{"id":571,"date":"2013-02-05T17:18:39","date_gmt":"2013-02-05T17:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/?page_id=571"},"modified":"2013-03-28T14:26:53","modified_gmt":"2013-03-28T14:26:53","slug":"wpl-people","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/?page_id=571","title":{"rendered":"WPL People"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u201cThe reading room continues to be well customerized. Children of public school age are frequently to be found in the building during school hours. I would suggest that the truant officer be instructed to pay occasional visits to the reading room\u201d<\/em><\/span> (William Kay, Annual Report, <\/i>1899)<\/span><\/pre>\n
\u00a0Pioneers<\/b><\/p>\n
Andrew Braid, the secretary of the WPL Board, was the catalyst in securing funding for the construction of the Carnegie Library.\u00a0 It was Braid, who in 1900 began writing to Andrew Carnegie requesting funding to build a library.\u00a0 Through his persistence, and after over a year of correspondence, Braid convinced Carnegie to fund a library in Windsor. Braid served on the library board for 25 years.\"Mrs.<\/a><\/p>\n
In 1921, Alicia Mason, the principal of Cameron Avenue School was the first woman on the Windsor Public Library board. Since that time, women have served on the board in a variety of positions, notably Mrs. Gordon Kerr, who was a board member from 1936 \u2013 1966, including serving six times as Chair of the Board.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Library Staff<\/b><\/p>\n
William Kay was the first librarian of the Windsor Public Library when the library and reading room opened in 1894.\u00a0 He took his job very seriously and reported to the board: \u201cIt has been said that a public library is the people\u2019s university.\u00a0 It is our wish that the people of Windsor may regard ours as such and may take increasing interest in it and make the fullest use of it.\u201d (William Kay, WPL Annual Report<\/i>, 1894)\u00a0 A trained teacher, Kay preferred to work as a librarian and remained in the post until his death in 1902.<\/p>\n
Marcelle Frebault was hired at Walkerville Library in 1918 and was succeeded by Anne Hume the following year.\u00a0 At the Windsor library that year, Miss Agnes Lancefield was appointed librarian, the first trained professional to hold the position.\u00a0 In 1924, Helen Langford successfully completed studies at the Ontario Library School, bringing the library\u2019s number of professionally trained librarians to two. Read more…<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
Children<\/b><\/p>\n
During the first years of the establishment of the Windsor Public Library, children under 16 were not even allowed in the library.\u00a0 A great deal of discussion involved lowering this bar to the age of 14 in 1919.\u00a0 Since then, librarians at the Windsor Public Library worked tirelessly to educate children about books, reading, literacy and research, but emphasized the importance of sharing the joy of reading with children. A story hour had begun as early as 1918 at the Willistead Branch, with the Windsor library following suit the next year.\u00a0 Hilda Rankin was appointed the first children\u2019s librarian in 1919.<\/p>\n
\"John<\/a>In 1932, lack of space forced the children\u2019s library at the Carnegie Branch to move to an exclusive space for children\u2019s books at the John Richardson Library Branch.<\/p>\n
Subsequently, other children\u2019s branches were established as in elementary schools<\/a>.\u00a0 By 1954, the board room at Willistead had been turned into a children\u2019s library.\u00a0 Services for children at that time included, \u201cclubs for children, including a girls\u2019 poetry club, plays by youngsters, dolls and dollhouses, marionettes and schoolroom visits for book talks\u201d (WPL Annual Report, <\/i>1954).\u00a0 Pre-school-aged children had their own story hours at the Hugh Beaton and Seminole Branches.\u00a0Read more…<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n
 <\/p>\n
Multicultural<\/b><\/p>\n
The Windsor Public Library has always supported new immigrants to Canada and encouraged its customers to celebrate their diverse heritages. By the end of the 1940s, the library partnered with the Education Council to provide naturalization citizenship classes, offering free use of films, books and librarians to speak on what the library could offer new Canadians.\"New<\/a><\/p>\n
In May 1960, the editor of the Malta News, <\/i>George Bonavia was invited by the WPL to set up a series of displays at the Carnegie Branch.\u00a0 This \u201cInternational Rendezvous at the Library\u201d helped customers discover new cultures connected with Windsor residents. Later that year, the WPL organized a film series scheduled through the winter of displays with photographs, pictures and books, film nights and slide shows.\u00a0 In November 1960, Norway was the featured country, and the 1960-61 season\u2019s selection of films included Poland, Ukraine, Lebanon, Russia and China. Read more…<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n
Volunteers and Fundraising<\/b><\/p>\n
As with all cultural organizations in Windsor, the Windsor Public Library has benefitted from the extraordinary generosity and hard work of its supporters.\u00a0 In order to establish resources and programs in all branches, even those not receiving public funding, library customers have filled in the gaps.\u00a0 In 1925, a Friends of the Library group was organized after a community meeting where Windsorites showed great interest and concern for the WPL.Friends of the Library groups were formed to support most branches of the WPL.\u00a0 The volunteers give of their time and plan fundraising and special events to raise fund to improve library services.<\/p>\n
