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v ary opens to public next week r facilities new hours regional group will serve education culture pleasure v net week actonians will have their first look at the tnwn ambu wous centennial prefect our long- needed library three years ago plan ning began government approval was received and government grants as sured the first sod was turned by mrs r p watson librarian for over 40 years last friday mrs watson and her two regular assistants miss madge chapman and miss esther taylor serv ed the public for the last time in the cramped quarters of the room at the ymca this week the books are feeing moved to the roomy bright 76000 building in a shady corner of the robert little school grounds next week business will resume in the new location with greatly expand ed facilities and far longer hours nhtnnlwl project committee council library board and librarians su in immediate boost in town mem- haveiollowedtolts culmlnatlonthls bershipsand willalso increase-the- project chosen after a public meeting for the hearing of presentations with increasing pride the citizens will see for the first time what their representatives have been creating with such vision and enthusiasm the library will become a true community centre of culture and edu cation created for adults as well as children as well as becoming a more valued educational asset it will in crease pleasure in reading and learn ing and will provide a cosy meeting room with south central regional lib rary services supervised by a new fieldmon actonians will have avail able to them a much greater inven tory of books improvements will no doubt re- area from which rural and village readers will come here the official opening will be early in june but the free press has chosen to issue a special fourpage section today to prepare the 800 library members for what they wllusee and to enthuse nonmembers the history of the library ac counts of changes over the years how the building was conceived and fin anced and other interesting articles appear in this four page section may we suggest that you slip it out of your copy of the paper today and save it the opening of our towns cen tennial building is a milestone in our history needed project fired imagination happy conclusion in reach commenting on the towns cen tennial project mayor les duby says to begin with we must remem ber all of the people who in their wis- dom helped us to determine which of five proposed projects would be our accepted centennial year commitment tfc obvious need for improved library facilities and a desire to pro vide a better service to our people fired the imagination of all members of the library board council and the resulting centennial project committee to carry through our plans to the happy conclusion that will be realized on march 6 when we open the new build ing to serve the general public and will be even more significant when we hold our official opening on june 3 to commemorate confederation here in a0pn i m yean the tibrary board has been held to a low rung on the municipal financial ladder with budgets around 3000 it will now require more like 13000 annually for total and efficient operation we neglect to realize that a local library service is a most important phase in our municipal overall educa tion program today more and more adults realize the need to keep on learning as you can only do through books and more books tie a children can also be better prepared to begin school when parents select the type of books avail able today for this group of youngsters with our new facilities it will be pos sible to hold story hours for preschool ers it was with all earnestness and sincerity and a realization of the ur gency that your council has supported this project which will become more and more a focal point of interest and importance today more than ever reading and intensive study are vitally important and necessary there is a tremendous benefit and advantage to be derived by all people young and old from the reading of good books periodicals ar ticles and the like and from the writings of thoreau read the best books first or you may not have a chance to read them at all wis have already started to come in by way of specific donations to the library many more have been offered and we have a list of things prepared that will be welcomed and appreciated if others are so inclined to on tribute the construction of our library as was thejcase with the hydro com mission building has been one of the most efficient building programs car ried out in acton from the standpoint of progress and completion dates want to help gifts cited gifts for the towns centen nial project will be gratefully received board members have announced already they have been gi ven an ontario flag from the orange lodge and flag and picture of the queen from the lakeside chapter of the ij0 die george harrap will be presenting a gideon bible a list has been compiled of possible donations these it ems would be ordered in most cases by the board for conformity or to avoid dupli cation four easy armchairs sets of reference books coat rack for downstairs typewriter 30up coffee urn movie projector and slide projector records player and records vacuum cleaner filing cabinets cups saucers and plates for the servery oil paintings of canadian scenes book cart ash trays for assembly room entrance plaque lawn mower bushes for lawn zht jutn jfrtt ft ninetysecond yearno 35 acton ontario wednesday march 1 1967 second section new library as centennial project first recommended three years ago it was exactly three years ago in march 1964 that the library board sent notice to council it would like to send a delegation to propose a new library as the towns centennial project this was grants tut tost library meet at ubkakv the library boards will meet from