Community library supporters are often thankful for every dollar they can get to improve their local branch.

But fans of the Rosemount library branch in Hintonburg have said thanks, but no thanks to a million dollars, earmarked for renovations to the 1918 building.

Richard Van Loon of the Rosemount Expansion and Development group says it's time for the branch to be expanded since it was built in 1918 and hasn't had any major renovations since 1982. (Steve Fischer/CBC)

Instead they want a new, bigger facility, somewhere nearby.

"We have heard clearly from community consultations that the current facility is simply too small and we've heard from the library staff that it can't be expanded in any significant way," said Richard Van Loon of the Rosemount Expansion and Development [READ] group at a meeting of the Ottawa Library Board Tuesday night.

The board agreed to bring two options to its budget consultations in November.

One will be to approve close to a million dollars for renovations to the library. Those renovations would probably begin next year.

City councillor Jeff Leiper's ward includes the Rosemount library. He says the city could consider building a new larger building on city-owned land. (Steve Fischer)

The other is to put the renovations on hold, while it asks city staff to look at the business case for moving the library to a new location.

"If we're going to be able to afford to do this, chances are it will have to be on a piece of land that is city-owned," said Jeff Leiper, the councillor for the ward.

He says one possibly is renovating and expanding the nearby Hintonburg Community Centre to include a library.

Rosemount's fate may be tied to central library decision

The fate of Rosemount building comes at the same time as the library board is trying to find a new site for a central library.

One area under consideration is LeBreton Flats, just east of Hintonburg.

The Rosemount branch is the only original Carnegie library still standing in the city.

Scottish-American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie helped fund the construction of thousands of libraries around the world in the late 1800s and early 1900s.