The early WPL Board members demonstrated years of dedication to the voluntary work of the Board.\u00a0 In 1961, two Board members, Maxwell Schott, QC and Mrs. Gordon Kerr <\/a>were honoured for over 25 years of service to the WPL. After Mrs. Kerr died, a memorial fund for the WPL was established in her honour by her former colleagues as was a similar account in the name of former Chief Librarian Anne Hume.\u00a0 In the 1969 Annual Report of the Chief Librarian, it was noted that In Memoriam gifts to the library were common as ways to offer support to grieving families and the library.<\/p>\n
Unique approaches to fundraising were devised by librarians and board members.\u00a0 Upset by the disposal of hundreds of out-of-date books from the library collection, Board member Lloyd McLachlan suggested that books be offered to the public in a low-price sale.\u00a0 The first was held in November, 1977. This allowed low-income customers to own and share books, and became a continued source of funds for new books and materials at the WPL.<\/p>\n
In 1994, the WPL Board adopted a policy of encouraging its members, staff and associated volunteers to \u201cexercise creativity in developing mutually beneficial partnerships with both profit-making and non-profit organizations in our community and beyond (WPL Board Minutes, <\/i>April 7, 1994).\u00a0 In response, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, CUPE 2067, presented equipment for use in children\u2019s programming.\u00a0\u00a0 The Friends of the Library at the Seminole Branch raised money for new electronic equipment also that year.\u00a0 They assisted with programming, outreach for Polish, Spanish and French communities in the neighbourhood and augmented literacy programs for children and adults.\u00a0 The Friends of Sandwich Library, for example, was led by John Muir and was crucial to the campaign to relocate the Mill Street location of the Sandwich Branch to the new location at Brock Elementary School on Sandwich Street. John Rutherford was also a driving force behind the Friends of Riverside Library which raised funds to defray the cost of construction and furnishing of the new branch building.\"John<\/a><\/p>\n
Another fundraising campaign undertaken in the late 1990s was the \u201cLight the Future \u2026 NOW!\u201d initiative.\u00a0 This campaign raised thousands for books and materials in 1997 and continued for the following few years in order to keep reference materials up to date, especially as new electronic materials increased the cost of the collection.<\/p>\n
Local service clubs have also supported the various branches of the WPL.\u00a0 The Optimist Club of Forest Glade raised thousands of dollars to establish the Forest-Glade Optimist branch of the Windsor Public Library.\u00a0 For the Riverside Branch, the Windsor East Kiwanis Club donated money for more books for Preschoolers.\u00a0\u00a0 In 2010, the Windsor Accessibility Advisory Committee approved a grant to ensure that the doors of the Central Library had push-button access for wheelchair entry and also helped to fund the new elevator for that branch.<\/p>\n
Local industries and businesses have also supported specific needs of the WPL. In 2005, Casino Windsor donated a large sum to renovate the Gates Computer Training Lab, plus other education space for the Adult Literacy program, providing new equipment and helping to train staff.<\/p>\n
Authors<\/b><\/p>\n
Lectures given by Canadian writers were another way the library board supported authors, as when Canadian journalist and author Madge MacBeth was invited to WPL to speak to customers and visitors.\u00a0 Among her early works are the novels The Changeling<\/i> and The Winning Game.\u00a0 <\/i><\/p>\n
\"Author<\/a><\/p>\n
The Windsor Public Library continued to support the work of local authors through its programs, author presentations, readings and purchasing of books. A writer-in-residence program was hosted by the library in 1988, featuring Ann Ireland, author of A Certain Mr. Takahashi<\/i>, for an extended period of seven months.\u00a0 Governor General\u2019s Award for Children\u2019s Literature recipient Welwyn Wilton Katz was another Writer-in-Residence in 1990.\u00a0 Through a week-long series of events, she hosted local writers and children in workshops and presentations.\u00a0\u00a0 In 1995, poet and playwright Judith Fitzgerald was writer-in-residence.\u00a0 As a tribute to Windsor, she wrote an epic long poem, River<\/i>, about the Detroit River and its history.<\/p>\n
One of the longest author \u201cfriendships\u201d with the Windsor Public Library belongs to Newbery Medal winning author Christopher Paul Curtis.\u00a0 In 2001, the WPL nominated Curtis for Windsor\u2019s Mayor\u2019s Award for Excellence in the Arts for his \u201cliterary work, community work and inspiration to Windsor\u2019s children and to members of the artistic and African-Canadian communities\u201d (WPL Board Minutes<\/i>, April 4, 2001).\u00a0 Curtis\u2019s association in the library began when librarians offered him space and encouragement to write his first best-seller, The Watsons Go to Birmingham \u2013 1963<\/i>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe reading room continues to be well customerized. Children of public school age are frequently to be found in the building during school hours. I would suggest that the truant officer be instructed to pay occasional visits to the reading room\u201d (William Kay, Annual Report, 1899) \u00a0Pioneers Andrew Braid, the secretary of the WPL Board, was the catalyst in securing Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/571"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=571"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2352,"href":"https:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/571\/revisions\/2352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}