Halifax Public Libraries (HPL) is a Canadian
public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants.
There are ...
system serving residents of
Halifax,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
. It is the largest public library system in Nova Scotia, with over 2.8 million visits to library branches and 172,520 active registered borrowers or 44% of the municipality's population. With roots that trace back to the establishment of the Citizens' Free Library in 1864, the current library system was created in 1996 during municipal amalgamation, and now consists of 14 branches and a collection of almost 1 million items.
History
Early history
Halifax Mechanics' Institute was one of a series of
Mechanics' Institutes that were set up around the world after becoming popular in Britain. It housed a subscription library that allowed members who paid a fee to borrow books. The Mechanic's Institutes libraries eventually became public libraries when the establishment of free libraries occurred.
[Harris, Michael. History Of Libraries In The Western World. 4th ed. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1995, p. 153.] One of the members of the Mechanics' Institute about 1835 was
Samuel Cunard
Sir Samuel Cunard, 1st Baronet (21 November 1787 – 28 April 1865), was a British-Canadian shipping magnate, born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, who founded the Cunard Line, establishing the first scheduled steamship connection with North America. H ...
.
In 1864, the Honourable
William Young William, Will, Bill or Billy Young may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* William Young (composer) (died 1662), English composer and viola da gambist
* William Young (architect) (1843–1900), Scottish architect, designer of Glasgow City Chambers ...
purchased the heavily indebted Halifax Mechanic’s Library and donated the collection to establish the city’s first free public library, The Citizens’ Free Library. Anyone "above the age of 18 who were of a known and respectable nature" could borrow one book at a time. The library found a permanent home in 1890 on the second floor of City Hall, where the office of the Mayor of Halifax is now located.
Some talks about a new municipally-funded library in 1901 were unsuccessful.
Creation of municipal libraries
In 1948, Halifax had "a single over-crowded, under-equipped room at the end of a corridor" located in the City Hall building. The conditions and poor services of the Citizens' Free Library room even failed in comparison to much smaller towns in Nova Scotia, such as Amherst.
[
The Halifax Memorial Library "was born out of a true spirit of collaboration and of steadfast persistence from a variety of service clubs and citizens' groups active" in 1945 immediately after World War II.][halifaxpubliclibraries.ca: "A living memorial: History"]
/ref> The first sod was turned on 21 April 1949, in time to celebrate the city’s 200th anniversary. The former central library opened in 1951 as a memorial to the war dead.[
The Halifax City Regional Library system added the North Branch Library on Gottingen Street in 1965, the Captain William Spry Public Library in Spryfield in 1983, and the Thomas Raddall Public Library in Clayton Park in 1989. In 1973 and 1974, the Spring Garden Road Library expanded from 25,000 sq.ft. to 38,000 sq.ft. to accommodate increasing demands for space.
The Dartmouth library operated out of the old Dartmouth City Hall on the Dartmouth Common until 1990. The Woodlawn Public Library branch opened in 1975, and the Dartmouth North branch opened in 1996. The Dartmouth Regional Library opened at Alderney Gate in 1990.
]
Halifax Public Libraries
The Halifax Public Libraries system was created in 1995 in anticipation of municipal amalgamation, merging the library systems of the cities of Halifax and Dartmouth, and Halifax County.
The Thomas Raddall branch in Clayton Park closed was replaced with the Keshen Goodman Public Library in 2001. and the Woodlawn branch moved to Eisener Boulevard in 2010.
The Halifax Central Library branch can trace its roots to a feasibility study written in 1987. In 2008, the HRM Council approved funding in principle to support construction of a Central Library. Seven years later the Spring Garden branch closed permanently on 30 August 2014 and was replaced by the Halifax Central Library across the street.
The various branches of the Halifax Public Libraries participate in Interlibrary Loan
Interlibrary loan (abbreviated ILL, and sometimes called interloan, interlending, document delivery, document supply, or interlibrary services, abbreviated ILS) is a service where patrons of one library can borrow materials and receive photocopies ...
and permit borrowers to return Interlibrary Loan books to any Halifax public library location.
Branches
* Alderney Gate (Downtown Dartmouth
Downtown Dartmouth is the main central business district of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Dartmouth in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is part of the Capital District of the Province.
Business and buildings
Located in downtown D ...
)
* Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
* Captain William Spry (Spryfield
Spryfield is community within the urban area of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
History
The land now known as Spryfield was first occupied by the Miꞌkmaq people, who hunted and fished at Beaver Lake (now called Long Lake). The Miꞌkmaq would ...
)
* Cole Harbour
* Dartmouth North
* Halifax Central Library
The Halifax Central Library is a public library in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located on the corner of Spring Garden Road and Queen Street in Downtown Halifax. It serves as the flagship library of the Halifax Public Libraries, repla ...
(Spring Garden Road
The Spring Garden Road area, along with Barrington Street (which it adjoins) is a major commercial and cultural district in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It acquired its name from the fresh water spring that flows directly beneath it. It comprise ...
)
* Halifax North Halifax North was a provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elected one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. It was formed in 1933 when Halifax (provincial electoral district), Halifax County w ...
Memorial
* J.D. Shatford ( Hubbards)
* Keshen Goodman ( Clayton Park)
* Musquodoboit Harbour
Musquodoboit Harbour is a natural harbour in Canada on the Eastern Shore (Nova Scotia), Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia.
Physical harbour
Located east of Petpeswick Inlet and west of Jeddore Harbour, Musquodoboit Harbour is a 10 km long estuar ...
* Sackville
* Sheet Harbour
Sheet Harbour is a rural area, rural community in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located in the eastern reaches of the Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Municipality, approximately northeast of the central urban area of the municipality, con ...
* Tantallon
* Woodlawn
Former branches
* Thomas Raddall
Thomas Head Raddall (13 November 1903 – 1 April 1994) was a Canadian writer of history and historical fiction.[Spring Garden Road
The Spring Garden Road area, along with Barrington Street (which it adjoins) is a major commercial and cultural district in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It acquired its name from the fresh water spring that flows directly beneath it. It comprise ...]
Memorial (replaced by Halifax Central Library)
See also
* Cambridge Military Library
Cambridge Military Library is a public library building in Royal Artillery Park in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada which was created in 1886. The building was created to house the garrison library collection, which had been moved from various locat ...
* Halifax Tool Library
Halifax Tool Library (HTL) is a tool lending library based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Members pay an annual subscription and may borrow specialized tools for home repair, maintenance, building projects, community projects, gardening and la ...
* Killam Library The Killam Memorial Library is the main library of Dalhousie University, and the largest academic library in the Maritimes, comprising of space.
History
Designed by Leslie R. Fairn, the library was made possible by the donation of $30 million by ...
References
Bibliography
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Further reading
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External links
Halifax Public Libraries
{{Authority control
Education in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Public libraries in Nova Scotia