History of the
Red Lake Public Library
1930’s-1974
The
first semblance of a library in Red Lake appeared in the 1930’s when a few shelves
in the Howey Gold Mines staff room were set aside for books donated by the
townspeople. These were available to
the men in the bunkhouses, and could be taken out and returned at their
convenience – there was no system set up.
After the Howey Mine closed, there were no books collected in one
location until the mid-40’s, when the local stockbroker, Murray Fromson, made
room in his office for several shelves where donated books were available to
any one who cared to use them. When Mr.
Fromson left the area in 1949, the books were either sold (at 2 for 25 cents)
or given away.
In
1956, the Kinsmen Club of Red Lake formed a library committee with Rupe
Forsythe as chairman, with the objective of opening a public library. Space was made available at no cost in a
small office at the rear of the municipal building. Nils Dahl built shelves and the town office donated card file
boxes. Mrs. Gem Mawhinney was the first
librarian, followed by Ted Clarke, a theology student, who also did some
cataloguing. When Mr. Clarke left the
area, the Kinsmen Club approached the Anglican Women’s Association with the
suggestion that members staff the library.
This they did, under the able guidance of Mrs. Margaret McDougall, a former
Ottawa librarian. It was agreed that
they be paid $50.00 per month for ten months of the year. The ladies kept the library open one evening
a week in the summer months as a community service, without remuneration. Volunteer members at that time were Mrs.
Alice Browne, Mrs. Lara Green, Mrs. Win Shearn, Mrs. Min Young and Mrs.
McDougall. The library was open two
afternoons a week from 3 to 5, three evenings from 7 to 9 and Saturday mornings
from 10 to 12. Initially, fees were set
at $1.00 per person and $2.00 per family.
This practice was later changed and membership fees were dropped. A small fee for overdue books was still
levied.
After a time, when the
municipal office needed the space, the library was moved to another location in
the same building – a small upstairs room with and outside stairway. This proved uncomfortably warm in summer,
and in the winter months the librarian generally had to shovel her way in
and/or out.
The first books were
obtained by advertising in the local paper requesting that citizens donate
books. The Kinsmen Club also subscribed
to several book clubs, and the Northwestern Regional Library System bookmobile
visited the library on a regular basis, so that new books were constantly being
added. The collection numbered
approximately 1,500 books by the time the library was taken over by the
township.
In 1965, the Kinsmen Club
requested that the Red Lake District General Council (made up of Councilors of
the Township of Red Lake, the Trustees of the Improvement District of
Balmertown and the Chairman of the recreation committees) set up a library
board to act as of September 1965. All
books and assets of the Kinsmen Community Library were to be turned over to the
above Library Board, as the Kinsmen Club was not recognized as a proper Board
and was unable to receive library grants.
A plan for a union library to serve the whole area was initiated but did
not get off the ground. So the Township
of Red Lake took over the operation of the library and the Anglican W.A.
continued to provide valued assistance.
In May 1970, a bylaw was
passed to establish a public library in the Township of Red Lake, “the general
management, regulation and control of the public library shall be performed by
the Red Lake Public Library Board.”
First members of the Board were: Mrs. Elsie Dayneka, Mrs. Janet Duncan,
Miss. Lorraine Pinch, Mrs. Norma Pride and Mr. E. Taylor. Mrs. McDougall and Mrs. Browne continued to
act as librarians until June 1971.
In
July 1971, the library was moved to new quarters – upstairs in the McLeod
Transportation building. The official
opening took place in November. At
first, one large room was used, and then an adjoining room was mad available,
and connecting doors cut through. The
library hours became: Monday to Saturday 2 to 5; Monday, Wednesday, Friday 7 to
9. The librarians were: Mrs. Irene
Shields, Mrs. Meda Brown, Mrs. Mary Kosinski, and Miss. Helen Solkolowski. Mrs. Shields worked in the afternoons and
the others alternated evenings. Some
time later, hours were extended so that the library was open every afternoon
from 2 to 5, every evening from 7 to 9 (except Saturdays) – Saturdays hours
were 10 to 12 and 1 to 4. The library
continues these hours except on Saturdays when it is no longer open in the
morning, and afternoon hours are 1 to 5.
During July and August the library is staffed by two high school
students, working alternate weeks. At
present, no membership fee is charged, nor are there fines for overdue books.
Unfortunately, early
statistics regarding membership, circulation, etc. are not available. The report for 1973 shows a total membership
of nearly 2,000 over 1972; approximately 750 books and periodicals were added,
brining the total number of books to around 3,000.
The library made
extensive use of Interlibrary Loans, with 166 books or other material obtained
for patrons in 1973 and 229 films borrowed.
