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jm v acton free press wednesday march 1 1967 few changes for library in six decades moved from town hall to y room in 1934 fn six decades actons lib rary has had a surprisingly small turnover of staff the first librarian appoint ed in 1898 was 16yearold miss ettieealra now mrs r m macdonald iher reminiscen ces are in another story the second librarian start- ingin 1906 wa mr pan c ham then came miss ethel in 1926 when mrs watson assumed the post she has held for four decades miss laura scott was her assistant mary chalmers now of toronto followed as assistant and then helen lamb who is now a tea cher in british columbia when the assistance of a third person was required mrs stan norton was appoint ed as assistant when she left the position miss esther taylor was appointed assist ant librarian during the years more and more help has been required then ov 3 y mow when alternate madge chapman began heras- needed mr jack chapman coleman who teter- hmrried sociation with the library nd jlr george williams the rev ralston brown and which has iast ever since come moved to the west i in 1917 miss lettie scott was appointed librarian in 1914 the presbyterian mi nisters daughter ivfiss marg aret wilson was appointed as sistant she become mrs mc- gilvary lived in the west and is now in toronto her son ian mcgilvary teaches at ac ton high school miss wilson left the library in 1917 mb lettie scotts assistant washer sister miss laura scott they live in kitchener now and come back to town for special events and the fall fairs lettie is mrs joe john s old minute book treasured possession a treasured possession of the library board is a yellowed old minute book covering the years from april 1 1898 to dec ember 31 1949 flowery penmanship related the first meeting 69 years ago the first meeting of the free library board was held one of the first things a in young school girl isabel el- chambers uott did when she came to ac ton in- 1913 was to go to the library in the town hall and pay five cents for a library card thirteen years later in 1926 she herself was appointed lib rarian a post she has held most capably for 41 years she turned the first sod for the new centennial library in a ce remony several months ago the library for its first 36 years was in the town hall room beyond the stairway and across from the cells now it is the st john ambulance the council the members were present as follows reeve j a mclach- ian m a j k godden ma h a macpherson reeve pearson john cameron thos i moore and h p moore upon motion the reeve was elected chairman and h p moore secretary of the board a letter from the public school board handing over the control of the old library to the free library board was read wmf m99ms ahmrjf ft j skefres between 400 and 500 books will be added to the inventory immediately at the centennial library this latest shipment was delayed a while to await the shift one big asset for students will be the fine new 24 volume set of the encyclopedia brit- annica it has been supplied with money from the south central regional library board more reference books are re quired and this has been sug gested as a suitable gift to the centennial project facts figures for past year faots and figures from 1966 aoton library has about 800 members all of them cur rent and a good half of them children who are espec ially keen readers some ad ults have been regular patrons for many years there are about 8900 books in circulation in the library and 1000 childrens books out at the robert little and m z bennett public schools total circulation the past year was 44515 volumes bor rowed membership in the library is not restricted to residents and ratepayers of the town rural members are welcome moved by rev h a mac pherson seconded by thos j moore that the library tender ed by the public school board be accepted and that our thanks be conveyed to the board for the same carried moved by thos i moore seconded by john cameron that the board be a committee of the whole to examine and assort the books of the old library carried wednesday evening 6th inst was fixed as the time for the performance of the work of the committee the secretary was instruct ed to write the various pub lishing houses for copies of their catalogues moved by h p moore sec onded by john cameron that this board request a loan of two hundred dollars from the municipal council for the library source of education says chairman asked to comment on the centennial project library board chairman george y lee remarked our library must be looked to as the information centre ol the community and the main source of continuing education fur the voung and old i am sure it will give many happy hours to manv people for ears to come the position the duties and the 40 although at different times the library was open after noons for school children and for several hours on satur day lately the hours have been the same as in 1898 there are two teenage as sistants as well miss cheryl lee whose father is chair man of the centennial year library board and miss anne watson granddaughter of the chief librarian in 1934 the library was mo ved to the front room at the purchase of new books until the receipt by the board of the government grant to the lib rary board carried moved by thos 1 moore seconded by rev h a mac pherson that rev j k god den j a mclachlan h a macpherson john cameron the chairman and the secre tary be a book committee to select books carried j b pearson chairman h p moore secretary a few months later the book committee put in their expens es for a trip to toronto to sel ect books it was all of 375 for five men i by august the library had 88 members and 254 volumes had been issued but member ship was soon up over 150 in 1900 electric light was in stalled by april rules and regulat ions were set up for the new library residents or ratepayers of acton and vicinity not under 14 years of age known to the librarian or vouched for by responsible citizens can draw books by registering their nam es and residency and agreeing to conform to the- rules and regulations and adopted by the board