The South Marysburgh Mirror April 2024/9 LOVE YOUR LIBRARY By Dorothy Speirs Writing last month about the renovations to our Mil- ford Library got me thinking about a presentation by past Chair of the Friends of the Ann Farwell Library, Susan MacDonald. In her article, Susan outlines the history of our library, which began over seventy years ago. The South Marysburgh Public Library was founded by Ann Farwell, a local South Bay sheep farmer and former Toronto librarian, and Jeanne Minhinnick, a South Bay resi- dent and former Toronto bookseller. In 1951, with the support of Reeve Carson Scott, they established the library in the Milford Town Hall. It was the first rural li- brary in Prince Edward Coun- ty. In 1952, operations moved to a small one room library, built on donated land with a $1650 loan from South Marysburgh Township. The library was renamed The Ann Farwell Public Library, follow- ing Ann’s death in 1976. In 1982, Tom Huff, Chair of the Library Board, in an effort to increase funding, successfully appealed to Athol Township to affiliate itself with the re- named Ann Farwell Library. When the time came to build anew library, the councils of both townships offered their full support and assistance and both communities worked together to raise the funds. In 1991, the Library Board, having secured a government grant for an accessible wash- Milford Library a “Community” Achievement room, realised that the li- brary building was in such disrepair that a new build- ing would have to be built. Although the board was allowed to keep the grant for the washroom, the Ath- ol/South Marysburgh com- munity would have to raise an enormous amount of money. And raise it they did! Vernice McConnell and Cheryl Reed planned the fundraising efforts and en- listed the many people needed to make a fundraising campaign successful. Read more about the ex- traordinary fund-raising activi- ties in the next issue of The Mirror. Rain Barrel & Composter Sale Earth Day April 22 Go to www.rainbarrel.ca/csgpicton) for information. Volui for a variety of events Learn information 0 Sunday April 7, 2-3 pm milford Town Hall TO THE weers are needed ErLcome { more at the pen house