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Page 2. Sect. L The Oakville Journal. Tuesday, May 30.1995 O a k v ille L ib rary 100th A n n iv e rs a ry L ooking back to the beginning T h e O a k v ille P u b lic L ibrary h as a lo n g h isto r y o f s e r v i c e to t h e O a k v ille c o m m u n ity . H e r e O a k v i l l e P u b li c L ib r a r y D ir e c to r , E le a n o r J a m e s t a k e s a fo n d look a t th e O a kville P ublic L ib ra ry T h en a n d N ow . n th e O a k v ille P u b lic L i b r a r y 's C e n te n n ia l y e a r it is o n ly n a tu r a l to lo o k back at the beginnings o f O ak v ille lib ra ry s e rv ic e , look at our p re se n t o p e r a tin g s itu a tio n an d lo o k to w a r d th e fu tu re . T o g eth e r we tu rn a p ag e in tim e b a c k to 1827 w h e re th e s to r y of O a k v ille lib ra ry s e rv ic e begins. In 1827, on the site o f th e c u rre n t C e n tr a l L ib r a r y (1 2 0 N avy S tre e t) , O a k v i ll e 's f ir s t m eeting hall w as built. The hall was used as a church on S undays and a sch o o l on w e e k d a y s. O a k v i l l e 's f i r s t lib r a r y w as e s t a b l i s h e d h e re when W illiam T assie, the to w n 's first schoolm aster, opened a reading room . In the 1860's the lib ra ry o f the M e c h a n ic s ' In s titu te a n d th e r e a d in g ro o m m erged and m oved to the to w e r o f th e O a k v ille C om m on S ch o o l, located ju s t n orth o f the m eeting hall. In 1 8 9 5 , th e n a m e O a k v ille P u b lic L ib ra ry w as first used as a result o f an a m e n d m e n t to the 1 8 8 2 P r o v i n c i a l F re e L ib r a r ie s A c t. B e tw e e n 1903 and 1966 the library m o v e d to th r e e o th e r locatio n s in tow n, only to retu rn to the N avy S treet s ite d u r in g C a n a d a 's C e n te n n ia l in 1967. S treet) and a B ookm obile s e r v ic e . O n S e p te m b e r 17, 1 9 9 4 th e T o w n o f O akville C ouncil moved: T h a t in reco g n itio n o f O a k v ille 's o r ig in a l a n d cu rre n t visionaries, those re sp o n sib le f o r p r o g r e s sive lib ra ry service fr o m th e n in e te e n th c e n tu r y th r o u g h to th is c u r r e n t tim e ...T h a t C o u n c il d e s ig n a te th e y e a r 1 9 9 5 as th e 100th A n n iv e rsa ry o f th e O a k v ille P u b lic L ibrary. T im e h a s n o t s to o d is g o v e rn e d by a v o lu n te e r B oard a p p o in te d by Council. P e o p le l iv in g in O a k v ille s u p p o r t t h e ir lib r a r y s e r v ic e th ro u g h m u n ic ip a l ta x e s w h ic h provide 90 per cent o f the L ib r a r y 's f u n d in g . C o m b in e d w ith a P r o v in c ia l g r a n t (4 p e r cen t) and rev en u e (6 per cent) the operating budget fo r the O a k v ille P u b lic L ibrary system is $5 m il lion for 1995. Ite m s a re b o u g h t fo r th e c o l l e c t i o n ( b o o k s , C D s, v id e o s, m ag azin es) a n d s e r v ic e s a re p u r ch ased to su p p o rt fa c ili ties and library routines. S ta ff a tte m p t to k e ep u p w ith th e v o lu m e o f work: for exam ple, in the last fo u r y ea r period c ir culation has increased 36 p e r c e n t, in f o r m a tio n queries 122 per cent, and sta ff num bers have fallen by 1 1 .4 per c e n t. Technology has helped us m e e t th e c h a l l e n g e , as y o u w ill se e in a r tic le s featured in this issue. The B o a rd (J o h n B arto n , C o u n c illo r M ark B ro w n , H e le n C h a n ta j, C h a ir m a n C h a r lo tte D u g u id , T re a s u re r E lsie K o s s a tz , J a n ic e M a y , I Over 81,000 Oakville residents with active library cards borrow 1.6 million items yearly. D u rin g th is c e le b r a tio n the new C en ten n ial co m plex op en ed , housin g the library and art gallery. T o d a y th e O a k v ille Public L ibrary con sists o f f o u r b r a n c h l o c a tio n s (C e n tra l-120 N avy Street, G le n A b b e y -1 4 1 5 T h ird L in e , W h ite 0 a k s - 1 0 7 0 M c C r a n e y S t r e e t E a s t, W o o d sid e -1 2 7 4 R eb e cc a s t i l l a t th e O a k v ille P u b lic L ib ra ry . In 1895, th e O a k v ille P u b lic L ib rary o p erated w ithout a B o a rd a n d o n a fe e basis. In 1995 pu b lic lib rary s e r v ic e is m u n ic ip a lly fu n d e d , o p e ra te s w ith in p r o v in c ia l le g i s l a t i o n ( P u b lic L i b r a r i e s A c t, R .S .O . 1990 c P .4 4 .) and D irecto r E le a n o r J a m e s Sheila Piersol, C ouncillor R a lp h R o b in s o n , V ic e C h a irm a n J a c k S h ir le y , a n d S u s a n S k iv in g to n ) m eets m onthly; the public is encouraged to attend. O v e r th e c e n tu r y th e O akville Public L ib ra ry 's tr a d itio n o f q u a lity and in n o v a tio n h a s le d to a num ber o f firsts. O u r re p u ta tio n is re c og n ized p ro v in cia lly and o u r u s a g e c o n tin u e s to h o ld a to p p o s itio n th r o u g h o u t O n ta r io . O akville can be proud o f its lib ra ry . O v er 8 1 ,0 0 0 O akville residents with an active library card borrow 1.6 m illion item s an n u al ly. T he stre n g th o f th is su p p o rt w ill lead us into an e x c itin g fu tu re . O u r ^ tiu u V ft S ta te m e n t Oakville Im a g e s In 1991 the Oakville Public Library received a $100,000 g r a n t fr o m T h e Law son Foundation to create a local history space at the Central Library. Shown here (left) is th e O akville Room which houses "Oakville Images" th e e le c tr o n ic im a g in g eq u ip m e n t. H ere lib ra ry users can view historic and current images and infor m a tio n a b o u t O a kville. (B elo w )A s t a f f m em ber scans a docum ent into the system. £ 7he m ission o4 the O akville, ^ftuhlic JZ ihrary is to prom ote a n d suftpjorl p ro v e s sio* services a ru l program s to meet the needs. o f the citizens o£ the O a k v ille com m unity , 3 a support o f this toe are committed, to: ^ P rovid in g access la in fo rm a tio n an d resources fo r in d iv id u a l enrichm ent, leLfredaeativn, culture a n d recreation in a evst-ejffeetive m anner; p ro v id in g program s a n d services tv ch ild ren tv assist in th e ir developm ent a n d entourage th e ir interest in the libra ry, O tp h vld in g the p rin c ip le vf. intellejctual freeeLom, *