It may have been a blustery day outside, but inside were tea and crumpets to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the official opening of the Carnegie Library here.
A century of footprints have graced the floors of the Fergus branch.
It was 100 years ago, on Feb. 9, 1911, when the Fergus Carnegie library opened its doors for citizens of Fergus. Work began on the building in the early summer of 1910.
Dora Anderson was the first librarian to work in the new Carnegie building.
Current branch supervisor Judy Howard explained the building itself was there in 1910, but the official opening was not until Feb. 9, 2011.
“We’re really happy to have everyone here and I want to thank my staff for all their help through the years,” Howard said.
She also thanked local councils, county councils and the locals for making the library what it is.
“And so I have in my pocket the old quote – what is the best gift which can be given to a community – a free library occupies the first place.” That statement is from Andrew Carnegie, who donated the money to build the library – as he had for hundreds of communities across North America and Europe.
“And so today, as a gift, here’s our bow and we’re going to unwrap the gift and welcome you into our branch to begin our second century,” Howard said.
Downstairs an historical presentation covered the highlights of the library over the years, from its inception to the current building and location.
Staff member Sarah Fisher provided a snapshot of the library history to 40 residents who attended the event.
She explained that as of last year, there has been a library in Fergus for the past 175 years, “which is just fantastic.”
She added there are a number of interesting stories relating to the library in town.
She commented on the Chambers Edinburgh Journal, which, in 1835, published a portion of a letter by Adam Fergusson, one of the founders of Fergus, in addition to a small article about the town.
That letter noted arranges were made for a library for the winter evenings and curling stones were in preparation.
“When you think about the history of Fergus, curling and the library were the number one and two things they thought of for entertainment back in 1834.”
She spoke of two of the library’s earliest librarians – Alexander Fordyce Jr. and his sister, Elizabeth, who lived in town.
Fisher agree that those two might not have been the first, “but they were certainly two of the earliest we know of.”
She said the pair lived in a small home by the church on the hill and were very involved in the church as well.
Although she said the photographs made the pair look like the stern stereotypical librarians, Fisher said she is not sure that was as true as people might think.
She said Elizabeth was known to “edit” the books such as travel magazines with images of women who were not fully clothed. Elizabeth would remove those images.
Fisher also pointed to a journal from Edinburgh that wrote about a Fordyce family scandal.
“Apparently, she cut that out as well,” since she did not want the town to think negatively of the Fordyce family.
At the same time, Elizabeth also taught Sunday school, where her brother was a superintendent.
The St. Andrews Presbyterian Church history described Elizabeth Fordyce who had charge of the infant class for many years.
“Hers was a household name in the homes of the congregation where she was beloved and venerated by the children who had received their first Sunday school training at her hands. Neither did the children forget those wonderful occasions when they were invited to tea at Miss Fordyce’s home just across from the church where they were thrilled at the sight of the many interesting treasures and curios in her possession.”
Fisher pointed out the Fordyce family housed the library in their home, and Fisher speculated that some of the curios and amazing items to the children would have been those books.
The next known library location was the site of the Fergus Drill Shed which used to stand next to Melville Church [that site is now a parking lot].
In 1857, the library became part of the Farmers and Mechanics Institute, Fisher said.
At the time, 29 citizens of Fergus pledged financial support – that pledge was Aug. 7, 1857.
The Beatty Plant, which later became the Temperance Hall, housed the library in 1862.
By 1883, the library moved to three rooms in the newly built Groves Block – only a small portion of that building still exists.
In 1889, the library moved to the third floor of the old fire hall in Fergus. While it was housed at that location, the town heard about Andrew Carnegie, who was donating funds to build community libraries.
In 1904, the town contacted the secretary of Carnegie to talk him about funds.
Fisher said of some of the letters that went back and forth, “One of the things the people in Fergus suggested was having a bath house in the basement of the library – which the Carnegie people said ‘absolutely no.’ ”
Eventually, the town did get the money.
The land where the library now sits, “included a little house that was rented apparently to a woman who was the local Lady of the Evening.”
Residents had free use of the books, but out-of-town residents were charged $1 per year to use the library.
Numerous renovations have occurred over the years, primarily in the 1950s and then in the 1980s.
Fisher added that some of the renovations provided a very ’80s look “what you see here is the ’80s library.”
“We’ve got 1950s renovations, 1980s renovations, who knows what will happen in the future … there’s been some talk. We have a wonderful base of people who are very supportive of their library.”
Howard later added part of the events was to “celebrate the start of our second century in this building. I thought it was very important for us to officially announce that to the community.”
She noted there was a big celebration last year with various activities.
“We want to thank those people who support us continually. We offer so many things – great children’s services, we’re part of the Wellington County Library which has 14 branches. We have patrons from all over the county.”
And it is a library looking to the future.
Howard said, “We have thousands of books available and we’re now doing the ebooks, DVDs, zoom text for people with sight problems, and computers.”