Now, in the fall of 1974,
the library is becoming very cramped for space. The Library Board has a long range plan for a new building
housing 10,000 books, with a reading area, workroom and other amenities lacking
in our present situation. Construction
date is pegged at the Spring of 1976. A
lot has already been purchased. Funding
will be the next important and difficult step.
Written
by E. McEwen, Librarian
1975-1996
Ever
since the Red Lake Public Library had come into existence it has had its share
of problems. The library has had to
deal with budget cuts, staff changes and reductions, and building inadequacies. Ms. E. McEwen left off approximately the
fall of 1974, so the year 1975 is where I will begin…
There is very little
information recorded between the years of 1975 and 1978. Although details are scarce we know that in
1976 the Librarian began writing a bi-monthly column for the local newspaper,
the District News. She wrote
about library activities, changes or additions to the library and posted the
library hours. The library at this time
also began showing a great interest in creating and maintaining a Local History
collection. Ottawa Parisi at one point
worked with the photographs that the library had been collecting as
donations. Ms. Parisi was assigned to
put the pictures in some semblance of order and provide captions for each one
for easier patron usage.
In 1979, the library
acquired a new typewriter by a rental/lease agreement. The typewriter was useful in typing up
minutes from Board meetings and cards for the shelflist and card catalogues.
It was in 1980, that the
Red Lake Public Library Board really began to put into the idea of expanding
the library. The Board began looking at Jack Markle’s building
where the Ontario Liquor Control Board was running the Liquor store. This building was purchased on March 7, 1980. The Board then began considering what
changes needed to be made to the building to suit the library’s growing needs.
NEW LIBRARY UNDER CONSTRUCTION - MARCH
1986
(Photo by: J.J.
Richthammer)
Of course, even with this
good new the library then ran into problems.
In the Spring of 1981, the library was notified that they were going to
receive a 22% cut to their operating budget.
This put the library in jeopardy of having to close for two months. The Red Lake Kinsmen Club came to the
library’s rescue by donating $3,000 in October of 1981. With this donation the library didn’t have
to close.
1982 was an eventful year
with the library continuing to purchase furniture for the new building, and in
February Mrs. Ethel Dodd stepped down as the Library Board Chairperson and Mrs.
Janet Duncan took her place. In June of
the same year, Mrs. Lynn McIntyre was appointed Chief Librarian. As before, the next couple of years don’t
provide any significant happenings but in 1986 the library purchases a newer
typewriter to replace the older one that is continuously breaking down. The following year the library was given
access to the Interlibrary Loan program through a telephone line hooked up to a
DOS based computer. This system was a
big improvement to the old manual one and less time consuming for the staff.
Finally, in 1988 the
reconstruction of the new library building was completed and the library was
moved to it’s new home next to the Red Lake Funeral Chapel and across the
street from the bowling alley. The
Grand Opening took place in September the same year.
June 20, 1990 saw the
resignation of the Chief Librarian, Mrs. Lynn McIntyre, of eight years. A new librarian wasn’t found until 1991, her
name was Dorrae Grimaldi. Also, in 1991
the old outdoor book drop was replaced by with an indoor chute and drop. This proved more convenient for the staff
and better for the returned materials.
Ms. Grimaldi’s time as Chief Librarian was short-lived and she left her
position in 1992. Mrs. McIntyre
returned as librarian and stayed for only a few months. The following year, in August 1993, Ms.
Darlene Wilson was hired to take over the Chief Librarian’s position.
Around this time computers
were starting to gain popularity not just for businesses or professionals but
also for research, education and entertainment. Libraries were starting to see this shift and began wondering how
they could be implemented into the public library system without
diminishing the value of
its main resource, books. For the Red
Lake Public Library we gained online access to the EBR (Environmental Bill of
Rights). In 1995, the library began
lobbying for the Automation system with 9(?) other libraries.
All the libraries
involved put in an application for a grant to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism
and Recreation to pay for 65% of the Automation costs. The library also began fundraising for the
$12,000 that the Ministry would not cover.
In 1996, the library
reached its fundraising goal of $12,000 with the help of donations from the
community and community groups. In
February, the library was hooked up to the Internet, which was sponsored by
Lakehead 
University out of Thunder Bay. Also, in
this same month the library received four new computers for the Automation and
the staff training was completed in March.
The library was also waiting for access to the new Interlibrary Loan
system via the Internet from the Ontario Library Service (OLS).
RIBBON
CUTTING CEREMONY - OCTOBER 21, 1988 [L to R] Bill
Blower, Honourable
Lily Oddie Munro, Britt Marie Cooke, Lynn
McIntyre. Holly Rupert (Photo by: J.J. Richthammer)
