RECORDS OF THE - Windsor Public Library
RECORDS OF THE
AMALGAMATED AND
BRANCH LIBRARIES
RG 7
MUNICIPAL ARCHIVES
WINDSOR PUBLIC LIBRARY
132 cm. (41 in.) Carol A. Sloan
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
RG 7
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Sub-Group Listing
Summary of Records: Series and Sub-series Listing
Box and Folder/Volume Listing
Riverside Public Library
- Historical Note
- Series Description
- Detailed Listing
Sandwich Public Library
- Historical Note
- Series Description
- Detailed Listing
Walkerville/Willistead Library
-Historical Note
- Series Description
- Detailed Listing
Appendix I: Newspaper Articles Listing
Appendix II: Library Histories by Miss Anne Hume
- Windsor Library History
- The History of Library Service in Sandwich
- Library Service in Windsor
- A History of the Windsor Public Libraries
- Summary of Library Service in the Border Area
- Willistead
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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SUB-GROUP LISTING
A. Riverside Public Library
B. Sandwich Public Library
C. Walkerville/Willistead Library
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES, 1906-1972
(AND UNDATED)
SUMMARY OF RECORDS:
SERIES AND SUB-SERIES LISTING
A. Riverside Public Library
I. Board Records
1. Financial Records
B. Sandwich Public Library
I. Sandwich Library Committee Records
II. Operational Records
C. Walkerville/Willistead Library
I. Board Records
1. Administration Records
2. Secretary/Treasurer’s Files
II. Department Records
III. Branch Records
1. Reports
IV. Operational Records
1. Circulation Statistics
2. Reference Work
3. Public Relations
4. Newspaper Articles
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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BOX AND FOLDER/VOLUME LISTING
A: RIVERSIDE PUBLIC LIBRARY
Box 1 AI-1/1 – 1/4
B: SANDWICH PUBLIC LIBRARY
Box 2 BI/1 – 8
BII/1 – 16
Box 3 BII/17 – 20
C: WALKERVILLE/WILLISTEAD LIBRARY
Box 4 CI-1/1
Box 5 CI-1/2 – 1/5
CI-2/1 – 2/5
CI-2/7 – 2/13
Box 6 CI-2/14 – 2/35
Box 7 CI-2/36 – 2/56
CII/2 – 11
Box 8 CIII-1/1 – 1/3
CIV-1/2
CIV-2/1
CIV-3/1 – 3/5
CIV-4/1 – 4/5
Box 9 Over Size Items
CI-2/11, /13, /33
CII/1
CIV-1/1, 3/6
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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A: RIVERSIDE PUBLIC LIBRARY, 1944-1964
HISTORICAL NOTE
The Riverside Library was added as a branch library to the Windsor Library
system in the year of Annexation, 1966 and continues to operate as a branch
within the system.
The Board Records of the Riverside Library prior to Annexation are found
within this subgroup.
For further information about Riverside, see Record Group 5 C.
SERIES DESCRIPTION
The Riverside Library records contain information that presents the financial
picture of a small municipality’s library. This part of the record group consists
of two ledger books 1944-1959, six Annual Reports 1951-1958 (not inclusive)
and seven monthly salary sheets for 1964.
The Annual Reports, besides containing a summary of the financial situation for
a particular year, provides information about the size of membership and of the
collection, a list of the Board members and circulation statistics.
The Riverside Library records will be of interest to anyone doing local history
covering Windsor in general or, more specifically, Riverside. Also, persons
tracing the development of the Windsor Public Library system would find the
information in these records useful.
AI-1 RIVERSIDE PUBLIC LIBRARY, 1944-1964
FOLDER DESCRIPTION DATES
1 Annual Reports 1951-1958 (not inclusive)
2 Account Book 1944-1954
3 Account Book 1954-1959
4 Salary Sheets 1964
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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B: SANDWICH PUBLIC LIBRARY, 1923-1937
HISTORICAL NOTE
The inception of library service for the municipality of Sandwich began in 1921
as an extension of the Windsor Library system. In 1923, Sandwich established
its own library in the Town Hall. Katherine Hind was hired as the first librarian.
After thirteen years of sharing space with other town agencies, the Sandwich
Library moved into the Teacher’s Training School at the corner of Mill and
Wyandotte Streets.
The administration of the Sandwich Public Library came under a committee of
the Sandwich Town Council. A library board was finally created in 1934, but
was only in existence one and a half years before being dissolved by the
Amalgamation Act.
The type of information contained in the Sandwich Library records will be of
interest to local historians or anyone researching library service in the Border
Cities area.
For further information about Sandwich, see Record Group 5 D.
SERIES DESCRIPTION
The Sandwich Library records consist of a minute book, report and accounting
booklets, circulation statistics, a membership book, an accession book and some
loose-leaf material – annual reports and correspondence. This material was
divided into two series: Sandwich Library Committee Records and Operational
Records.
The records in this subgroup reflect the structure of the Sandwich Public Library
-- the decision-making, bill-paying role of the Council through a committee and
the day-to-day operation – from 1923-1937.
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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BI: SANDWICH PUBLIC LIBRARY, 1923-1937
FOLDER DESCRIPTION DATES
1 Minute Book 1923-1934
2 Report Book 1923-1924
3 Report Book 1925-1928
4 Report Book 1929-1937
5 Annual Reports 1928-1935 (not inclusive)
6 Bills sent to Council 1925-1934
7 Bills sent to Council 1934-1936
8 Bills paid 1925-1933
BII: SANDWICH PUBLIC LIBRARY, 1923-1937
FOLDER DESCRIPTION DATES
1 Petty Cash 1925-1935
2 Petty Cash 1936
3-15 Circulation Statistics 1923-1936
16 Contract with Publisher 1931
17 Membership Book undated
(also refer to the Minute Book
for a membership list)
18 Accession Book 1923-1936
19 Correspondence 1924-1936 (not inclusive)
20 Newspaper Articles 1928
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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C: WALKERVILLE/WILLISTEAD LIBRARY, 1906-1972
HISTORICAL NOTE
Library service for the municipality of Walkerville began in 1896 as an extension of the Windsor Library system. However, in 1904, with a small grant from the Walkerville Town Council for initial purchases, the Walkerville Public Library was established. Until 1922, the library resided in rooms or houses around Walkerville. Finally a permanent home was found for the library and in April, 1922 the Walkerville library moved into Willistead on the ground floor.
Willistead had been the private residence of E. Chandler Walker, son of Hiram Walker. His wife and heirs deeded the estate to the Town of Walkerville to be used by the municipality and for a library. From 1922 until the 1970s, the Walkerville Library, which adopted the name Willistead Library, remained in this fine Elizabethan Manor.
The first professional librarian hired by the Walkerville Library Board was Miss Marcelle Frebault in 1918. She resigned in 1919 and was replaced by Miss Anne Hume. Miss Hume, besides being the librarian, took on the duties of Secretary/Treasurer of the Walkerville Library Board. Later, when the Library became part of the Windsor Public Library system, Miss Hume was promoted to Chief Librarian.
The Amalgamation Act, which became law July 1, 1935, terminated the Walkerville Library Board and placed Walkerville/Willistead library under the direct control of the new City Council of Windsor. This situation was unsatisfactory and Miss Hume, backed by the former members of the board, immediately petitioned the Provincial Government to amend the Amalgamation Act to allow for a library board. In January, 1937 a library board for the new City of Windsor was created. As a result, the new system made Walkerville/Willistead Library a branch library. This was the situation until the library closed in the 1970s after celebrating its Fiftieth Anniversary.
For further information about Walkerville, see Record Group 5.
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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C: WALKERVILLE/WILLISTEAD LIBRARY, 1906-1972
SERIES DESCRIPTION
The Walkerville/Willistead Library records were divided into four series in order to reflect the changes and continuity of one institution as the result of amalgamation. The Board Records, which contain documents dated 1906 to June, 1935, documents the time when this library served the municipality of Walkerville. The second series, the Department Records, covers July, 1935 to December, 1936, the time in which libraries were a department of City Council. In 1937, Walkerville/Willistead became a branch library; so, the third series contain the Branch Records. Finally, the fourth series is comprised of the Operational Records which shows the continuity of the internal functioning of a library regardless of the changes in the overseeing of library affairs.
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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CI-1 WALKERVILLE/WILLISTEAD LIBRARY, 1906-1972
VOLUME DESCRIPTION DATES
1 Minute Book 1920-1935
2 By-Laws 1906
3 By-Laws undated
4 Rules and Regulations undated & 1934
5 Finance Committee 1907
CI-2 WALKERVILLE/WILLISTEAD LIBRARY, 1906-1972
FOLDER DESCRIPTION DATES
1 Amalgamation 1935-1936
2 Annual Reports of the Librarian 1916-1935 (not inclusive)
3 Applications undated, 1923-1936
(not inclusive)
4 Art Association 1929-1930
5 Art Gallery of Toronto 1929 & 1935
6 Assessment 1922-1936 (not inclusive)
7 Assumption College 1932 & 1934
8 Bankruptcy of Goodchild Company 1926
9 Border Cities Star 1934
10 Board of Education 1921-1935
11 Book Binding 1924-1936 (not inclusive)
(samples of leather covering for books) See 0/5 Box
12 Book Committee 1922-1935
13 Building Committee (sketch of panels 1921-1933
belonging to the letter of Nov. 3, 1924) See 0/5 Box
14 Canadian Bank of Commerce 1919-1935
15 Clerk/Treasurer: re Appointments 1919-1935
16 Clerk/Treasurer: re Estimates 1922-1935
17 Clerk/Treasurer: Miscellaneous 1921-1926
18 Clerk/Treasurer: re Requests for money 1919-1935
19 Clerk/Treasurer: re Willistead 1921-1934 (not inclusive)
20 Convention Reports 1920-1935 (not inclusive)
21 Donations 1921-1935 (not inclusive)
22 Estimates, Budgets, Assessments & Grants 1930-1935
23 Finance Committee 1921-1933 (not inclusive)
24 Financial Statements 1927-1933
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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CI-2 WALKERVILLE/WILLISTEAD LIBRARY, 1906-1972 – Cont’d
FOLDER DESCRIPTION DATES
25 Ford City 1924-1925
26 Hiring and Resignations 1921-1935 (not inclusive)
27 Income Tax 1920-1935
28 Inspector of Public Libraries 1919-1936 (not inclusive)
29 Insurance Data 1928 & 1934
30 Land Transactions 1925-1931 (not inclusive)
31 Letters of Appreciation 1926-1934 (not inclusive)
32 Library Accommodations undated
33 “Little People of the Cornfield” 1936
(for Posters) See 0/5 Box
34 Model Town Library 1930
35 Monthly Reports of the Librarian 1919-1927
36 Monthly Reports of the Librarian 1928-1935
37 National Book Council 1930-1931
38 National Gallery of Canada 1921-1935 (not inclusive)
39 New Toronto Library Board 1934
40 Ontario Library Association 1922-1936 (not inclusive)
41 Overdue Notices 1922-1929 (not inclusive)
42 Park Board 1923-1934 (not inclusive)
43 Pembroke Public Library 1926
44 Printing Committee 1926-1934 (not inclusive)
45 Royal Ontario Museum 1921-1931 (not inclusive)
46 Salaries 1919-1933 (not inclusive)
47 Saskatoon Public Library 1934
48 Secretary of Library Board 1919-1933 (not inclusive)
49 Separate School Board 1921-1935
50 Subscription Services 1922-1935 (not inclusive)
51 Survey on Libraries for Y.W.C.A. undated
52 “Swansong of Walkerville” 1935
53 Toronto Public Library 1921-1922
54 University of Western Ontario Library 1921-1932 (not inclusive)
55 Walkerville News 1928 & 1934
56 Willistead Library Stationary 1926 & 1932
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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CII WALKERVILLE/WILLISTEAD LIBRARY, 1906-1972
FOLDER DESCRIPTION DATES
1 Distribution of Appropriations * 1936
2 Pay Sheets 1935-1936
3 Board of Education 1935-1936
4 City Clerk 1935-1936
5 City Solicitor 1936
6 City Treasurer 1936
7 Estimates 1935 or 1936
8 Finance Commission 1935-1936
9 Financial Reports 1935-1936
10 Monthly Reports of Librarian 1935-1936
11 Petty Cash Book 1935-1936
* Request as O/S
CIII-1 WALKERVILLE/WILLISTEAD LIBRARY, 1906-1972
FOLDER DESCRIPTION DATES
1 Annual Report of the Chief Librarian 1948
2 Annual Reports of the Librarian 1939-1952 (not inclusive)
3 Monthly Reports of the Librarian 1941-1948 (not inclusive)
CIIV-1 WALKERVILLE/WILLISTEAD LIBRARY, 1906-1972
FOLDER DESCRIPTION DATES
1 Book Circulation Sheets * 1912-1922
2 Records and Films Book 1943-1948
* Request as O/S
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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CIV-2 WALKERVILLE/WILLISTEAD LIBRARY, 1906-1972
FOLDER DESCRIPTION DATES
1 Reference Work 1931-1933
CIV-3 WALKERVILLE/WILLISTEAD LIBRARY, 1906-1972
FOLDER DESCRIPTION DATES
1 Letters 1923-1935 (not inclusive)
2 Articles 1923-1946 (not inclusive)
3 Reading Lists undated
4 Fiftieth Anniversary 1972
5 “The Flying Officer” 1944
6 Posters undated (see Box 7)
CIV-4 WALKERVILLE/WILLISTEAD LIBRARY, 1906-1972
FOLDER DESCRIPTION DATES
1 Newspaper Clippings undated
2-5 Scrapbooks 1934-1937
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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C WALKERVILLE/WILLISTEAD LIBRARY, 1906-1972
APPENDIX I: Newspaper Article Listing
DATES PAGE COLUMN
Border Cities Star
“Levy Set by Councillors” April 14, 1932 5 3
“Resigns in Walkerville” April 19, 1932 13 1
Walkerville News
“List of New Books” February 18, 1932 2 4
“Library Jottings” April 14, 1932 4 3
“List of New Books” October 20, 1932 4 5
Windsor Daily Star
“Library Cut is Protested” March 3, 1939 5 1
“City Won’t Raise Budget” March 9, 1939 3 8
“Croll Tells City’s View” March 10, 1939 3 1
“Library Estimates” March 10, 1939 4 2
“Unfairness is Charged” March 10, 1939 16 7
“Report Given by Inspector” March 11, 1939 3 4
“Library is Shocking” March 11, 1939 6 2
“Gives Reply on Libraries” March 13, 1939 5 2
“Replacement of Books” March 13, 1939 4 2
“Librarian Challenged” March 14, 1939 5 3
“Shuns Role of ‘Agitator’” March 15, 1939 3 3
“The Library Board” March 17, 1939 4 3
“Miss Hume is Accused” March 16, 1939 5 1
(The above newspapers are on microfilm in the Windsor Public Library)
C WALKERVILLE/WILLISTEAD LIBRARY, 1906-1972
APPENDIX II
The following pages contain the library histories written by Miss Anne Hume.
