Cobourg has offered library service since the 1830's. Our library has evolved over the years, from a one-room Mechanic's Institute to the 2-storey public library we have today. We continue to change and to grow, and look forward to exciting challenges that the future will bring. View a PDF History of the Library in Cobourg, or view the ebook:
| Mechanic's Institute |
| There is evidence to indicate the presence of a public-use library in Cobourg as early as the 1830's. Referred to as a Mechanics Institute, the early library was designed to provide educational opportunities for workmen and tradesmen through books and lectures.
Early sources indicate that the library was located at the Town Hall, but in 1889 the Mechanics Institute rented space in the Y.M.C.A. building (86 King St. W) for an annual rent of $40 per year. This location remained the library's home for the next 75 years. The Encyclopedia Britannica was purchased in 1891, and chess and checker games were added the following year. This synthesis of continuing education and leisurely recreation continues to be implicit in the philosophy of public libraries to this day. In 1886 - Mechanics Institute and Reading Room had 128 subscribers from Cobourg and Hamilton Township. They paid $1 per year for use of the library six nights per week. The total budget was $200 per year. |
| Public Library on King Street - 1895 to 1964 |
| In Cobourg the new term "public library" was first used in 1895 when the operation of the Mechanics Institute came under the Public Libraries Act. Under the auspices of the Department of Education, the public library emerged to serve a broader public. The library was funded largely by subscriptions from its members, with additional support from the Province and from the local municipal government.
Board officials, elected by the membership, managed the Reading Room on a voluntary basis until 1899, when the first librarian's salary was offered. In December of that year, a chimney-fire resulted in a loss valued at $585, the equivalent of an entire year's budget. In 1902, the Board began to consider the possibility of obtaining a Carnegie grant for a new library building. The issue was still being discussed in 1911, but nothing ever came of it. As the collection grew, handwritten lists of holdings became unmanageable. In 1907 the library purchased its first 6-drawer card catalogue, and all items were catalogued using the Dewey Decimal Classification system. In 1918, water damage from a plumbing catastrophe in the Domestic Science room above the library resulted in book damage and rendered the cards of the catalogue "unfit for use." By 1918, the library held 5,271 volumes, with an annual circulation of 16,923 books. Clearly, the public library was growing. Over the next half century, an abiding theme of the library was to find more suitable housing. With the growth of the clientele, services were offered to all age groups. A highlight of the 1950's was the establishment of a separate room for the children's collection - the first facility equipped especially with children's needs in mind. By the late 1950's, Cobourg was one of only two towns left in the province still operating as a subscription or "association" library, and its collection was not up to the provincial standard of three books per capita. The tax levy for library services was 20 cents per capita, far short of the recommended standard of $1. The library premises were also judged to be wanting in a strongly worded report from the provincial Director of Library Services. The changes suggested by the report were taken to heart, and the library became a fully tax supported public library with a municipally appointed board in 1958. Judge H. R. Deyman was its first chairman. In May 1959 the Board hired its first fully qualified professional librarian, Mr. Graham Barnett. |
| Public Library on Chapel Street - 1964 to 1995 - Branches in Gore's Landing and Bewdley added |
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The problem of the outgrown physical premises was also tackled. Page and Steele, the architectural firm which designed CDCI East, was consulted, and recommended that the library acquire 10,000 to 11,000 square feet. In the mid-1960's, the Town's purchase of the Trinity United Church Sunday School building on Chapel St. was a long-awaited achievement. The life-expectancy of a facility this size was 25 years. Excited about the new library, virtually every local club and a great many individuals contributed to furnish and equip the two-story, 7,500 square foot building. The library moved in 1964. Staff and volunteers wheeled fourteen thousand books along King St. and up Division St. to Chapel by trolley and shopping cart. An art gallery was established above the library; it later became the Art Gallery of Northumberland. With leadership and standards being set by the province, public libraries developed rapidly, with increasing co-operation between public libraries across the province. In 1968, an official Inter-Library Loan policy was adopted. Provincial incentives encouraged the library board, under the leadership of its Chairman, Dr. Jack Leeson, to negotiate a contract for service with the Township of Hamilton. The independently operated Gore's Landing library was brought into the system in 1973. A children's room was added to the library building in 1974. The seventies were years of growth, as membership and the circulation of library materials climbed steadily. In 1979 the Cobourg Public Library circulated 106,742 items to 8,034 members. In the 1980's, a library branch was established in Bewdley; outreach services were extended to local homes for the aged; large print and talking book collections were first acquired. Newspapers and documents relating to local history were microfilmed and indexed for easy access; a government document collection assembled. The library began to automate its catalogue of holdings, making the sharing of materials between libraries and the management of a 47,000 volume book collection more efficient. |
| Formation of the Cobourg Public Library & District Foundation |
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The expansion of services over two decades ensured that the library would again be looking for expanded premises by 1990. Accordingly, in 1986, the campaign for a new library in Cobourg began. The campaign intensified in 1991 when the town council stipulated that the Cobourg Public Library Board must provide the amount of $500,000 towards the funding, the remainder being provided by the province and town. This inspired the formation of the Cobourg Public Library Foundation. Under the leadership of its Chairman, Jeff Rolph, and Vice Chairman, Bob MacCoubrey, the newly formed foundation more than rose to the challenge. Community response was overwhelmingly positive. In 1993, Town Council announced the naming of the future new facility in honour of C. Gordon King. In 1994, the official ground-breaking ceremony at the Duke of York Square took place in April. |
| Public Library on Ontario Street - September 1995 |
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In September 1995, the new facility officially opened its doors. The new library facility, in the C. Gordon King Centre, is accessible to the physically challenged, offers new services, programs for children, youth, adults and seniors, and embraces the new technology of the information age. Feature of the Library in September 1995
In 1997, on the library's second anniversary, artist Alice Luke Chenevert's bronze bust of Gordon King was installed in the lobby. Also in 1997, the first Internet station was installed with dial-up access.
In 1999, the library design was awarded for excellence by the Ontario Library Association. Also in 1999, the library extended its service to 7 days per week |
| 10th Anniversary - Public Library on Ontario Street - September 2005 |
Features of the Library in September 2005 - 10 year anniversary
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| January 2014 - The Flood, The Mall and Back Again |
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On January 4th, 2014, the main branch of the Library suffered a flood, which resulted in a closure of the facility until June. We moved temporarily to the Northumberland Mall the end of February to the beginning of May. We occupied three store fronts, and brought the majority of our collection, along with six public computers. On June 7th we held a grand re-opening ceremony with over 550 people attending. |
| 20th Anniversary - Public Library on Ontario Street - September 2015 |
Features of the Library in September 2015 - 20 year anniversary
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| 30th Anniversary - Public Library on Ontario Street - 2025 |
Features of the Library in 2025 - 30 year anniversary
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