The History of the St.
Marys Public Library
 There has been a library in St.
Marys since 1857. The first belonged to the local Mechanics Institute, an
international organization created to provide the means for self-education
for factory, office and shop workers. The library of the St. Marys branch had
no permanent home and had to rent space where it could. An annual fee of $1
was charged.
In 1884, the suggestion that it become a free service was
rejected; "...anyone who can't afford to pay a dollar a year should do
without reading," was a comment recorded by a reporter for the Argus.
In 1904, the Andrew Carnegie Foundation offered the town
a grant of $10,000 for the construction of a library building if the
municipal government agreed to spend one tenth of that amount annually to
maintain it. After much discussion, the town accepted the grant and the
library building was opened on August 17, 1905. Miss
Lottie King was hired as librarian. (Minutes of Town Council meetings
concerning these decisions are available for viewing at the Museum.)
Children in the town had to wait until 1913 before a
"juvenile room" was opened. That same year the library adopted the
Dewey Decimal Classification system and the public was allowed access to the
shelves for the first time. The library boasted 4000 volumes.
In 1986, it was realized that the building had become
inadequate. The only access into the library was still via the steps at the Church Street
entrance. In 1988, construction was completed on the new wing which allowed
the children's section to move from the windowless upstairs to the bright
airy space it now occupies on the main level. It also provided sidewalk-level
access into the library. The upstairs, now served by an elevator, is well
used for other library services and by the community for meetings.
We still have the table where Lottie King presided and
somewhere in the stacks there is a least one book bearing the stamp "St.
Marys Mechanics Institute Library."
Website Layout:
Stacey Wheal
Contact: tpope@stmaryspubliclibrary.ca
St. Marys Public
Library ©2001 - 2004
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