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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WINDSOR LIBRARY HISTORY
__________
1894 First public library opened in Lambie’s Hall, Ferry St. near Chatham
1896-1905 Walkerville enjoyed financed library service from Windsor. First example
of this type of service in Ontario
1903 Carnegie Library – the gift of Mr. Andrew Carnegie – opened. The first
Canadian request to Mr. Carnegie for funds for a
Library – probably the fourth to be opened.
1904 Walkerville Library organized
1914 Volunteers told and read stories to children. Windsor
1918 First professional librarian – Mrs. Agnes (Lancefield) Leeds – head of the
Windsor Library
1918 First professional librarian, Walkerville – Miss Marcelle Frebault
- head 1919
1918 Story Hours instituted Walkerville; Windsor, 1919
1919 First professional children’s librarian, Windsor – Miss Hilda Rankin
1919 First separate children’s libraries established, Windsor and Walkerville
1920 First exhibition from the National Gallery, Windsor: Walkerville 1923
and continued
1921-1923 Sandwich enjoyed financed library service from Windsor
1921 First observance Children’s Book Week, Windsor
1921 First Canadian Book Week displays, Windsor and Walkerville
1922 Walkerville Library moved to Willistead; (second floor Town Hall)
1922 Exhibition from Royal Ontario Museum, Willistead
1923 Sandwich Library opened
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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WINDSOR LIBRARY HISTORY – Cont’d
1923 Picture Collection started, Windsor; Walkerville 1925
1924 Music Week, daily programmes, Great Hall, Willistead
1925 Changes in Carnegie building
1928 John Richardson Library opened, Miss Helen Langford, librarian
1928-1932 First “Index to Canadian Periodicals”, compiled by Windsor Library staff
1929 Opening of South Branch Library, Walkerville (Hugh Beaton School)
- Miss Annabelle McKillop, librarian
1929 Mr. Angus Mowat appointed librarian, Windsor
1930 First Reference Librarian – Mrs. Eleanor (Barteaux) Haddow – Windsor
1931 First Head of Circulation – Miss Frances Foster – Windsor
1932 Duplicate Pay Collection, Windsor; Walkerville 1933
1932 Adult Department John Richardson closed (financial stringency);
Children’s Department, Windsor Main, moved to John Richardson
- Miss Ellen Radley in charge
1932 Mrs. Eleanor (Barteaux) Haddow appointed librarian, Windsor Library
1933 East Branch closed – financial stringency
1933 Children’s library opened Prince Edward Public School, Windsor
1934 Opening of children’s branch in Victoria Public School, Windsor
1935 Amalgamation of Sandwich, Windsor, Walkerville, East Windsor into the
present City of Windsor
1936 Windsor Art Association founded. Co-operation with Willistead Library
1936 The J. E. Benson Memorial Branch Library opened in the Ada C. Richards
Public School, Mrs. Dorothy (Burnett) Harrison, librarian.
Closed 1951
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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WINDSOR LIBRARY HISTORY – Cont’d
1937 Amalgamation of the public libraries into the present system
1937 Miss Anne Hume appointed Chief Librarian
Mrs. Eleanor (Barteaux) Haddow, Assistant Chief and Librarian,
Carnegie Library
Department Heads – Children’s – Miss Annabelle McKillop
Reference – Miss Caroline Fraser
Cataloguing – Miss Helen Langford
1937 Parent-Teacher Library established with the help of the Windsor Teachers’
Institute, Border Council Home and School Clubs and Board of
Education. Willistead
1937-1938 Establishment High School Age Section, Carnegie
1938 Story Hours in the parks started
1939 Picture Book Hour at Hugh Beaton Branch (new name of South Branch)
for pre-schoolers
1939 Music tea at Carnegie to view the new music scores
1940 St. Luke-s Barracks Library established. Closed 1945
1940 Co-operation with all branches of armed services and civilian war
workers; continued throughout the war
1940 Essex County Library Association organized with headquarters at
Willistead Library
1941 Branch Collection started
1941 Establishment of Winston Churchill Children’s Branch in St. Alphonsus
Separate School. Closed 1952
1941 Windsor Public Library Staff Association organized
1943 Art Gallery, Record Collection, Film Library, Sound equipment and
projection services, community concerts, lectures, film showings,
opened, Willistead Library. Gallery Curator appointed
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WINDSOR LIBRARY HISTORY – Cont’d
1943 Macdonald Historical Collection donated to the library by Mr. George
F. Macdonald
1943 Deposit of children’s books in Wartime Housing Clubhouse. Later adult
books were added. Closed in 1953
1945 Public meeting to discuss a new main library
1948 “Know Your Library Week”
1949 Ceiling projector services for invalids donated, Willistead
1950 Newspapers on microfilm and Microfilm Reader (1952), Carnegie
1951 Filmstrips and projector donated, Willistead
1953 Photographic Charging Machine, Carnegie
1953 Opening of Seminole Branch Library – Miss Frances Gowan
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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SIGNIFICANT DATES
Windsor Public Library
Lambie’s Hall, Pitt and Ferry St., opened December 6, 1894
Carnegie Library, Victoria and Park St., opened October 16, 1903
East Branch in Lanspeary’s Drug Store
Wyandotte Street East, opened January 14, 1914
Moved to 201 Parent Ave., 1920
Moved to 612 Parent Ave., 1923
Moved to store on Langlois 1925 closed 1933
Prince Edward in Prince Edward School opened 1933
John Richardson, Wyandotte St., West opened November 7, 1928
Victoria in Victoria Avenue School opened 1934
J. E. Benson Memorial in Ada C. Richards School opened October, 1936
Opened jointly by the Windsor and
Walkerville librarians closed 1951
Walkerville Public Library
Service from Windsor Public Library 1896-1905
Organized June 16, 1904
Golden Anniversary
Opened in Walker’s Store March 1, 1905
Moved to Kildare and Wyandotte St., E.E. corner June 1905
Moved to Wyandotte and Devonshire Rd., September 1907
Strathcona Block
Moved to Willistead 1922
South Branch in Hugh Beaton School opened October 8, 1929
Moved to John Campbell School 1950
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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SIGNIFICANT DATES – Cont’d
Sandwich Public Library
Service from Windsor Public Library 1921-1923
Sandwich Library in Town Hall opened May 16, 1923
Moved to Teachers’ Training School
Mill St. July, 1936
Formal opening January 13, 1938
Amalgamation of libraries January 1, 1937
Winston Churchill in St. Alphonsus School opened July, 1941
closed 1952
Wartime Housing Library – Adult books added October 12, 1944
Adult library closed November 24, 1948
Name changed to Westcott Rd. Children’s
Library December 8, 1949
closed October 24, 1953
Seminole Branch, Seminole and Bernard Street opened October 29, 1953
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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THE HISTORY
of
LIBRARY SERVICE IN SANDWICH
January 1923 – December 1936
Compiled by
Anne Hume
June 1945
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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LIBRARY SERVICE IN SANDWICH – January 1923-December 1936
At a Council Meeting held on Monday, January 29, 1923, Councillor D. M. Eagle brought up the question of public library service for the municipality. In 1921 an arrangement had been made with the Windsor Public Library Board to give service to Sandwich for a initial period at two hundred dollars a year. Only one hundred and fifteen residents had availed themselves of this privilege in the two years. (It was due to Councillor Eagle’s initiative that this move had been made; see “Library Service in Windsor, 1894 – December 1935”. He thought the town should have a library of its own and suggested that a library could be started with a Council grant of $500.00 for books, supplemented by two Travelling Libraries from the Public Libraries Branch, Department of Education of Toronto.
At the March Council Meeting a motion was sustained that the Finance Committee should proceed with the establishing of a library, with power to act and that Mr. Eagle should be Chairman when dealing with library matters. A library was established under Part II (Association Libraries) of the Public Libraries Act. Since it was necessary to have fifty members before proceeding, a fee of twenty-five cents was set until this number was raised, membership thereafter to be free. (The list of Charter Members is recorded in the Minute Book of the Sandwich Library).
It was decided to place the library in the auditorium of the Town Hall; eight sectional bookcases, four shelves high with locks and keys and two reading tables were purchased at a cost of three hundred dollars. In order to receive a Government grant of $500.00 the services of Miss Hilda Rankin, of the Windsor Public Library staff, were obtained to catalogue the books.
At this time there was a school population of 1,050, besides the students at Assumption College and the Teachers’ Training School.
The library was opened May 16, 1923, with a registration of 260 borrowers; 101 books were loaned; library hours were set at three days a week, Monday, Thursday and Saturday from one until nine in the evening. On July 18, 1923, Miss Katherine Hind was appointed Librarian at three dollars per day, duties to commence July 1; this salary was raised to four dollars in 1925.
The annual Report for the first year of operation showed a municipal appropriation of $1,550.00, a county grant of $50.00 (which was given annually until 1932) and a donation of $250.00 from Mr. J.W. Weber of Detroit who was a property owner in Windsor. Six hundred and twenty dollars was spent on books and $443.00 on
furniture and equipment. Membership totaled 861, justifying Mr. Eagle’s faith that the citizens would use a library of their own; circulation was 9,424. There were 692 books
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LIBRARY SERVICE IN SANDWICH – January 1923-December 1936 – Cont’d
on the shelves and in addition two units were obtained from the Travelling Library of the Public Libraries Branch, Department of Education, which were kept for two or three years.
The 1924 report showed a circulation of 22,106, membership of 1,395 and a total book stock of 1,628 of which 259 were children’s. The book selection was done by Mr. Eagle “who gave a good deal of time and trouble…all much appreciated”. This year an Association Library Board was appointed, although actually the library was and continued to be run by a Committee of Council with Mr. Eagle the presiding genius. The Municipal appropriation was the same $1,550.00. In succeeding years this was to be about the average though in 1930 and 1931 it was increased to $1,900.00, dropping to $1,200.00 in 1932, $1,450.00 in 1933 and 1934 (during the worst of the depression) and to $1,200.00 in 1935, the year of amalgamation.
Throughout these years circulation of books rose steadily till by 1933 it had reached the staggering figure of 47,074 with a book stock of 7,085, many being donated books and on a total budget of $1,675.00. The Librarian’s salary by this time was $700.00 per year and she had a part-time assistant, appointed in 1927, to whom $210.00 was paid in 1933. Books to the value of $470.00 were purchased; a high figure of $800.00 had been reached in 1930. Membership had increased steadily over the years till by 1930 it had reached 4,855, out of a population of 11,819. A new registration was begun that year and it never again attained quite such a high figure. By 1935 the population was 10,922.
The library from the first shared the top floor of the Town Hall with other civic and private bodies and it was a pleasant place. But gradually as the years went on these bodies appropriated more and more space; yet the library had expanded rapidly and the number of book cases had increased by 1933 to thirty-nine, each shelf of which, 156 in number, had to be unlocked and locked up again each library session. By this year other civic offices from the lower floors had also been moved up. When the relief Board was installed it meant that the large room was crowded with unemployed, who showed no respect for books or furniture; the cases were showed in the middle of the room, lighting was very poor and the whole place exceedingly dirty, disgusting and uncared for. The depression had dealt a savage blow to Sandwich Library Service. Thus F.C. Jennings, the Inspector of Libraries found the library when he came to inspect it in 1933. In his report he recommended that old books be thrown out, that changes must be made in the location and that a proper Board should be appointed.
Some of the offices, including the Relief Board, were removed from the auditorium floor, the library cases were rearranged and the place cleaned up to a certain
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LIBRARY SERVICE IN SANDWICH – January 1923-December 1936 – Cont’d
extent, but care-taking service remained poor. In January 1934 the Town Solicitors, Sale and Sale, ruled that the Library Board should have ten members; the seven Councillors might be members leaving three to be appointed; five members were to be a Management Committee and minutes were to be kept. In 1932 the Council members had been named as a Board and this was the first year Mr. Eagle’s name did not appear since he had retired from Council; the following year other names including Mr. Eagle’s were listed as Board Members. As a result then of Mr. Jennings’ visit – in 1934 the Board was properly constituted, Mr. Eagle elected Chairman, standing committees appointed and the Librarian appointed secretary and also added to Book Committee.
