County of Brant Public Library Board is still on the hunt for a new Paris Library Branch and continued discussing possible locations during its meeting on Wednesday, November 26, 2025.
The topic came up during the County of Brant Council meeting on Tuesday, November 25, after the group received the minutes from the board’s latest meeting on September 24.
The information attached to the item, titled “Presentation-New Paris Branch Public Consultation Update and Next Steps,” states that “Janna Levitt and Melody Martin of LGA Architectural Partners Inc. presented site studies for 31 Mechanic St. and 199 Grand River St., as well as prototype concepts for 25 Curtis Ave. and 80 Race St. The Board also identified 35 Curtis Ave. North as a potential site of interest.”
The report goes on to say that of the four options reviewed, the Board dropped the two prototype sites and directed LGA to focus on 31 Mechanic St. and 199 Grand River St., and that the 35 Curtis Ave. site be added to the list of sites for a full assessment.
During the Council meeting, Councillor David Miller said he was surprised to see that the item in the report was not an in-camera discussion, but asked if the Board was close to deciding on a potential location for the new library.
“We have a Library Board meeting where this continues to be an agenda item with robust discussion,” said Councillor Steve Howes, who serves on the Library Board alongside Councillors John Bell and Jennifer Kyle. “I would hope that after (the meeting), we will certainly know more, but I’m hoping then the next step would be to ask Kelly [Bernstein] and Fred [Gladding] to come make a presentation to Council.”
When Mayor David Bailey asked why the discussion around a potential site wasn’t in-camera, Howes clarified the Board has not reached the point where an in-camera discussion was completely warranted, but would bring the recommendation forward for the November 26 meeting.
“We’re not there yet,” said Howes. “…We have not identified a site yet.”
The information was later received as information.
Discussions surrounding a potential location for the new library have been in the works since last March after County of Brant Council ultimately voted against repurposing the Bawcutt Centre into the County of Brant Public Library’s new main branch just two months earlier due to insufficient parking.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
