the long-talked about southwest Kamloops library branch.

As efforts to find a new home for this library suffered setbacks, the TNRD opened the Aberdeen Tiny Library in Nov. 2023 as a stopgap measure.

“We recently extended the lease for another three years and we doubled the number of hours that it was open,” TNRD Chair Barbara Roden said. “It proved to us, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there is a huge need for a library in southwest Kamloops.”

With a larger library finally on the way, local bookworms told CFJC Today that it will make it much easier for them to enjoy their hobby.

“I’m really excited about a really big library opening up in Dufferin, which is my neighbourhood. I think there are a lot of people in the community who will appreciate having a library and not having to go all the way downtown,” said Mary Lou Stephenson, a local library enjoyer.

“I think it’s really important to have those community spaces, especially free community spaces that people can go into,” added local author Rebbecca Jones-Howe, referencing the increase community space that will be located in the new library.

Library staff also said the new facility will allow them to create more programming and organize more events, similar to what is offered at the other two library branches downtown and in North Kamloops.

“We can offer more collections, more programs like storytelling or different collaborations with local groups,” Rose Stremick, a Library Assistant at the Aberdeen Tiny Library said. “We’re always wanting to expand our services but a big challenge is that our library is so small, sometimes we don’t have the space to do that.”

The price tag for the arena multiplex will not be changed by the addition of a new library, and Roden said funding for it will come from the TNRD.

“The cost of the library was not baked into the original multiplex proposal. However, that said, the TNRD has been setting aside funds for a planned southwest Kamloops library for some time now,” said Roden.

The City of Kamloops and the TNRD will be working in tandem to make sure the library can best serve the people who will be using it.

“We have a vested interest in making sure it’s done right. We’ll work together,” said Kamloops Deputy Mayor Dale Bass. “They want a full library. They want a community space that people and organizations can book. We’ll just make sure we make it all happen.”

Construction on the new arena multiplex is still poised to start in 2026; however, the city did say that the facility is still in the design phase.