In 1935 Mr. Eagle proposed that the Board should try to get the Teachers’ Training School on Mill Street which would close in June, as a Library and was asked to write the Department of Education about this. However, due to the approaching amalgamation on July 1 nothing was done. At that date the Board was dissolved and by the Amalgamation Act Libraries were placed directly under control of the new Council. Representations had been made in April to have the libraries come back under the Public Libraries Act of the province, but it was not until January 1, 1937, that a newly appointed Library Board took over and proceeded to amalgamate the libraries into one system. In the meantime the librarians of the three municipalities carried on separately under Council control.
The Town Hall of Sandwich was sold to the county in 1936 and in July the Library was moved with all its belongings to the Teachers’ Training School. By October Miss Hind had brought enough order out of the chaos to open one room of the school for library service. In 1937 the new Board rented the building from the Department of Public Works, at Queen’s Park, Toronto, at a nominal annual sum of five dollars and proceeded to give the library the thorough overhauling it needed after its dark days during the depression. Paint and modern lighting, new furniture and book shelving, unglazed sectional shelves, purchase of new books and the discarding of the shabbiest old one, did wonders and it was to a beautifully equipped modern library that the public was invited on January 13, 1938, to take part in reopening ceremonies, with Mr. Angus Mowat, Inspector of Public Libraries, as guest speaker.
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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THE HISTORY
of
LIBRARY SERVICE IN WINDSOR
December 1894 – December 1936
Compiled by
Anne Hume
June 1945
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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THE HISTORY
of
LIBRARY SERVICE IN WINDSOR
December 1894 – December 1936
Compiled by
Anne Hume
Condensed From the Original
Copy For The Use
of
Dr. Faludi
of
The City Planning Commission
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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LIBRARY SERVICE IN WINDSOR – December 1894-December 1936
The first Public Library in this locality was opened in Lambie’s Hall on December 6, 1894. This building stood on the present site of the Star Annex Building and at that time was used for meetings and entertainments. The Library was established under the Public Libraries’ Act, an interested citizen’s committee having obtained over five hundred signatures on the petition presented to City Council requesting that the matter of a public library for Windsor be submitted to the electorate. A by-law was prepared and voted on, on June 26, 1894 and carried by the largest majority for any proposition submitted to the electors. This provided $4,000.00 to organize the public library through a sale of twenty-year debenture bonds, the annual payments for which were met by the newly organized Public Library Board out of its annual appropriation. For 1895 the library rate was one-third of a mill on assessment or $1,450.00; population was 11,549. By the end of the year there were 5,254 books in the shelves; membership was 1,713; circulation of books 48,064 and 60 magazine subscriptions had been provided. Walkerville and Sandwich were invited to join “in building up a first-class library for the use of every citizen…on the same terms and conditions now enjoyed by the residents of our city”. At the opening the chairman of the Library Board had declared the library open “to this and future generations for advancement, amusement and recreation, fitted for every taste and refinement…I am sure this Library will be another means of attracting people of culture to the city”.
In 1896 arrangements were completed with the Town of Walkerville for Library service at an annual rate of $175.00; in 1898 this was increased to $200.00, in 1902 to $250.00 and was discontinued in 1905 “after nine years of harmonious relations…since a library has been organized in that town”. (From the Annual Report of the Windsor Public Library for 1905). It was not until 1921 that the Town of Sandwich made arrangements for similar service at a rate of $200.00 per year, which lasted two years; in 1923 a small library was established in Sandwich.
In 1896 the Board subscribed for a complete edition of “The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents” which were to be published during the succeeding five years. This is one of the valued possessions of the library today. A special committee was appointed to collect and preserve “donations of old papers and documents of an historical character relating to this portion of the province”. Dr. May, Inspector of Libraries, visited the library and was extremely pleased with the progress; Windsor was the first Free Library established under the Act where no Mechanics’ Institute had previously existed. The Windsor Board was also the first to take into affiliation an outside municipality and a Teacher’s Institute.
By 1897 library officials were stressing the overcrowding in the library rooms and the need for a larger building, a condition which remained until the present Carnegie
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LIBRARY SERVICE IN WINDSOR – December 1894-December 1936 – Cont’d
Library was opened. In 1898 Mr. Andrew Braid was appointed Secretary of the Board, an office he was to hold till January 1923. Through his efforts an offer of $20,000.00 for a new library building was obtained from Mr. Andrew Carnegie in 1901, on condition that the city provide a suitable site and appropriate $2,500.00 annually for the maintenance of the library.
THE NEW LIBRARY
The present site of Carnegie Library, Victoria Avenue and Park Street, 169 feet by 120 feet, was acquired for $5,750.00 and in January 1902, Messrs. John Scott and Co. of Detroit were selected as architects. Later Mr. Carnegie’s grant was increased to $25,000.00 and finally to $27,000.00, the later increase being for furniture and fittings. On October 16, 1903, the new building was opened by the Hon. Richard Harcourt, Minister of Education.
NEW SERVICES
The Board arranged for a course of University of Toronto of Extension Lectures at forty cents for three lectures, on “Canadian Lakes”, “Ancient Greek Sculpture” and “The Novel”, by Professors Coleman, Carruthers and Alexander. The Essex County Historical Society was organized in January 1904 to collect the history of the county and genealogy of its pioneer families. A “Literary and Scientific Society” was formed (not under library auspices but with a by-law providing that the library board should have a representative on its executive committee) which was to hold an open meeting monthly in the Library Auditorium, with reading circles for the study of sociology and the writings of Shakespeare, Tennyson and Macauley and other subjects, meeting in the Committee Room. The Extension Lectures continued for two years; the Historical Society joined with the Ontario Historical Society, which visited Windsor, Sandwich and Amherstburg in June 1904, in sponsoring an evening meeting in the library auditorium when 300 were seated and scores turned away; since then it has had many ups and downs but has contributed greatly to the interest in local history; the Literary and Scientific Society flourished for many years, but definitely passed out of the picture before 1920.
By 1908, five years after the opening of the new library, the Board faced the fact that it was too small and that an addition to the building should be undertaken to provide
among other things for a library for Juveniles and for more space for adult book stacks.
Year after year the Annual Reports stressed the inadequacy of the Carnegie building.
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LIBRARY SERVICE IN WINDSOR – December 1894-December 1936 – Cont’d
NEW SERVICES – Cont’d
Miss Watson, the Librarian, attended a summer course at McGill University Library Training School in 1909, resulting in certain improvements in the service especially in cataloguing and circulation techniques. Fine marble busts of Shakespeare and Scott were presented by a former secretary, Mr. F.H. MacPherson. In 1910 the municipal appropriation was increased $5,000.00 allowing for a book expenditure of $1,269.15, the largest on record. Book holdings totaled 18,853; circulation for the year was 50,037 books and magazines; membership 1614; assets in building, real estate, books and equipment amounted to $51,418.18; the population of the city was 17,534 and assessment $11,837,615.00.
A monthly bulletin of four pages was commenced to list additions of new books, provide lists of books on special subjects and give literary news items. The privileges of the library were extended to pupils from outside the city who were attending any school in Windsor. Children over fourteen had been allowed the use of the adult stacks since 1911.
EAST BRANCH LIBRARY SERVICE
In January 1914 a branch library service was instituted in Lanspeary’s Drug Store at 143 (old numbering) Wyandotte Street East. To supplement the small book stock a twice-a-week delivery of requested books was made from the Main Library. A children’s story hour was started on Saturdays from three to four o’clock when women of the city volunteered their services; this proved a very successful venture. In 1920 this branch was removed to the front rooms of a house at 201 (old numbering) Parent Avenue, then to a rented store at 612 Parent near Cataraqui in 1923 where it was very successful, the Home and School Clubs of the various schools co-operating to a large degree. Circulation of the branch this year was just under 25,000, for Main 154,000. In 1925 the branch was moved to larger quarters in Langlois Avenue and next year was extended to take in two stores instead of the one; by this time circulation had reached over 65,000 and membership 1,300. Situated as it was in a heavily populated residential district this East Branch was to reach the huge circulation of over 117,000 with a membership of 1,480, adult and juvenile, before it was closed in March 1933 because of a further cut in the Library Board’s municipal appropriation due to the depression.
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Nineteen-fourteen, the year war broke out in Europe, saw a circulation of 83,195,
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LIBRARY SERVICE IN WINDSOR – December 1894-December 1936 – Cont’d
EAST BRANCH LIBRARY SERVICE – Cont’d
a jump from 65,021 in the previous year. During the was years circulation did not keep pace with the increase in population – “the men are gone and the women busy at comforts”, reported the Secretary. The impact of the war was seen in book and magazine orders and in the establishment of book deposits in the local army camps at Driving Park and on Dougall Avenue and at the Soldier’s Club on Sandwich Street. Parcels of books and magazines were distributed to the American troops as they passed through in trains on their way to the coast. The Library Auditorium and Lecture Room were used for war work of all kinds, both military and volunteer and for the distribution of pamphlets on recruiting, food, etc. The Detroit Public Library borrowed the collection of war maps and posters, including the Kitchener series of British recruiting and Birmingham, Alabama wrote for help in establishing soldier’s libraries. In 1900 the librarian had reported that “the war in South Africa created a great demand for books relative to that part of the empire” and for books about the Army and Navy.
MISS LANCEFIELD, LIBRARIAN
In November 1918 Miss Agnes Lancefield, a trained librarian, librarian of the Riverdale Branch Library, Toronto, assumed her duties as librarian in Windsor. For the next ten years or more the story of the library is one of great expansion and success, of increased budgets, of innovations and increased service to the public, as a fine modern public library servicing a growing city.
Old and outmoded books were swept off the shelves; a modern Children’s Library was opened in part of the auditorium and Miss Hilda Rankin of the 55th Street Branch, New York, came to take charge of it; the rules were revised to remove age limits; schools were visited and teachers asked for co-operation; displays were made of modern children’s books.
By 1920 Chairman Carlisle (Dean Arthur Carlisle of All Saint’s Church, later Bishop of Montreal) reported: “In the whole province…the library is coming into its own…no longer a frill…willing to spend money on it.” There was a striking increase in circulation; Reference and Technical books were added; advertising was used. “An enlarged building will soon be necessary…and Branches:. The Great War Veterans’ Hut was supplied with both library and donated books. A loan of paintings was obtained from the National Gallery to hang on the walls.
The Canadian Book Week was celebrated November 21-28, 1921, with all
libraries throughout the province, the librarian speaking to several clubs on Canadian
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LIBRARY SERVICE IN WINDSOR – December 1894-December 1936 – Cont’d
MISS LANCEFIELD, LIBRARIAN – Cont’d
books. Mrs. Jean Barr Black loaned some MSS of the novels of her brother, the late Robert Barr and of John Barr of London, England. Children’s Book Week was celebrated November 14-19. The first woman member of the Board, Mrs. A.L. Mason, was appointed by the Board of Education; the next year Miss Cora Hewitt was also appointed by the same Board. The city appropriation was increased to $20,000.00. Circulation increased to 168,000, some of this due to unemployment.
In 1923 the Librarian reported a greatly increased reference use of the library, with several Detroiters using it to obtain the British point of view on some subjects. She observed that the Reading and Reference Rooms were filled with unemployed men. The staff consisted of seven full-time and one part-time assistant besides the Chief Librarian.
LIBRARY EXTENSION
In September 1924 a Building Committee was appointed to decide on a method of enlarging the Main Library and providing better branch service. In October this Committee recommended that a money by-law be presented to the taxpayers at the December elections asking for $75,000.00, to provide an East-end Branch and an addition to the Main Library. This by-law was unfortunately defeated, due possible to a too short campaign and the failure of the public to recognize the library’s needs. It is recorded in the Annual Report that the Border Cities Star gave “generous support” to the proposition. By now circulation had risen to 227,965 of which 47,005 was at the East Branch; registrations totaled 16,668; City Council appropriation was $23,588.50; expenditures for books $5,556.35 and for salaries $11,069.00. Windsor was experiencing a remarkable period of growth. There was a greatly increased publication of Canadian books which this year included Mabel Dunham’s “Trail of the Conestoga” and L.G. Salverson’s “Viking Heart”. Miss Helen Langford attended the Library School of the Department of Education and was successful in obtaining her certificate; thus the staff now included two professional librarians.
Next year 1925, the East Branch was moved to the larger quarters on Langlois Avenue and the Board made rather extensive alterations on the Main Building to make use of every available foot, the entrance being moved to the centre front, at a cost of $11,900.00. The City appropriation was stepped up to $26,319.00. Population was
56,443; circulation 264,852 (including almost 65,000 at the branch) membership was
12,062. This 1925 circulation was over three times that of 1918 when Miss Lancefield
began her work. Adult education was the leading library interest for the year. In 1926
and 1927 appears the name of Miss Eleanor Barteaux as Library Assistant, not appearing
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LIBRARY SERVICE IN WINDSOR – December 1894-December 1936 – Cont’d
LIBRARY EXTENSION – Cont’d
again till 1930, by which time she had obtained a certificate from Library School.
