Langdon to establish library and youth centre

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Development has officially started at the site of what will soon be the Langdon Library and Youth Centre – a project that has been several years in the making. 

President of the Langdon Library Society, Debra Carrobourg said it’s an exciting step for the community as it will provide opportunities for community members of all ages.

“We need this facility in the community. We have a lot of younger families that this will help out, as well as seniors, all spectrums of ages will be able to use the facility, but for the younger kids it will be really great,” said Carrobourg. “Two years ago we were gifted a library from the Cereal library community. Cereal was changing from a town into being absorbed into other areas and were losing their library.”

Since then, the Langdon Library Society has been working with groups such as the Langdon Community Association to find a location to establish the facility.

Until now, the actual building and the components it came with, have been in storage until development for it was ready to proceed. First, a place had to be found where the library would be freely usable by multiple groups once established.

“There will be a large impact I think, because there are a lot of young families here. Now, they will be able to have activities they can go to during the day,” said Carrobourg. “When the older kids are in school, the younger ones can still do things around the community. Right now … to do things around the community, it’s hard, you have to go to the next community over such as Strathmore or Chestermere.”

The facility will allow folks to have something in the local community that they can do, as well as that will provide resources for research and to access the internet.

The plan is for the structure to be set up behind the current Langdon fieldhouse, beside where the new baseball diamonds and tennis courts have been constructed.

“We are working to get the buildings landed. We’ve purchased some prefabricated buildings that will be moved onto the site,” explained Carrobourg. “We are working on making sure that we have the correct documentation going. The community association is working on most of those items because it will be sitting in an area that they currently control.”

Once the buildings are set in place, they will undergo renovations to meet the needs of the library and youth centre.

The site has been prepped and groundwork before the buildings are put into place will be ongoing over the next several weeks.

The annual Langdon Walk/Run race is planned for Sept. 18 with proceeds from the fundraiser going to the library to aid in its establishment. Details for locals to participate may be found online or on Facebook.