By Cheryl Jahn

All Hands on Deck

PG Public Library wants to hear from you

Apr 25, 2025 | 2:23 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – It’s a huge piece of real estate. Sixteen-thousand square feet. The size of two soccer fields. A deck that wraps around the Bob Harkins Branch of the Prince George Public Library and for years, it has been vacant. An opportunity lost. And that’s why the library is hosting “All Hands on Deck.”

“This is the library deck at the Bob Harkins branch, the downtown branch of the library,” explains Larissa Clotildes, Manager, Communications. “It is huge. It wraps around the entire main floor of the library. It’s got covered and uncovered spaces. It overlooks the knowledge garden. It’s. It’s got, you know, north, south, east, west. Every kind of exposure you could want. It’s an incredible space.”

This initiative not only addresses the necessary upgrades required for the library’s outdoor deck, but it also capitalises on the opportunity to engage the community in transforming this space into something meaningful. But the engagement is about more than just what you’d like to see happen with the space, but how to ensure everyone is safe using it.

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“The main thing from our perspective is the railings, because when they were designed, the code has changed since then,” explains Clotildes. “They’re no longer safe for what we would like to use this space for. And so that is really the biggest thing that we are hoping to see happen out here, because once that’s done, we can bring people out here. We can do all kinds of stuff in this space.”

This has been a multi-year project supported by the City, which is a funder of the library. And it may well be a number of years in the making. And they’ve heard some suggestions already.

“There’s kind of seems to be a blend between maybe a play area or activity-based or also more nature kind of calm reading nooks,” says Anna Duff, Chair of the Prince George Library Board. “So I definitely know what I kind of tend towards, but it’s interesting to hear what different people are coming up with in their own ideas and their creative thoughts too, which is just fantastic.”

The library will be hosting an open house tomorrow from 10 to 2.

“People are really enthusiastic about this project and. Lots of people come through the library, they see the space, they ask, how can I get out there? What is it for? How can I use it?”

If you can’t make the public engagement, you can complete the survey online from now until June 13th on SurveyMonkey.com.