New services were continually added, such as a Fine Arts Room and new contacts made with the public. Still the need for larger quarters and more branches persisted. In 1927 the Parks Board donated a site for a west-end branch in Wilson Park and City Council issued debentures for $30,000.00 on which the annual payment for principal and interest was to be $2,407.28. This amount was paid annually until the city went into default in 1932. On November 7, 1928 the new John Richardson Library as opened in the presence of Mr. W.O. Carson, Inspector of Libraries, representatives of the city, of Home and School Clubs, of educational bodies and the citizens at large. Mr. George F. Macdonald donated rare editions of the Canadian author after whom the library was named. The Chairman, A.J. Lothian in his Annual Report remarked that the library could not possible operate on the fifty cents per capita being received; “we must have an addition to the Main Library and we must have a Branch in the East End…salaries must be improved”.
In 1928 the compilation of an “Index to Canadian Periodicals”, a quarterly mimeographed publication, was begun and distributed to other libraries. This was the first such Canadian Index.
The circulation for 1929 was 450,402 (Main – 266,122; East Branch – 77,611; John Richardson – 86,669), the city levy $34,284.00 with a special grant of $7,500.00; the staff numbered seventeen. Secretary F.A. Landreau reported that the library must get more than fifty cents per capita or it cannot expand to meet the needs of the community. He feels the law of diminishing returns will soon start to operate, since book purchases are not keeping up with circulation. In the fall an Exhibition of Canadian Art was held in the John Richardson Library, Mr. Arthur Lismer of Toronto being the guest speaker. During 1929 Miss Lancefield was absent for some months due to illness and in October she resigned due to her approaching marriage. She “had energetically and very ably looked after the library for many years”. Mr. Angus Mowat, Librarian of the Public Library in Belleville succeeded Miss Lancefield on January 4, 1930. The printed Annual Report, from which this account is compiled, available for every year since the library was opened, terminated with the 1929 report. The 1930 and 1931 reports are in mimeographed form.
In 1930 Reference patronage doubled the department making excellent progress
under Miss Eleanor Barteaux. “Our Reference facilities are not satisfactory, but the
improvement is great”. The circulation was 473,022; the city appropriation $38,015.50;
salary expenditures $23,461.00.
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LIBRARY SERVICE IN WINDSOR – December 1894-December 1936 – Cont’d
LIBRARY EXTENSION – Cont’d
The 1931 report stresses the value of the libraries in the depression, especially the East Branch. Circulation rose to 514,281; the Librarian’s salary was reduced by $300.00. Miss Barteaux left in April to accept a position in the Galt Collegiate and Vocational School.
END OF PUBLISHED ANNUAL REPORTS
By 1932 curtailment was necessary to meet a reduction of over $5,000.00 in the city appropriation to $32,782.50; a Board of Supervisors, appointed by the Ontario Government, took over control of the city’s finances. On July 1, the Children’s Library at Main was closed, the books being transferred to John Richardson and the Adult section at John Richardson was closed, its books being transferred to Main and the branch closed in the evenings thus reducing the staff. The former Children’s Library at Main was turned into a Fiction Department, thus expanding the shelving possibilities for adult books. Book purchases were reduced to $2,000.00. Mr. Mowat resigned as librarian August 1932 to accept a position as librarian of the Saskatoon Public Library and Miss Eleanor Barteaux was appointed librarian in September 1932. Circulation dropped to 465,823. Main was closed on Wednesdays at one o’clock to reduce staff expenses. Mr. Mowat offered to take over the Canadian Periodical Index at the end of the year and thus this publication of this important library “tool” passed out of the hands of the local library.
In 1933 another cut in the city appropriation to $28,070.00 necessitated the closing of the East Branch in March and curtailment of four members of staff. The Board of Education wrote disapproving of the closing of the Branch. Later in July a small lending branch for children was established in the Prince Edward School with the co-operation of the Board of Education. Circulation dropped to 373,196. This year the debenture payment was deducted from the city appropriation but was not set up in a debenture account. Apparently no further payments were made. The Library continued to serve thousands of unemployed men and women, the membership totaling around 28,000 in 1934, out of a population of 61,000. Gardening and travel displays attracted hundreds to the library and it was noted that the policy of film corporations in producing
movies based on well-known books accounted for excellent circulation of those books. The indexing of plays and pictures was commenced and an effort was made to publicize the infant picture collection. A new fall book display and tea held in the library in
November (for the second time) aroused much interest. Circulation was 331,196; 5,309
books were purchased; the city appropriation was $28,667.72.
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LIBRARY SERVICE IN WINDSOR – December 1894-December 1936 – Cont’d
END OF PUBLISHED ANNUAL REPORTS – Cont’d
The Board appointed a committee to report on the possibility of getting Miss Margaret Bartlett’s residence, next door, for an Annex, but nothing came of this, Dougall Victoria and Harry Guppy Home and School presidents wrote asking that a branch be established for children in one of these schools. Finally in November it was decided to open a small branch in the Victoria School. Early in 1935 a Royal Commission of Inquiry respecting the amalgamation of the four Border Municipalities of Sandwich, Windsor, Walkerville and East Windsor began its work; the city solicitor wrote concerning a questionnaire to be prepared for the Commission but apparently nothing was done. In April 1935, the city of Windsor Amalgamation Act was brought down in the House and quickly received its third reading and was passed. At the June 25 meeting the Board wrote to City Council offering the Board’s and Librarian’s services to the incoming Council of the new city, to take office July 1, for any information needed.
This was the last meeting of the Windsor Public Library Board which was dissolved as of June 30, 1935. The Amalgamation Act abolished Library Boards and placed the libraries of the new city of Windsor directly under Council control.
In 1935 circulation increased to 370,790 but again showed a decrease to 365,7620. Religious books were greatly in demand with books in economics, politics ad current events in the lead. The re-opening of Night School Classes brought a demand for technical books, but funds were lacking to supply an adequate number for students and workers. The most important piece of work this year was the enlargement of the Music Collection under Miss Helen Langford’s supervision. Many scores in books and sheets were added for various instruments and vocal arrangements and lists of holdings were prepared for circulation. Many bibliographies were prepared on a wide range of subjects and timely displays arranged. The local radio station, CRCW, arranged for Wednesday evening book review broadcasts, with Miss Barteaux and Miss Hume of the Walkerville libraries alternating as reviewers.
In the fall of 1936 an amendment to the city of Windsor (Amalgamation) Act having been enacted, the libraries of the new city came back under the Public Libraries’
Act of the province. A Library Board was appointed; Miss Hume was appointed Chief Librarian and in January 1937 the new board took over the management of the libraries of the several municipalities, which had in the meantime been operating separately under their library heads and proceeded to amalgamate them into one library system.
See also Library Service in Walkerville, 1896-1937.
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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A
HISTORY OF THE
WINDSOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES
1937 - 1944
Compiled by
Anne Hume, CHIEF LIBRARIAN
AUGUST 1945
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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A HISTORY OF THE WINDSOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES 1937 – 1944
The city of Windsor (Amalgamation) Act, 1935 which took effect July 1, 1935, had abolished the Library Boards of the various amalgamating municipalities and placed the libraries directly under Council Control. Since the opinion of library authorities in both Canada and the United States and of local Library Boards was not in accord with this move, representations had been made to the Departments of Education, the Attorney-General and Municipal Affairs before the third reading of the bill to have it amended to bring the libraries back under the Public Libraries Act. This was not done, however, until the spring of 1936; and the amendment was tied up with others which were not enacted until the late fall of 1936. Early in November the libraries came back under the jurisdiction of the Public Libraries’ Act which provided for a Library Board of nine members, three being appointed by the City Council for three years, three by the Board of Education for three years and two by the Separate School Board for two years – one member from each group retiring annually, with the Mayor an ex officio member. Appointments having been made, the first meeting of the new Board was held on November 16, 1936, when Mr. Gerald McHugh was elected first Chairman. By January 1, 1937, Miss Anne Hume, B.A., had been appointed Chief Librarian and Miss Eleanor Barteaux Assistant Librarian. Mr. H.O. Kerr was the first Secretary and Treasurer, but early in January these offices were combined with those of the Chief Librarian.
TWO MAIN LIBRARIES
Since neither the former Windsor Main Library nor Willistead, the Walkerville Main Library building, which had been donated to the Town of Walkerville for public library and municipal purposes by the heirs to the estate of the late Mr. E.C. Walker, were large enough to supply the multiplicity of services expected of a Central Library, it was necessary to provide certain main library services from each, and arrangement which makes administration exceedingly difficult. The second floor of Willistead had been the Town Hall of Walkerville and since the City Hall of the former Windsor was also inadequate for its purpose, certain municipal departments of the new city were established at Willistead – the Finance Commission appointed by the Ontario Government to supervise amalgamation finances, property and Purchasing Departments. A portion of the building, however, had been vacated immediately, which made space available to establish the administrative headquarters of the amalgamated library system at Willistead. This implied headquarters for Book Acquisition and Processing and certain departments, e.g., Cataloguing and Children’s, as well as for the Board, Chief Librarian and Secretary-Treasurer. As time went on and floor space was found at City Hall for the Municipal Departments, the entire Willistead Building became available for Library purposes and in 1943 financial arrangements were made with City Council whereby, while the ownership of the building remained vested in the city, the Library Board
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A HISTORY OF THE WINDSOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES 1937 – 1944 – Cont’d
TWO MAIN LIBRARIES – Cont’d
assumed responsibility for maintenance and operation as a Library and Art Gallery. Thus, Willistead is being developed as a cultural centre for the arts, literature, music, art, films, lectures and discussion groups.
INADEQUACY OF THE CARNEGIE BUILDING
The name of the former Windsor Main at 416 Victoria Avenue was changed to Carnegie Library since it had been erected in 1894 by the gift of $27,000.00 from Mr. Andrew Carnegie; it was, naturally, the largest library in the new city in volume of circulation and reference work and it became the Main Reference Library for the enlarged system with Miss Eleanor Barteaux, Assistant Librarian, remaining in charge. But for this purpose it was and is totally inadequate; built in 1903, when Windsor had a population of 13,400, it was required to do duty in a city of around 100,000 which by now (1945) has almost reached 120,000. Over these years the pattern of service which the citizens of Windsor have a right to expect of their library system has been made clear; it can never be given under existing circumstances. Indeed with the increased population and the increasing complexity of post-war life, the services can but deteriorate. (See “A BRIEF ON PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICES FOR WINDSOR”, presented to the City Planning Commission at a public meeting in the Council Chambers, February 19, 1945.)
AMALGAMATION
At January 1, 1937, the library system comprised the following eight libraries: from the former Windsor, Carnegie and John Richardson Libraries in their own buildings and two Children’s Libraries in the Prince Edward and Victoria Public Schools; from Walkerville, Willistead Library in Willistead Municipal Building and South Branch Library, the name of which was changed to Hugh Beaton, in the public school by that name; Sandwich Library which had been moved from the Town Hall to the vacated Model School on Mill Street and was awaiting rehabilitation; and the J.E. Benson Memorial Library in the Ontario Street School which had been opened a few months previously – this library, located in the former East Windsor, was the first public library that municipality had had.
Then began the task of amalgamating the staffs, the book and other resources, the complete overhauling or revision of all book records – accession, catalogue, stock and circulation – registration records, the revision of staff and salary schedules and providing the multiplicity of services connected with work amongst children, adolescents and
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A HISTORY OF THE WINDSOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES 1937 – 1944 – Cont’d
AMALGAMATION – Cont’d
adults in circulation, reference and advisory work through books, magazines, pamphlets, pictures, maps, etc. But most difficult of all was the task of stretching what had already been entirely insufficient financial resources to give modern service on an equal basis to about 35,000 people – 35 per cent of the total population – within the confines of the new city who had never had it before or did not have it at that time: the 15,000 in East Windsor, the 11,000 in Sandwich who had had only a book lending service and so far as the children were concerned an inadequate stock for even this purpose and thousands of people in the South Eastern section of old Windsor to whom library services were not available, as well as the adults in certain sections of the west end – the latter conditions were brought about by the closing of branches due to the depression.
INADEQUATE FUNDS AND STAFF
The next three years were a period of great expansion despite inadequate funds, especially for books and salaries and with a numerically inadequate staff as emphasized in the Chief Librarian’s Annual Reports. Added to this was the crowded condition at Carnegie Library. In her 1938 Annual Report the Chief Librarian wrote, “The Property Committee has outlined the changes which are contemplated there (Carnegie Library) which will improve matters for three or four years – no longer. Then, so far as we can see, there will be no solution short of a new building or an addition to the present building. Indeed we should have this now.”
IMPROVEMENTS TO SERVICE
A Parent-Teacher Library was established with the co-operation of the Windsor Teachers’ Institute, the Border Council of Home and School Clubs and the Board of Education, which was an invaluable aid in connection with the new courses of study introduced into the elementary schools. Indeed the whole system strained its financial resources to the utmost to provide thousands of dollars worth of books in all the children’s libraries to make possible the success of these courses which emphasized a greater use of books. At that time it was apparently not possible for the schools to provide these resources. The same thing was done as the new courses were gradually introduced in the secondary schools. A High School or Intermediate room, was provided in Carnegie Library to give a specialized service to this age group as was provided at Willistead; this was extended over the whole system with Miss Gladys’ Shepley, now (1945) head of Reference, in charge. The Picture File at Carnegie was revised and indexed and large additions made, becoming an excellent tool of the Reference
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A HISTORY OF THE WINDSOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES 1937 – 1944 – Cont’d
IMPROVEMENTS TO SERVICE – Cont’d
Department, Miss Caroline Fraser, B.A., Reference Librarian, supervising this work. By 1938 this department noted an unusual interest in Canadian affairs, especially in Canadian foreign policy and relations.