the librarian when it is deemed necessary may re quire a special deposit only one book could be drawn at a- time and the fine after two weeks was five cents a day noise and loud conversat ion are strictly forbidden the use of tobacco is for bidden in the rooms of the lib- rary the library nearly 70 years ago was open three nights a week the same as it has been until this week only the nights were different then the open nights were monday wednesday and saturday from 7 to 830 ojn one change came when the towns open night for shopping switched from saturday to fri day the salary of the librarian was fixed at 40 a year and here are some of the things she was required to do to enforce all rules keep the books in systematic order keep a record of membership notify delinquents keep the books shelves etc carefully dusted to be courteous at au times to members and to re port to the board any discour tesy or misconduot on the part of those who visit the library and such other duties as the board might require miss bmie laird now mrs r m macdonald was given provided for the town of ac ton through a bequest of the late w h murray the shelves were moved from the town hall and are still there in quite good condi tion shelves built of wood years later are not in nearly as good condition changes in all these years have been few while readers have been many the system remained pretty much the same as did the friendly fac es behind the bookpiled check out counter conditions grew more and more crowded un til the problem of improved accommodations became the prime concern of the library board of the day the system ol books for the public schools afforded the most change at one time classes singlefiled into the library to exchange books the librarians still re member with horror the day they discovered one weeping repentant little boy in the cor ner where teacher had put him and forgotteht all ab out him as they closesd up at one time librarians trek ked to the school with heavy cartons of books now library books remain in class and school libraries with school books to provide an even wider choice for the youngsters doubly wellknown in town through contacts at the lib rary and in watsons restaur ant the chief librarian looks back over many years of giv ing pleasure and assisting to obtain information it has been a long experience and a wide one she says she is looking forward very much to the new quarters and has made visits at various sta ges of construction smiuno trio of regular librarians greeted raadera in provid crampedquarters of the oldroom for the last time on friclayt mrs r p watson on the left has been chief librarian for over 40 years her assistants are miss madge chapman centre and miss esther taylor with new equipmentand new meth- ods they yvill be open for business again next monday in the new building named first librarian in 1898 mrs r macdonald recalls start a lively young girl of 16 ettielaird was selected as the villages first librarian in 1898 born in acton she has lived all her life here and is now imrs r m maodonald of 26 willow st she has an excellent mem ory and her energy and enth usiasm remain with her she recalls that in 1898 she was also working in the post office where she went to learn telegraphy families did not have phones as they do now instead they sent urgent messages by telegraph she still has the key she used then salary mrs maodonald re calls was 10 a week and she helped in the post office too the post office was in a small building near the old post office since demolished the commercial telegraphy was moved years later to the station the energetic young girl took on another job when her qualifications were surveyed and she was accepted by free press editor h p moore and other bearded members of the board as the first librarian some books were given from the public school as a start and a good seleotion of good reading specially pur chased the system was very very different at first recalls mrs macdonald she herself was in sole control of the books the pat rons there were 80 at once to start each purchased for a quarter a special catalogue which listed all the books in stock then the subscriber re quested by number the book he or she wished at the desk and miss laird would scurry to get it there were often lineups even out into the hall and longskirted miss laird was a busy girl indeed when new books were pur chased which wasnt often the first few years a sup plement was printed to add to the catalogue of all titles mr moore would come over to the library to assist miss laird in adding the new books to the shelves but he always brought mrs moore along for proprietys sake mr moore was notoriouslv strict but they always got along well savs mrs macdonald she was born in acton mar ried here in 1905 and has ne ver moved awav she thinks probably she is the oldest per son in town who has lived here continuously her keen memory ranges through eight decades when she resigned she was replaced by a widow mrs dan graham whose husband had been the municipal offic er it had been one of his ma ny duties to fill the oil lamps on the streets light them each evening and put them out each morning sidewalks were made of boards in those days 40 a year girl public notice acton centennial library new hours monday to friday 2 pm to 5 pm o p monwedfri 7 pm to 830 pm p e e saturdays 12 noon to 5 pm n r n acton public library board minutt book beginning with the first meeting in 1898 4s perused by the first librarian sprightly octogenarian mrs r m macdonald she was hired that year at the age of 16 for 40 a year congratulations to the town of acton on the opening of its new centennial library w are pleated to have been chosen to install natural gas heating for everyones warmth and comfort may everyone enjoy these modern facilities provided for them congratulations to the town of acton on its centennial library bob krul as he rounds a narrow corner on th l da old horary was open row corner on je united gas ltd i i l we are pleased to have been chosen as the architects to design this fine new modern building donald e skinner architect 20 stavebank rd port credit ontario