now on in the downstairs assembly room of the library a board room table has been ordered the town of acton welcomes everyone to enjoy the new spacious facilities provided in themqdern 180711867 centennial library this building has been erected in the best interests of the general public for all to use and enjoy the new facilities will be open monday march 6 plan to join if not already a member mayor and council of the town of acton symbolically end aptly sprinkled with the digits of 6 end 7 for centennial year 197 are contract price and estimated cost of the new library the tender price was 17239247 and the estimated total cost of the holding is 76lze7 the architects fee is an extra imm the bridge cost 1273 cost of equip ment and furnishings or ered from various compan ies and not ah hens yet is between mm and 10000 a bare minimum of equip ment was purchased some of the items suggested as gifts could be considered necessities cost of landscaping is un known at the present tune provincial and federal special grants for centen nial projects amount to 1 per head of population each mw for a popula tion at the tfans of applica tion of 414a a mandatory 125 plaque to be installed at our sipstisi records the the first group in town to heed the governments call and offers of money and make a firm proposal here they reported then a stead ily increasing circulation and the urgent need for more space within a few months a uni versity of toronto graduate sohool study was undertaken on acton which seconded their statement of the towns need in june 1964 a public meet ing was called to discuss the towns centennial project re presentatives were there from council the library board ix djes rotary lions wi senior citizens the citizens band legion ys men and about a dozen interested cit izens charles ikirkness presented the library boards request there were other suggest ions made then too aldo bralda had a proposal for a band hall and music centre although this was not accepted the band went ahead and built their hall them selves guy ross representing the ys men recommended a swimming pool improvements tp the park were suggested by brendan ahearne another suggest ion was a chapel at fairview cemetery a committee was named to add to itself as required mrs w l sproston bob drinkwalter jim gunn and david dills with four mem bers of council alex johnson eric johnston bert hinton and j bert wood men sharing the load operation book shift of ti this is a requirement for all centennial projects remainder of the capital cost will be financed by the town of acton annual budget of the ub- aryboa will nat 1 increase sharply this year budget commit operation book shift is un derway this week as ys men are transporting 8900 volumes from the old crowded library with its sagging wooden shelv es to the steel shelving of the fine new centennial building volunteers went section by section through the old lib rary measuring books for transport ys men are truck ing them in boxes and cartons over to the new building where the new shelving is mea sured and designated for the specific lot board members and librar ians are overseeing the giant transfer making sure each vol ume goes in its proper spot a certain number of books are being moved each evening this week until the job is com pleted t- then friday evening the library board has called a special meeting to assess the situation and check on the success of their well planned book shift later the committee named to prepare the precise propos al for council was mrs spros ton mr drinkwalter and roy kirkness then a member of he library board july 14 council accepted the committees proposal for a new library it was unani mously recommended as it would benefit the most peo ple with no central building lots available in town and the prospect of purchasing a building to tear it down and rebuild on the site quite cost ly the offer of the public school board to sell a shady corner of the r l grounds for 1 was accepted with al acrity and much pleasure by october the architects sketches were done and the zoning approved application for government grants went forward in nov ember approval came in due course with the federal gov ernment to contribute 4144 and the provincial govern ment 4144 a dollar per head of population each tenders were called in june 1966 and ikerr construction got the green light longtime librarian mrs is abel watson turned the first sod one misty morning in july to symbolically begin the con st uct ion just two days be fore a hunk of old plaster had fallen from the ceiling in the old library covering one sec tion of books with fine dust it seemed time to move received the sug- councils tee has tested budget from the board it is estimated the annual requirements win be between 12jm and 13mt regular government grants are received it la anticipated that govern ment operating grants to libraries win mrrrasr in 1961 official opening on saturday june 3 official opening ceremonies for the new library will be sat urday june 3 at 230 pjn the day before the annual dec oration day service other plansfora big weekend are being considered dignitaries former librar ians and special guests will be invited the required govern ment plaque will be unveiled and if there is one a donated plaque naming present board and staff a few speeches will be said perhaps there will be loudspeakers so those outside can hear and refreshments will be served seek caretaker applications are being sought for a caretaker for the new library oard chairman george lee and board member mayor les duby pause from work at the new boilding to have a look at the lib rarys proposed budget saturday they are seated at the new walnut board table in the assembly room in the base rebric- covered chairs come in three colors and the walltowall carpeting is warm orange this is the room available for rental