Sandwich Library was completely rehabilitated, the interior being turned into a pleasing library with modern lighting and decoration, the book stock completely overhauled and the Children’s Library provided with over one thousand dollars’ worth of suitable new books. Benson Library was immediately strengthened with the provision of hundreds of new intermediate and adult books, this department having been started on a shoestring and additions to the children’s book stock. All over the system Miss Annabelle McKillop, B.A., noted an increase in the number of small children using the library and a greater concern by parents and teachers in the reading habits and interest of children.
The staff aided the Windsor Daily Star in 1937 and 1938 in establishing its Saturday Music Art and Literature page, supplying book reviews, book lists and news items. A new supplement to the Music Bibliography of books in the library was prepared and distributed; a “Music Tea” was arranged to give those interested an opportunity to see the new scores and books on musical subjects. A policy of sending short bibliographies on special subjects to appropriate groups was extended. Story-telling was begun in the parks for the newly organized Playground Association, in addition to the fall and winter programme in four libraries. The Club Programme Service was greatly enlarged and greater publicity given to it to aid the scores of club programme builders. The Parent-Teacher Library was proving a guide to book selection for teachers who were beginning again to build up the school libraries and to parents. Inexpensive books that could be recommended for home purpose were displayed with local sources and costs. A play collection for the use of teachers was built up and a comprehensive bibliography of Christmas plays with data on characters and settings was prepared and distributed.
Circulation and reference were both increasing tremendously when in September 1939 war broke out. The year ended with a circulation of 606,054 for the system a ten percent increase since amalgamation, but from September 1 the circulation took a
tremendous downward curve which continued till it reached a low of 496,415, or 4.2 books per capita, in 1943; 1944 showed a very slight increase; now in August 1945 it is too soon to judge the influence of victory on library statistics. Long hours at war work both in the daily job and in volunteer channels disrupted the reading habits of thousands, men, women and children, while with the increasing tempo of enlistments men and women were removed from civilian life; this effect was not so decisive with the children although they also contributed much otherwise leisure time to salvage, Red Cross, tag
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A HISTORY OF THE WINDSOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES 1937 – 1944 – Cont’d
IMPROVEMENTS TO SERVICE – Cont’d
days, etc. and to “jobs”. Reference work, however, continued to increase over the war years, showing the value of a Reference Library for “quick” reference as well as for more prolonged studies. A War Information Bureau was established at Carnegie Library where information on all kinds of subjects connected with the war effort could be obtained, or failing that the patron could be directed to the proper sources.
THE WAR YEARS
As the war proceeded the library system became increasingly difficult to administer; book prices, dependent in the American and British markets (till labour and paper supply of book production practically prohibited British exports), soared to about 25 per cent above 1939 prices, including War Emergency Taxes and Exchange rates, while the book budget remained stationary. Staff shortages due to enlistments, marriage, the general restlessness of the period and decreased attendance at Library School became acute, with untrained inexperienced people added in quantity to plug the gaps. Yet the staff remaining strove valiantly to keep all services intact and indeed to strengthen the library in the community, feeling that the literature it housed contained the record of civilization and of those spiritual, moral and democratic values which our country was striving to make prevail over the evils of totalitarianism.
Substantial additions were made to the technical sections to the limit of shelving facilities as industrial concerns converted to war-time production; posters and booklists drawing attention to the new technical books were sent to scores of industrial plants; bibliographies were prepared by Miss Barteaux and purchases made at the request of many technical and industrial experts and the staff of the Vocational School where instruction was given to army and navy personnel. A new pamphlet “An Invitation to Join Your Library” was widely distributed, especially in the War-time Housing developments; scores of new groups, many the result of war conditions, were reached through an active Public Relations policy; literature based on British experience was obtained for the use of the Civilian Defence Organization and help given similar groups in Detroit after Pearl Harbour; in the first months of the war a committee of the Library Board was appointed to establish a library in St. Luke’s Road Barracks which was opened in January 1940, funds being obtained by public and club subscriptions to purchase new books and the processing done after hours by staff members – this library functioned very successfully when the authorities were interested and provided supervision and less so when it was left to chance, until the Barracks was closed in May of 1945; books were also provided from donation for No. 7 Elementary Flying Training School and H.M.C.S. Hunter, the local naval barracks and the Active Service Club; the
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A HISTORY OF THE WINDSOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES 1937 – 1944 – Cont’d
THE WAR YEARS – Cont’d
C.W.A.C. Kildare Road Barracks was provided with loan collections from Willistead; the Chief Librarian was appointed local representative of the National War Libraries’ Council of Canada to co-ordinate the work of all groups helping to supply books and magazines to the Armed Forces – at the peak 100,000 magazines a year were supplied not counting those of the men’s service clubs. Pool buying for adult branch libraries was begun; a small branch library for children named The Winston Churchill Branch was opened in St. Alphonsus School in 1941 through the co-operation of the Separate School Board which gave free use of a small room; in 1943 a deposit of children’s books was placed in one War-time Housing Clubhouse, on Westcott Road, which proved extremely successful; this was followed by an Adult Deposit station in 1944; the first survey of periodical holdings in the system was made and the Canadian list sent to the Detroit Public Library at its request, for inclusion in the Detroit and District Union List of Serials; a certain amount of radio publicity was provided for; the Windsor Daily Star throughout the years gave excellent publicity to all efforts for closer integration of the library with the community; the Children’s Department sent story-tellers to the Playground Association, the Y Stay-at-home Vacation Club, the Brownie Day Camp; speakers were provided for all groups requesting them.
The Libraries proved to be extremely sensitive to the course of the war both in subject matter requested and in the fall and rise of circulation as we suffered adverse and finally victories or as stalemates occurred. Both Children’s and Intermediate Librarians deplored the fact that children had less time to read. They also felt that the reference work required by the new courses of study kept the children and adolescents from the joys of reading for reading’s sake. Lack of staff left less time for advisory work; and inexperienced persons required more supervision. To partially take care of this a new Procedure Book covering all phases of library duties was prepared for staff use.
Comprehensive local history scrapbooks were made from the clippings in the various files and from donations from Dr. Neil Morrison and properly indexed; at the request of the Reference Librarian, Miss Caroline Fraser, Mr. C.V. Waters, City Clerk, prepared an excellent treatise on local city government “Municipal Administration with Special Reference to Windsor”, which was distributed to local libraries and schools; deposit libraries were placed in the headquarters of two of the largest Labour Unions at their request with a view to increasing reading habits and interests of members and stimulating interest in the Public Library; interesting displays and exhibitions were arranged to attract the public to the various resources of the library, e.g. “The Library and the World of Art”, prepared by Miss Noy; occasional afternoon or evening social affairs were held to show new purchases to special groups, e.g. “library” teachers in Book Week and the literature of Vocational Guidance to Secondary School Teachers when the new
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A HISTORY OF THE WINDSOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES 1937 – 1944 – Cont’d
THE WAR YEARS – Cont’d
course was instituted. Late in 1942 as a result of intensive staff studies, the best of the books on post-war problems which were pouring from the presses were evaluated and added to the various libraries in necessary quantities and adequately displayed under the caption “Blueprints for a Better World”; a series of lectures “Let’s Make Every Kitchen Work for Victory” given by Red Cross Nutritionists was illustrated with excellent food displays and a reading list; two Canadian authors, Mrs. Grace Campbell and Mrs. Naida Parlow French were presented in public lectures by the staff.
As the pattern of post-war life began to take shape after we had reached the stage of confidence in victory some time in the future, housing and town planning assumed tremendous importance. The Library began to assemble available literature and also offered an exhibition on “Neighbourhood Planning” from the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in the Gallery. Recently at the request of the City Planning Commission a bibliography was prepared on City Planning. And now requests for house plans and building, interior decoration and allied subjects are swamping all the libraries.
Sandwich Library became increasingly known and used, especially by the intermediate age; on assuming the duties of Head of the Reference Department, Miss Gladys Shepley instituted a new system of processing and filing the thousands of pamphlets which a “pamphlet age” has made necessary in libraries and has filled many gaps in files of Government documents. Miss Barteaux has checked and completed where possible the files of historical and other learned society publications.
COUNTY LIBRARY
In the fall of 1940 an Essex County Library system was organized with head-quarters at Willistead Library and Miss Hume acting as County Librarian. Book buying as well as most of the selection, cataloguing and distribution of books was done by the Windsor staff with the County making token payments. Staff members made generous contributions in time to help establish the system on a professional basis. By 1944 the County Library Board was able to assume financial responsibilities for a trained librarian on a one-third time basis. Miss Betty Hardie, B.A., was appointed County Librarian and assistant on the Windsor staff and the system is ready to expand as soon as larger funds become available in the post-war period.
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A HISTORY OF THE WINDSOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES 1937 – 1944 – Cont’d
WAR ENLISTMENTS
Five members of staff enlisted in the three services; at writing two are engaged in library work in the Navy and two are taking Officers’ Training preliminary to appointments as District Librarians in the Army; one has been demobilized and is taking a business course. One member joined the United Kingdom and Canada Inspection Board in Detroit, later resigning to take a library position in The Detroit Public Library.
Staff members have done their share of volunteer war work in the Active Service Club, in sorting magazines and books for the Forces, in staffing St. Luke’s Barracks’ library and in other ways. They have raised their quota in Victory Bond drives and purchases of War Certificates and the Staff Association has kept in touch and sent boxes to enlisted personnel, including Flt. Lieut. James Francis, D.F.C., who was at one time a page at Carnegie Library.
THE STAFF AND PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
In spite of increased duties the staff has taken its full responsibilities and offices in the Ontario Library Association. Miss Annabelle McKillop has served as Chairman of the Children’s Section and member of the executive besides being on the Executive of the Canadian Association of Children’s Librarians; Miss Gladys Shepley as Chairman of the School and Intermediate Section and member of the Executive, Secretary-Treasurer of the “Young People’s Reading Round Table” of the American Library Association and later a member of the Committee on International Relations of the same section; Miss Doris Noy as Secretary of the School and Intermediate Section; Miss Helen Langford as Chairman of the Catalogue Section; Miss Betty Hardie as Chairman of the County and Small Libraries Institute; Miss Eleanor4 Barteaux as Chairman of the County and Small Libraries Institute, Programme Chairman of the O.L.A. and later member of the executive; Miss Anne Hume as President of the O.L.A., member of its Reconstruction Committee, second Vice-President of the Division of Public Libraries of the A.L.A. and Chairman of the Small Libraries Section of the American Library Association. All these members and Miss Gladys Mitchell, Miss Katherine Hind, Miss Edith Clare, Miss Betty Williamson, Miss Katherine Warnock and Mrs. Hilda Brooke have given papers, conducted clinics or convened meetings of the Regional Library Conferences or of Ontario Library Association groups.
Rev. E.G. Lee, a former Board Member, was the first Chairman in 1941, of the revived Trustees’ Section of O.L.A. and Mrs. Gordon A. Kerr, a present Trustee, is a member of the committee which will prepare a brief for the Ontario Royal Commission
on Education.
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A HISTORY OF THE WINDSOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES 1937 – 1944 – Cont’d
THE STAFF AND PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS – Cont’d
Misses Shepley and Noy made a very thorough survey of the reading interests of the High School age student as a basis for book purchasing and advisory work. Miss McKillop and her staff has just completed a survey of Juvenile membership in the system which shows conclusively the need for a larger and better staff in the Children’s libraries. Miss Ruth McLaren of the teaching staff of Walkerville Collegiate gave an excellent address on “Co-operation between School and Public Library” during the Easter educational meetings at Toronto, based on the work of Willistead Library and her school library; this was printed in the “Ontario Library Review” and “The School”.
PUBLICATIONS
Staff members have published bibliographies and some articles on phases of library work. Miss Barteaux’s bibliography on “Problems of Demobilization, Adjustment and Rehabilitation of Men and Women from the Armed Forces” was accepted for publication by the Wartime Information Board and distributed by the Department of Pensions and National Health to all veterans’ welfare officers and by the Canadian Library Council to all librarians. Her article in CANADIAN ART, June-July 1944, “A Sculpture Meets the Public” was based on a library project and W.H. Bartlett of “Bartlett Prints” was accepted for publication by the January 1945, Dalhousie Review. “Library Trends in Canada” appeared in a Canadian number of Wilson’s Bulletin, November 1944. Miss Gladys Shepley’s exhaustive bibliography “Canada in the Post-War World” appeared in the Ontario Library Review for November 1944.
“An Experiment in Community Integration of the Arts”, by Miss Hume, appeared in the Ontario Library Review for November 1944. She has also written for the Library Archives and local publicity purposes and for the Windsor City Planning Commission. “A History of the Art Movement looking Towards the Establishment of an Art Gallery and Museum for the City of Windsor”, “The History of Library Service in Sandwich, 1923-36”, “The History of Library Service in Walkerville, 1896-1936”, “The History of Library Service in Windsor 1894-1936” and this present history from 1937-1945. Four requests from three different professional and business journals for articles have had to be turned down in order to complete the library histories.
