Library History

2009 Milestone!  Did you know?

January 2009 marked the 100th anniversary of Mary J.L. Black joining the staff of the Fort William Public Library (now the Thunder Bay Public Library). 

The Port Arthur Library began in 1876 with the opening of a Mechanics Institute in the Port Arthur schoolhouse. Membership fees were $20.00 for life or $2.00 per year.

Over the years the library moved many times until the present building at 285 Red River Road opened on June 1, 1951 as the Port Arthur Public Library.

Library services for Fort William began in 1885 when CPR employees opened a bath, smoking and literary room, with a library attached in the Round House, West Fort William. Fees were $1.25 per year for CPR employees; outsiders were required to pay $1.25 for use of the tub.

In 1912, with the assistance of a $50,000 grant from the Carnegie Foundation, the Fort William Library was opened at 216 South Brodie Street.

The Westfort Branch library, 151 West Brock Street opened in 1938. The Fort William Library saw its first major change when an addition was added to the south side of the building in 1955.  The floor area was increased from 14,000 square feet to 23,150 square feet. In 1966 the front entrance was rebuilt. Mary J. L. Black was the librarian of the Fort William Library from 1909-1937.  She was one of Canada's leading librarians in her day, and the Fort William Library was widely regarded as a fine small city library.  She was the first woman president of the Ontario Library Association.  It seems appropriate that the Westfort Branch was named the Mary J. L. Black Library in Miss Black's honour.

The present Thunder Bay Public Library officially came into being in 1970, after the amalgamation of Port Arthur and Fort William.  The inaugural meeting of the Library Board was held in January, 1970. The Chairman opened the meeting by outlining the problems facing the Board in integrating Thunder Bay Library's operations.

In 1970 it was deemed essential that a logo should be created for use on stationary, posters, signs and cards.  A contest was held requesting designs from the public.  In March, 1971 the first prize design was adopted, showing a Native Canadian reading a book.  A revision of the logo took place in March 1992 designed by Barry Smith, reflecting a more modern outlook.

The library buildings saw a number of changes over the years.  In 1973, the Waverley Street Library received an extension, and in 1980 the Brodie Street Library was renovated fairly extensively.  Then, in 1981, the Brodie collection was rearranged with the adult fiction materials removed to the new Victoriaville Branch in the Victoriaville Mall.  This branch officially opened on June 25, 1981.  It housed fiction, a small collection of children's materials, and some magazines as well as the two local papers.

Over the years circulation of materials at Victoriaville continued to decrease until its closure on May 14, 1995.  At this time the fiction collection was returned to Brodie and again the building was renovated to make room for these materials.

In 1976 an additional service point was added to the library.  A bookmobile, with a small collection of adult and children's materials, began to visit several sites, including some city shopping malls, Current River, outlying elementary schools and some senior citizens' residences.  Although the service was popular with some users, the prohibitive cost of the vehicle and limited use by patrons led to the elimination of the bookmobile in 1986.

On February 27, 1982, the City's Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (L.A.C.A.C.) designated the Brodie Street Library a historically significant building.

Over the next few years, work focused on the automation project, which was installed in 1986. The GEAC online circulation system was launched on June 4, 1986.   In 1994, the library upgraded its automation system to the GEAC Advance system.

The Thunder Bay Public Library is proud of the many awards and achievements it has received throughout the years for innovative programs and services.  Some of the awards include the Angus Mowat Award of Excellence received in 1990 for the "Customers are Really Everything" campaign - CARE.   This focused on our customers and obtaining feedback on our service provided.  Children and adults were all part of this very successful campaign that helped to promote library awareness.

Customer service continued as a priority for Thunder Bay Public Library with training for all the staff, development of standards and continual customer suggestions.  In 1995, Thunder Bay Public Library was the recipient of the Quality Management Award awarded by the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce for excellence in customer service.

In December 1995, the County Park Branch Library opened its doors after much public interest from local area residents.  The population shift to this area of the city and the outlying region meant the library had to rethink service points and access for the citizens.  This branch, located in the County Fair Plaza, has become a very busy location since its inception.

Collections

Thunder Bay Public Library has developed its collection over the years by adding various formats and languages.  French language materials have become an important part of the collection for adults as well as children.  The French educational program has also created a need for these materials.  Large Print books, braille books, talking books, pop-up books and board books for children have been added to the regular selection of hardcover and paperback fiction and non-fiction titles.  Finnish language materials have been added to the collection due to the demand from the Finnish Community.

Audio visual collections began to fully develop in the 1970's.  The library only had records at this time but added cassettes and 8mm films. Laser video discs were added to provide full-length movies for children and adults to borrow.  With the 1980's and 1990's, new technology has meant the phasing out of the 8mm collection, laser video discs and records.  DVDs, compact discs, video cassettes, CD-ROMs, cassette books and CD books are now very popular formats found in the collection.

A Playwrights Canada collection was donated to the library in 1982 featuring 100 plays.  Literacy collections were developed in the 1980's with the aid of a grant by Abitibi-Price Inc.

Local History Collection

The Brodie Resource Library has preserved and collected historical materials and documents about local people, past and current events, local industry, etc, for many years.  Records are kept of economical, industrial, and statistical facts, as well as political activities concerning Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario.  Maps, photographs and city newspapers on microfilm are all part of this valuable collection.