ART GALLERY AND OTHER NEW SERVICES
The Art Gallery on the second floor of Willistead was opened in October 1943 and a Curator appointed; at the same time a film library and a record library were
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A HISTORY OF THE WINDSOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES 1937 – 1944 – Cont’d
ART GALLERY AND OTHER NEW SERVICES – Cont’d
provided and a sound reproduction system was installed making concerts of recorded music possible. Exhibitions are provided in the Gallery on a monthly basis, the majority being obtained through the National Gallery of Canada. Six or seven are provided yearly by the Windsor Art Association, which is making a fine contribution to the cultural life of the community in this way and through the building up of a permanent collection of Canadian Art. The remaining exhibitions are provided by other sponsoring groups and the Library Board. Thursday Evening Community programmes are offered free, the Art Association providing one Art lecture a month, with the remaining programmes consisting of recorded music, music lectures, travelogues, films, discussion groups, etc. “Readers-on-the-Run” series of noon-time book reviews was carried on at the Y.W.C.A. for two years in an effort to direct the attention of employees of downtown offices and businesses to the library. All of these services are part of the new techniques used to interest citizens in books and other cultural arts to the enrichment of individual and community life.
See also “A History of the Art Movement…in Windsor” by Anne Hume.
MACDONALD HISTORICAL COLLECTION
In 1943 the library was greatly enriched through the gift by Mr. George F. Macdonald of his historical collection of manuscripts-letters, diaries, account books, etc. – maps, books, early newspapers, all relating to Windsor and Essex County and the Western District. This is the most magnificent gift, aside from buildings, which the library has received and is the result of a life-time’s work. At present it is being sorted and indexed for use. Arrangements have also just been completed whereby the Windsor Historic Sites Committee, of which Mr. Macdonald is Chairman, will completely rehabilitate the Francois Baby House on Pitt Street West, as an Historic Museum and turn it over for administration to the Library Board, the Board of Control and City Council having guaranteed a sufficient income. The historic objects of Mr. Macdonald’s collection will thus have a permanent home.
NEW LIBRARY
While these newer developments have been possible at Willistead Library the need for a new Central Library in the downtown district has grown with each year. The Library Board decided that the time had come to make plans to acquire an adequate building in the post-war period. The suggestion was made that it might prove an
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A HISTORY OF THE WINDSOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES 1937 – 1944 – Cont’d
NEW LIBRARY – Cont’d
acceptable war memorial. In 1944 the Post-War Planning Committee of City Council and Chamber of Commerce were approached and their attitude was entirely sympathetic to a new library; Veteran’s Groups, meeting in conference, were also approached and proved sympathetic to the war memorial idea. In January 1945 a public meeting was called in the gallery to discuss a new library, letters having previously been sent out to clubs, churches, industries, foreign language groups, trade unions, etc., asking them to send representatives and an invitation extended through the Star. Mr. Ralph Ulveling of Detroit gave an address on “The Library’s Role in Community Life”. The meeting was then thrown open for discussion. The audience was found to be overwhelmingly in support of a new library and there was also much support for the war memorial angle. A committee was set up to organize a “Friends of the Library” group to help interpret the library to the community and gain further support for a new building. This is now (August 1945) ready with a fall programme which will open with an Historical Exhibition, including original drawings of Dr. Charles W. Jefferys, noted Canadian historical artist and illustrator, documents from the Macdonald Historical Collection, historical models from Detroit, an exhibit by the Windsor City Planning Commission and Essex County Tourist Association.
In February the City Planning Commission invited the Library Board to attend an open meeting at which educational and cultural bodies were to present their post-war plans. A brief was prepared and presented giving the results of two years’ study regarding library needs in the City of Windsor and the situation of a new library. The arguments in favour of the library as a war memorial were also given.
Meanwhile preliminary staff studies have been proceeding since early in 1944 to determine the size of building required, this being dependent primarily on population twenty or thirty years hence, then on size of the book collection and number of seats and tables required in the various reading rooms and on the type of services, including adult education, to be provided. Senior staff members have carefully studied the London, Toledo and Rochester Libraries on the spot and on paper.
As this account of library services in Windsor since 1937 closes staff shortages and the new library are the big problem facing the Board members as they assemble in September.
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SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE
in the
BORDER AREA, 1894 - 1945
By
ANNE HUME
AUGUST 1945
Establishment of Libraries and Branches
Financial Structure
Cultural Activities
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
By
ANNE HUME
This summary will deal with the establishment of libraries and branches and with the financial structure; with a memo on their cultural activities. The full stories can be read in the separate histories of the libraries of Windsor, Walkerville and Sandwich, in the history of the new city’s libraries from 1937-1945 and in the history of the Art Movement in Windsor, all by Anne Hume.
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES
WINDSOR
The first Public Library in the area now comprising the City of Windsor was opened in December 1894, in Lambie’s Hall on the site of the present Star Annex Building, under the authority of the Public Libraries’ Act of Ontario. A by-law submitted in June had found the electorate overwhelmingly in favour of providing $4,000.00 through the sale of twenty-year debenture bonds to enable a newly created Windsor Public Library Board to purchase books and necessary equipment. For 1895 the library rate was one-third of a mill on assessment, or $1,450.00; population was 11,549. By the end of the year there were 5,254 books on the shelves; membership was 1,713; circulation of books for home reading 48,064; 60 magazines subscriptions had been provided.
Within two or three years the library rooms were overcrowded and it was realized more floor space must be provided. In 1901, through the efforts of Mr. Andrew Braid, Secretary of the Library Board, an offer of $20,000.00 for a library building was made by Mr. Andrew Carnegie, on condition that the city provide a suitable site and appropriate $2,500.00 annually for maintenance of the library. The present site, Victoria and Park, 169 feet by 120 feet, was acquired for $5,750.00 by the city for the Board and Messrs. John Scott and Company of Detroit were appointed architects. Mr. Carnegie’s grant was increased to $25,000.00 and finally to $27,000.00 to take care of furnishings and fittings. On October 16, 1903, the new building was opened in the presence of the Minister of Education of the Province. The grant for this building was the first one made by Mr. Carnegie in Canada under his scheme for aiding libraries, though it was not the first to be opened to the public.
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SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
WINDSOR – Cont’d
Within five years it was found that the building was too small and that additional space must be provided. Each succeeding annual report emphasized the need for larger quarters, to provide for a children’s department, adult book stacks and quarters for the adolescent age group. By 1910 the municipal appropriation was increased to $5,000.00 to allow for larger book purchases. Book holdings totalled 18,853, circulation for the year was 50,037; memberships 1,614; assets in building, real estate, books and equipment amounted to $51,418.18; population was 17,534 and assessment $11,837,615.00.
EAST BRANCH
In January 1914 branch library service was instituted in Lanspeary’s Drug Store at 143 Wyandotte St. East. In 1920 this was moved to 201 Parent Avenue, then to 612 Parent and finally in 1925 to a store property on Langlois Avenue; next year it was enlarged to take in two stores. Situated as it was then in the centre of a dense population this small branch reached the amazing circulation of 117,000, with 1,480 members before it was closed in March 1933 because of a further cut in the Library Board’s municipal appropriation due to depression.
But this branch did not relieve the pressure on Main; rather it opened up new areas of service, as branches always do. The 1914-18 European War brought fresh problems with the library used as a distributing centre for literature from various government departments connected with the war effort; with the Auditorium in use for Red Cross and other volunteer bodies; and with the necessity of supplying reading material for the local army camps.
LIBRARY EXPANSION
In 1918 Miss Agnes Lancefield was appointed librarian, the first trained, professional person to hold the position and a new era of expansion began. Circulation and reference and the other services of the library were increased; a Children’s Library was located in the former Auditorium; and in September 1924, a Building Committee was appointed to cope with the problem of enlarging the Main Library and providing better branch service. In December a money by-law was presented to the electorate asking for $75,000.00 to provide an East-end Branch Building. Unfortunately this was defeated, possibly due to an insufficient campaign to acquaint the public with the needs
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SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
LIBRARY EXPANSION – Cont’d
of the library.
By this year (1924) circulation had risen to 227,965; memberships totalled 16,668; the city appropriation was $23,588.50; expenditures for books $5,556.35 and for salaries $11,069.00; Windsor was experiencing a remarkable period of growth which was to continue to 1929.
ALTERATIONS TO MAIN
In 1925 the Board made rather extensive alterations to the interior of Main to make use of every available foot of space which involved changing the location of the front door, at a cost of $11,900.00, the city providing most of this through increased annual appropriations.
JOHN RICHARDSON BRANCH
In 1927 the Parks Board donated a site in Wilson Park for a West-end Branch and City Council issued $30,000.00 to erect a building; the annual payment for principal and interest was $2,407.28. This amount was paid annually until the city went into default in 1932. The new John Richardson Library was opened in November 7, 1928, in the presence of Mr. W.O. Carson, Inspector of Libraries, for the Province. In 1932 due to depression finances the adult department was closed and this became a Children’s Library only supplemented by the books from the Children’s Library at Main which was closed to provide the needed space for Adult Books. And thus the lack of an adequate building deprived a large child population of books suited to its age in the Main Library.
In 1933 a small Children’s Branch was opened in the Prince Edward School to partially make up, as far as the children were concerned, for the closing of the East Branch. In 1934 a still smaller collection of books was placed in a children’s branch opened in the Victoria School.
In succeeding years the problem of how to provide adequate library services from a library build when the population was 13,400, stilled as it was during depression years when Windsor was fighting for its economic life, continued to be a major problem of the Board. Since amalgamation of the four municipalities placed the Carnegie Library in the
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SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
JOHN RICHARDSON BRANCH – Cont’d
position of Central Library for a population of almost 120,000 (1945) the situation has become acute and indeed intolerable. Windsor cannot be supplied with the library services a great and growing city require until a building is provided large enough to house the necessary facilities.
WALKERVILLE
The Windsor Library Board had invited Walkerville and Sandwich to make arrangements for library service when its library was opened in 1894. In 1896 Walkerville took advantage of this, the Council paying an annual sum of $175.00, which was later increased to $250.00 and appointing a representative to sit in at Board meetings. This was the first instance in Ontario of one municipality obtaining library service from another under the terms of the Public Libraries’ Act. The agreement was terminated in 1905 since Walkerville had organized a public library in 1904 and obtained a small grant from Council to make initial purchases of books and equipment. The library was opened in March 1905.
At first it was housed in rooms on the second floor of Walker’s store on Sandwich Street where the Music Hall was located. Within a few months, owing to the razing of this building, it was moved to a house on the North-west corner of Kildare and Wyandotte Street owned by the Walkerville Land and Building Company. In 1907 it was moved to the second floor of the newly completed Strathcona Block of the same company on the North-west corner of Wyandotte Street and Devonshire Road at a yearly rental of $360.00, later increased to $600.00; here it remained till the move was made to Willistead in April 1922.
PLANS FOR A LIBRARY BUILDING
From the early years of the library there was talk of building a library and plans were obtained from various sources. In 1913 after consultation with Mr. Braid of the Windsor Board, efforts were made to obtain funds from Mr. Carnegie. In 1914 the Carnegie Foundation offered $13,000.00, but this amount was not deemed sufficiently large. During the war years the matter of a building was in abeyance, but in 1920 at a joint meeting of the Library Board and a Committee of Town Council it was decided to send a deputation to interview The Carnegie Foundation. However, later this year other
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SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
PLANS FOR A LIBRARY BUILDING – Cont’d
plans were afoot and early in 1921 it became evident that Willistead, the home of Mrs. E.C. and the late Mr. E.C. Walker, would be available. It had been left to Mrs. Walker for her lifetime, after which it was to revert to Mr. Walker’s estate. She was living elsewhere and decided she did not wish to retain and maintain it. She as well as all heirs to the estate wished it deeded to the Town of Walkerville for municipal and public library purposes. Arrangements were accordingly made, protected by an Act of the Provincial Legislature, which also provided that up to a mill rate could be levied for public library purposes. (A new Public Libraries Act, 1920, had revolutionized library finances by basing the municipal appropriation on a per capita rate with a minimum of fifty cents; since Walkerville had an extremely high assessment in relation to population this had an adverse effect on the local library rate which previously had been based on a mill on the dollar assessment; hence the safeguard.) Thus the magnificent Willistead property consisting of the Elizabethan Manor House, stables, lodge and seventeen acres of park land became the property of Walkerville. In the fall of 1921 the town offices were moved to the second floor and in April 1922 the library took possession of the ground floor, except that a portion, along with second floor rooms, were retained as living quarters for a resident caretaker.
LIBRARY LOTS
During the early years, in 1906 and 1907, Lots 2 and 4, East side of Devonshire Road at Cataraqui, were purchased from the Walkerville Land and Building Company for $1,250.00 each. In 1907 Mr. J. Harrington Walker, who wanted them for personal reasons, offered the Board Lots 2 and 4 on the West side of Devonshire Road at Cataraqui plus $1,250.00 cash. The offer was accepted and the money placed in a special building fund. Later in 1917, the Board was able to buy $1,600.00 worth of War Loan Bonds from this fund. By the time the move was made to Willistead over $2,000.00 including interest was available to spend on furnishings for the new library. In 1925 the two lots were sold for $5,000.00 and the money invested in Walkerville bonds. In 1929 two lots were purchased in South Walkerville on the East side of Kildare Road at Lens for $4,250.00 as the side of a future Branch Library building. In the same year a branch was opened in the Hugh Beaton School and the balance of the monies in the special fund were used to buy furnishings and equipment for this “interim” branch location. The market crash and depression put an end to the “boom” days in the Border Cities and land values fell to a small fraction of their former values. After Amalgamation it became clear that the location of these lots was unsuited for a branch library in the new city; since there
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SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
LIBRARY LOTS – Cont’d
was no sale for them an arrangement was made with the Board of Control to allow them to be registered for non-payment of taxes and the Library Board cut its losses on them in 1941. But from the original investment of $2,500.00 in the first two lots the Board had used around $3,500.00 for furnishings of the two libraries.
A few statistics are interesting. By 1920, the year Miss Hume was appointed Librarian, the municipal appropriation for library purposes was $5,427.00 or three-quarters of a mill on an assessment of $11,234,082.00. Population was 7,469; memberships 1,419; circulation 46,802; books holdings 9,878; expenditures on books for the year $1,041.00. In 1930 the appropriation was $14,152.00 or $1,25 per capita, population being 11,351; circulation was 131,806 or 11.5 books per capita; memberships 3,631 or 32 per cent of population; book expenditures, $4,000.00. Circulation was to reach 157,475 in 1933 in the depths of unemployment or 15.7 book per capita, a record in Ontario, while book expenditures had fallen to $875.00.
Amalgamation in 1935 shot the memberships of Willistead and Hugh Beaton Branch Libraries up thirty-five per cent as these libraries became free to contiguous areas of the new city.
SANDWICH
Sandwich had no library service until 1921 when it took up the long standing Windsor Library offer and arranged for service on payment of an annual grant of $200.00. In 1923 a small library was established under Part II (Association of Libraries) of the Public Libraries’ Act; it was placed in locked sectional book cases in the auditorium of the Town Hall and opened on May 16, 1923. A municipal appropriation of $1,550.00 was provided which remained fairly constant over the years except for 1930 and 1931 when it was increased to $1,900.00 but dropped back as low as $1,200.00 during two of the depression years. This budget could provide only books and a lending service, but the circulation attained the staggering figure of 47,074 in 1933 on a book stock of 7,085 much of which was made up of unsuitable donations.
During these years the library was usually administered by a committee of the Town Council though at times there was an active Board. In January 1934, after inspection by the Public Libraries’ Branch of the Department of Education, a Library Board was properly constituted. Conditions in the Town Hall had deteriorated as the
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SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
SANDWICH – Cont’d
Relief Department extended and an effort was made in 1935 to obtain the recently vacated Teachers’ Training School on Mill Street, for the library. However, nothing had been accomplished when on July 1, 1935, the four border municipalities were amalgamated. In 1936 the County bought the old Sandwich Town Hall and the library was deposited in the Training School. Later arrangements were made by the new Library Board with the Department of Public Works, Toronto, for the use of this building and grounds on payment of $5.00 per year, the Board to maintain it.
J. E. BENSON MEMORIAL LIBRARY
East Windsor with a population at its largest of over 16,000 had never provided a library for its citizens, some of whom belonged to the Windsor or Walkerville libraries in payment of the usual one-dollar non-resident fee.
In October 1936 (Libraries were not amalgamated till January 1, 1937) a library was opened in the Ontario Street School under the joint supervision of Miss Barteaux and Miss Hume, a small grant of $2,500.00 having been made by City Council for the purpose. This was just sufficient to buy a nice stock of children’s books and furniture, but not enough to provide more than about $300.00 worth of new adult books. These were supplemented with old books culled from other libraries, a very unsatisfactory condition which it took some years to rectify.
The Library was named in memory J.E. Benson, Inspector of Public Schools in Windsor, who had been so much interested in the Branch Public Library established in the Hugh Beaton School that he used his influence in establishing small branches in the Prince Edward and Victoria School. When the fourth such branch was opened it seemed fitting to honour his memory by giving it his name.
AMALGAVATION OF THE LIBRARIES
Amalgamation of the four municipalities took place July 1, 1935, by an Act of the Provincial Legislature and the different city departments of the various municipalities were merged within a few months. The amalgamation of the libraries into one system was not begun, however, until January 1, 1937, after an amendment of the Act corrected a clause which had taken the libraries outside the jurisdiction of the Public Libraries’ Act
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
AMALGAVATION OF THE LIBRARIES – Cont’d
of the province. With the appointment of Miss Anne Hume, B.A., as Chief Librarian and Miss Eleanor Barteaux as Assistant Librarian, the merging of the various departments of the different systems was begun. The following eight libraries comprised the new system:-
Sandwich: Sandwich Library – by this time in the former Teacher’s Training
School at 615 Mill Street
Windsor: Main – (It’s name was now changed to Carnegie) at Victoria and
Park Streets.
John Richardson – Wilson Park; by this time a Children’s
Library only
Prince Edward – in the Public School by that name at Giles Blvd
and Parent; Children’s Library only
Victoria – in the Public School by that name at Victoria and
Ellis; Children’s Library only
Walkerville: Willistead Library – Main floor of Willistead Man Building
South Branch – (It’s name was now changed to Hugh Beaton) in
the Hugh Beaton Public School, Chilver Road at
Lens
East Windsor: Had had no library, but in October 1936 one had been opened in
the Ontario Street Public School, Ontario and Ellrose
Since no one building was large enough for a headquarter’s library, the Board established two main libraries; Willistead became headquarters for the Board, Chief Librarian, Business office, Catalogue and Children’s Departments and Carnegie became the Chief Reference Library which remained the largest circulating library in the city. As the Government Finance Commission and city departments moved out of Willistead the library obtained the use of vacated rooms until by 1943 the whole of the building was under its jurisdiction, Board of Control turning over the Willistead maintenance account to the Library Board.
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
RG 7
SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
FINANCES
Amalgamation caused a terrific strain on library finances. Due to the depression municipal appropriations had been at rock bottom levels. For the new system these were simply added together to provide a budget of $46,312.00 for 1937, less than the fifty cents per capita minimum required by law. Yet unlike other city department such as Fire, Police and Education, the library system had to extend itself to give service to approximately one-third of the almost 100,000 population, who had either had no service before such as East Windsor and parts of the former Windsor, or had had only a mild form of lending library service as in Sandwich. Then began the long uphill work of convincing succeeding Boards of Control that it could not be done. Year by year a little something was added to the appropriation but never enough to overcome the initial handicap. Then, too, a Children’s Library was a necessity in the down-town area and when the Separate School Board in 1941 offered free, part-time use of a small room in St. Alphonsus School to establish such a library even though in a small way it was eagerly accepted; this again made inroads on the book and salary accounts. Similarly in the war years first a Children’s Deposit Library, 1943, then second an Adult, 1944, were opened in the Wartime Housing Clubhouse on Westcott Road, bringing further staff and book expenditures.
In 1943 the Board proceeded with its plans to provide an Art Gallery, Record Collection, Sound Reproduction System and Film Library, all of which had been requested by individuals and groups in the community. With this equipment, the appointment of a Gallery Curator and co-operation of groups such as the Windsor Art Association, it is possible to offer community centre services with art exhibitions of various kinds and programmes of music, lectures, films, forums, etc. and to provide a “home” for cultural groups.
But all this, while a necessary part of the work for the community, has made further drains on the slender budget. The problem over the years had been to convince city authorities that the legal minimum municipal appropriation of fifty cents per capita is not intended to be a maximum which is actually $1.25. For 1945 the Board’s budget includes a municipal appropriation of $78,082.00 or sixty-five cents per capita. But this is entirely insufficient; indeed the Act never intended that a system with branches should be held down to a low per capita figure; the maximum was to provide for that.
A new Public Libraries’ Act is necessary to ensure better financial support for libraries; and this new support should come to a certain extent, from the province to relieve the pressure on property, as has been done in the case of the schools. One of the
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
FINANCES – Cont’d
pressing problems also is increased salaries to attract more and better people into the profession to cope with the problems which this age has learned to bring to the library for solution. The people expect more of their libraries than ever before; at this critical stage of the world’s history the dissemination of knowledge through an organized collection of books which an intelligent trained staff knows how to use is essential.
From this summary it can to seen that the public libraries of Windsor have cost the city a minimum in capital expenditures and also in upkeep; on the other hand the city has been enriched by magnificent gifts.
THE GIFTS:
1903: $27,000.00 from Mr. Andrew Carnegie for the building and furnishing
of the present Carnegie Library
1921-1922: Willistead – from the Estate of Mr. E.C. Walker – for public library and
municipal purposes
Building - $500,000.00
Grounds - $500,000.00
1937: The use of the present Sandwich Library and grounds at a rental of $5.00
per year from the Department of Public Works, Toronto.
CAPITAL EXPENDITURES
Former Windsor:
1894: Debenture issue (20 years) - $4,000.00 – to begin library service in
Windsor
1927: Debenture issue - $30,000.00 – to build and equip John Richardson
Library
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
RG 7
SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
CAPITAL EXPENDITURES – Cont’d
Walkerville: None
Sandwich: None
East Windsor: None
What other city department can match this low capital expenditure and these valuable donations?
CULTURAL ACITIVITIES
The greatest cultural activity of the Windsor Libraries from 1894 to 1945 has been in providing free access to the best of the world’s literature, ancient and modern. But since the enthusiasm for education in the latter part of the nineteenth century, which caused an extension of educational privileges to all classes and the belief that it could largely cure the world’s ills, lost its momentum, it became evident that libraries must adopt a more aggressive attitude then merely providing books. Hence as the years went on a policy was developed of advertising its books within the library through subject displays and reading lists and of adopting a public relations’ policy of co-operating with all agencies in the city to provide those groups at top level and thus through their memberships with literature pertinent to them and their programmes. This has taken time since great tact and discretion have been required to make and keep contacts; it has needed patience to watch the ripples of interest enlarge and to see the result on other individuals and groups of satisfied patrons. The local newspaper has also been most
co-operative and has been ever ready to further the interest of the library in the community.
LITERATURE, LECTURES, ETC.
All libraries were started in such a small way that it was not possible to broaden cultural services until larger physical plants were obtained; as soon as Carnegie Library was opened in 1903 the Board arranged for a course of University Extension lectures; years later the library co-operated with the Y.M.-YW.C.A. in providing extension lectures; Willistead arranged a series of lectures in the Walkerville Council Chambers. Recently a “Readers on the Run” series of Book Reviews by staff members was provided
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
LITERATURE, LECTURES, ETC. – Cont’d
during noon hours at the “Y” to interest down-town office workers. Throughout the years the library and individual staff members have given their support to every fine lecture, concert, etc., that has come to town. Displays of books have been arranged within the library and without in conjunction with such events. The staff has from time to time sponsored “literary” speakers in public events.
The Essex Historical Society was organized in 1904 with headquarters at Carnegie Library; this organization has had its ups and downs but has been largely responsible for the interest in past places and events which has led to the marking of local historical spots; to the Macdonald Historical Collection, the gift of Mr. George F. Macdonald to the library, the result of a life time of work; and to the projected rehabilitation of the Francois Baby House as an historical museum.
A “Literary and Scientific Society” was organized in 1904 (not under library auspices but with a by-law providing that the Library Board should have a representative on the Executive) which held public monthly meetings in the Auditorium and Members’ Circle Meetings for the study of sociology and literature. This society functioned for ten or fifteen years, many people today still feeling the results. Other lectures were also held in the auditorium as speakers were available, even after it was equipped as a Children’s Library in 1920; Canadian Book Week organized in 1921 and Children’s Book Week in 1920, giving excellent opportunities. The library has always given all possible encouragement to Canadian Authors both during Book Week and throughout the year; the cumulative effect must have done something to persuade Canadians to read Canadian books and thus to have greater understanding of their country and their community.
In 1921 as Arts and Letters Club was organized in the Walkerville Library; while this was an independent group it was originated by the librarian who gave enthusiastic support to it during the seven or eight years of its life. Many meetings were held at Willistead (after the move) public lectures were frequently provided in the city and the group gave support to the Art shows at Willistead providing speakers for public events.
In 1910 Windsor began publication of a printed monthly Bulletin containing additions of new books, bibliographies on special subjects and literary news items. This was continued for several years. In the twenties the Walkerville News carried a series of articles on various “bookish” articles written by the librarian as well as lists of new books. And throughout the years “The Star” has run lists of new books from time to time. It was through the co-operation and active help of the library staff that the Windsor
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
RG 7
SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
LITERATURE, LECTURES, ETC. – Cont’d
Star began its Saturday Music Art and Literature page in 1937-38; the library also gave much publicity to it within the libraries till the public began to realize its value; that it did was seen by the successful protests that poured into the paper when shortage of newsprint in the war years seemed about to engulf it. The “page” has become a force in the community and gives unstinted support to all local literary musical and art events as well as to reviews of new books.
The Story Hours, first started in 1914 and the Children’s Clubs in the various libraries have been of untold value in installing a love of good literature in impressionable minds and thus have made a great cultural contribution to the community.
In 1928 the Windsor Library began publication of “The Canadian Periodical Index”, an important milestone in bibliographical circles, since it provided for the first time a guide to the vast amount of excellent literature on all kinds of subjects hitherto locked up in Canadian magazines for lack of an inclusive index.
STAFF
Throughout the years since professional service began in Walkerville and Windsor in 1918 the librarians and staff members have addressed hundreds of groups, judged scores of debates and oratorical contests in the schools, acted on dozens of programme committees, arranged countless displays at convent5ions and group meetings. And every member is ever reaching out for new fields of library service to the community.
MUSIC
The Library has developed a music section including scores for all instruments and voices to the limit of its ability, but is handicapped by physical considerations of shelving; these will remain till a new library is provided. Bibliographies of music have been sent to music groups, music teas have been arranged at which acquisitions were displayed; music teachers have been asked to provide lists of books and music for purchase. As early as 1924 Willistead held a “Music Week” with prominent local artists supplying a daily afternoon programme in the lower hall. Carols were sung at Willistead at Christmas time until the annual carol service has become an institution in the city.
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
MUSIC – Cont’d
In 1942-43 a few requested concerts of recorded music were given at Willistead with borrowed equipment. So insistent did the demand become for records and a machine to play them that by the time the gallery and its various activities were opened in October 1943, the Board had provided for community use a library of records and a sound reproduction system. Regularly concerts of recorded music are provided in the free Thursday evening community programmes in the Gallery. Some recitals and music lectures and demonstrations have also appeared in the series.
ART
The first record of any exhibitions of art held in the libraries states that a loan exhibition of painting had been obtained by the Windsor Library (now Carnegie) in 1920. Previous to this in 1909 Mr. F.H. MacPherson, a former secretary of the Board, had donated to this library five marble busts of Shakespeare and Scott.
In her Annual Report to the Walkerville Board for 1921, Miss Hume noted: “I believe the Walkerville Library has a great future before it. Housed as it will be, in a building which has no superior from an architectural standard…it can become a wonderful community centre for the whole town. It is there that the intellectual life of the town should centre. As time goes on there should be built up a museum and picture gallery. It can be done and I am sure it is the wish of the Library Board and the whole town that Willistead Library should be the rallying point for all forces that make for the artistic and intellectual betterment of a town”.
MUSEUM LOANS
Prior to the move to Willistead, in April 1922, the Library Board approached the Royal Ontario Museum for a loan. Nothing had ever been loaned but the museum authorities looked with favour on complying with the request, hoping through this initial move some machinery could be found for sending out loans collections over the province. On June 16, 1922, six cases from the Archaeological Department consisting of Egyptian, Roman and Chinese potteries, embroideries, coins, etc., arrived with a man to set up the exhibit, all under the direct supervision of Prof. C.T. Currelly, whom the Museum Board of Trustees had asked to take charge. The Library Board paid transportation and insurance but the Museum bore the heavy cost of museum cases,
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
MUSEUM LOANS – Cont’d
packing boxes and set-up. The exhibit attracted much attention, school classes, for instance, coming to view the collection. For the next year or two Museum and Library Board strove to find some means of financing annual shows, but finally both found the expenses beyond them and in August 1924 the collection was returned. At this date (1945) the Royal Ontario Museum still has no funds to provide for such loans.
PICTURE LOANS
At the same time the Library Board approached the National Gallery for loans of paintings. Since it was re-opening after being closed for the war years a loan was not immediately available but in March 1923, the first one arrived consisting of ten paintings by prominent Canadian artists. These were hung in the hall and throughout the library rooms. Due to pressure at the Ottawa Gallery this was retained till 1925, the Board paying insurance and transportation charges. In September 1925 the second loan arrived consisting of nineteen paintings and was retained until April 1928. Meanwhile the public was informed of the presence of the paintings and groups were encouraged to view them and to arrange for gallery talks. This exhibition had been opened by the Arts and Letters Club with an excellent speaker. It was not till November 1929 that a third loan of fifteen paintings arrived including Suzor-Cote’s beautiful “Youth and Sunlight”. This one included examples of the group of Seven’s work, notably Arthur Lesmer and Franz Johnston. In November 1930 this was returned and due to the curtailment of the library’s budget no further loan was applied for. In 1929 an exhibition of Canadian art at the John Richardson Library with Mr. Arthur Lismer of Toronto as guest speaker on the opening night was sponsored by the Windsor Board.
For three years from 1929-1932 the Art Committee of the Associated Service Clubs under the direction of Mr. C.A. Lanspeary, whose idea it was, held annual Art Weeks in the Ballroom of the Prince Edward Hotel. Artists were brought from Toronto to address luncheon meetings of service clubs, afternoon groups from the schools and evening meetings of Women’s societies and others. At the conclusion, the exhibitions were hung in the hall at Willistead for a month or more, usually December. This group also hoped that some arrangements could be made to establish a permanent gallery at Willistead.
For some time the art movement languished although in March 1933 the Zonta
Club of Windsor sponsored a print show from the National Gallery and a talk by Mr.
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
PICTURE LOANS – Cont’d
Ralph McMullen, then head of the art department of the Vocational School on “The Processes of Print Making”.
In the fall of 1935 the Education Committee of the Local Council of Women, Miss Aileen Noonan, Chairman, decided to sponsor art exhibitions at Willistead., looking towards the establishment of an Art Gallery for the new city, at Willistead. The President of the Local Council, Mrs. W.R. Campbell gave full support to the movement and underwrote the expenses of the exhibitions. Two were held in the season 1935-36 hung in the main hall; schools were notified that they could reserve hours and send classes with the art teachers to see the shows; Gallery talks were given on several evenings when member groups took turns in “sponsoring” the event. Through these groups the knowledge of this art movement spread throughout the city and when in the spring of 1936 the Windsor Art Association was founded the “spade” work had already been done.
WINDSOR ART ASSOCIATION 1936
The Art Association decided to sponsor four or five shows every year; this programme could not be held to during the early war years but by 1941 its programme was again functioning normally and continued to do so till the gallery was opened in October 1943 providing it with a permanent home. All the best Canadian shows have been shown as well as British, Polish, American, Russian, Czecho-Slovakian, Australian, North and South America. Print shows have been exceedingly popular. All these, for the most part, are obtained through the National Gallery of Canada. Too much cannot be said in favour of its policy of routing these excellent exhibitions throughout the whole of Canada.
The Art Association is given the privilege by the Library Board of holding Members’ previews and teas at Willistead on Sunday afternoons. This has done much to add interest in the shows, to increase membership and thus finances and to instruct them in the various forms and periods of art through the excellent speakers provided.
THE ART GALLERY 1943
A continuous programme of exhibitions is provided in the gallery with the exception of August. Shows are changed approximately every month, the Art
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
THE ART GALLERY 1943 – Cont’d
Association providing six or seven a year, other sponsoring groups or the Library Board providing the remainder. For instance in September 1945 the newly organized “Friends of the Windsor Public Library” will provide a three-weeks’ Historical Exhibition featuring the work of Dr. Charles W. Jefferys who will also be a guest speaker. Small exhibitions, chiefly of National Gallery silk-screen reproductions of Canadian art are made up and loaned to our branch libraries for regular periods.
From April through May Thursday Evening Community Programmes are offered consisting of Art Lectures sponsored by the Art Association, concerts of recorded music, recitals, forums, films, etc.
Groups such as the Canadian Authors’ Association, royal Astronomical Society of Canada Windsor Group, Music Teachers’ Federation, etc. as well as the Art Association consider Willistead “home”.
- See also “An experiment in Community Integration of the Arts”, by Anne Hune in ONTARIO LIBRARY REVIEW, November 1944.
FILMS
Willistead has deposits of 16 mm, films loaned by the National Film Society and National Film Board which are available for loan to individuals and groups, as well as for showing in the gallery. This fall the newly organized Film Council will try to integrate the use of the excellent documentary films of the National Film Board with the programmes of the various groups by giving previews in the gallery.
HANDICRAFT
Through its president, Miss Eleanor Barteaux, Assistant Librarian, the library attempts to supply all the literature needed in the work of the Windsor Handicraft Guild, as well as displays of books at Handicraft exhibitions. In 1935 Willistead displayed an excellent collection sent by the Canadian Handicraft Guild (Ontario Division) to tie in with a Tourist and Travel Display. From time to time all libraries display the work of Hobby and Handicraft groups including those of the Windsor Playground Association.
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
RG 7
SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
ESSEX COUNTY
The Essex County Library Association was organized in 1940 with headquarters at Willistead; the Chief Librarian was County Librarian until 1944 when an appointment was made on the basis of part-time County Librarian, part-time Windsor assistant. Through this connection, Windsor is making a contribution to the cultural life of Essex County. Meetings of the Board and Association are held in the Gallery from time to time giving the members an opportunity to look over book collections and enlarge their knowledge of library service, to see the exhibitions, hear recorded music, see Canadian films and to choose National Gallery reproductions of Canadian Art for hanging in their various libraries. Besides this all librarians and others in the county are cordially welcomed at all times and any help the Windsor Libraries can give is cheerfully provided.
In reading over the library records of the past the writer is amazed that on an extremely limited budget and small staff so much has been done for Windsor by library and staff members along cultural lines. Windsor is growing up into a large Canadian city and the time has come when a larger budget must be appropriated to the use of the Library Board to pursue its work in order that it will become known as a cultured city as well as a great industrial one.
WILLISTEAD
In 1921 the property in Walkerville known as “Willistead”, the home of the late Mr. E. Chandler Walker (son of Hiram Walker), was deeded to the town by the heirs of his estate, to be used by the people of the town for public purposes. The deed stipulated that “a suitable portion of the said residence…shall be set apart and used for public library purposes, the said public library to be known as “Willistead Library”. And thus the Walkerville Library came into its permanent home, a building unexcelled among library buildings in Canada. The architecture is Elizabethan Manor House style and is correct in all its details. It has the reputation of being the finest house of the period in Canada. The lofty rooms panelled in quarter-cut white oak embellished with gorgeous carvings showing the influence of the Italian Renaissance on Tudor ideas of decoration, give one of the finest examples of handicraft to be found in any Canadian community. The ceilings are also excellent examples of the effects that can be achieved in plaster. In the reading room there is a fine example of a Carrara marble fireplace, beautifully carved, with a long mirror garlanded with carved oak leaves. The building houses two pieces of statuary – one a beautiful bronze of a young woman, the other a marble of a small child -
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
WILLISTEAD – Cont’d
these the gift to the town and the library from Mrs. E.C. Walker. Willistead is a museum piece in itself, an excellent reproduction of a manor house of the spacious days of “Good Queen Bess”.
As we come to the gates at the entrance to Willistead, our attention is attracted by a tablet bearing the following inscription:
WILLISTEAD
IN MEMORIAM
THIS PARK AND BUILDINGS
PRESENTED TO THE
PEOPLE OF WALKERVILLE
IN MEMORY OF
E. CHANGLER WALKER
BY THE HEIRS OF HIS DEVOTED
BROTHERS
FRANKLIN H. WALKER
AND
J. HARRINGTON WALKER
A. D. MDCCCCXXI
A park of sixteen acres forms the grounds of Willistead. Surrounding it is a fence with limestone pillars and gates on four sides for pedestrians. An asphalt drive leads to the gates of the courtyard and coming up the drive, one sees the stone-carved balustrade and coping around the brick-paved terrace and the roofed loggia, with its Gothic arches supported by stone pillars. A shallow grass terrace for forty feet around three sides of the house; the drive of the remaining side leads to a brick-paved courtyard formed by the angle of the service-wing and the main building. A fence of stone – to a height of two feet and iron-enclosed the yard, which had a fountain in the centre and double gates with an old period lantern swung from one of the posts.
The building is of Elizabethan architecture, the choicest of the old Gothic embellished with Renaissance detail; it has numerous gables with oak carvings, red tile roof and stone chimneys with red tile chimney pots. Small branches of English ivy climb the stone here and there. The chief building material is limestone, obtained at Amherstburg and cut on the premises by masons brought from Scotland for the purpose.
Half-timbering and stucco are introduced at various points with telling effects. The
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
WILLISTEAD – Cont’d
entrance has a wide stone doorstep, with stone seats on both sides, a carved oak door and at the side a period lantern. The leaded windows of the upper hall overhang the front entrance and several of the carved oak gables are to be seen from here.
The visitor on entering steps into a square vestibule with tiled floor, richly carved walls, doors and ceilings, all quartered oak in dark finish and then on to another heavy carved door, through a small entrance and up a step or two into the great hall with its huge fireplace. Here Renaissance detail is seen. The high walls are panelled in dark oak, with artistic carving near the ceiling of modelled plaster. The fireplace is Elizabethan in style and richly carved. The staircase, with its halfway landing over the front door, has beautiful carving in rich profusion but well restrained, arcaded balustrades and newels of the square type.
Passing to the left, one enters the room of the circulating department of the library. The specially designed loan desk commands a view of the entrance. The furniture of both rooms is of dark oak to match the beautiful woodwork. The larger room has a carved fireplace and oak panelling. The adjoining room of this department is panelled, with carving well up to the ceiling. It has an Elizabethan carved fireplace. Tables are provided at the window embrasure.
On the farther side of the room one enters the reference room finished in natural oak with beamed ceiling. It has built-in book shelves and a carved fireplace.
The reading room may be entered through a door from the Great Hall. Carved woodwork and a handsome mirror surmount the fireplace of carved white Italian marble. The walls are in French grey and the furniture in mahogany finish.
To the right of the Great Hall we enter the children’s room through a rounded arch. The woodwork, including the panelling, on the fireplace side is a mahogany and the library furniture is in mahogany finish. A dull green marble fireplace occupies the centre of the adjoining wall. The boys and girls enter their rooms from an outside entrance into the sunroom – their reading room. They reach their special door across a path on the terrace and through a formal garden with s sun-dial centre.
Off the children’s room we find a work room which at one time was used as a butler’s pantry. The many cupboards and shelves make convenient places for storing
magazines and newspapers. In this room the rough work of the library is done, including
RECORDS OF THE AMALGAMATED AND BRANCH LIBRARIES
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SUMMARY OF LIBRARY SERVICE in the BORDER AREA, 1894 – 1945
ESTABLISHMENT OF LIBRARIES AND BRANCHES – Cont’d
WILLISTEAD – Cont’d
mending and the pasting of labels and book-pockets. The kitchen at the back is now the receiving, shipping and general service room. The servants’ dining room is now the Parent-Teacher room.
The upper rooms, the former service rooms, the handsome stable and garage are used by other municipal bodies. It is a matter of worthy note that the library was given the main floor. The favourable impression that had been made by the excellent library service, gave the Library Board undisputed first claim to the large and elaborate ground floor.
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