Library History Today Blog

Brantford Public Library in 1917 Brantford’s classic red brick Beaux-Arts Carnegie Library, constructed between 1902 and 1904, was located at 73 George Street across from Victoria Park in the city’s main square. The building was designed by the firm of William and Walter Stewart with Lewis Taylor and manifested a sense of grand monumentalism with its central dome and a 20-step main entrance as shown in a 1917 First World War picture taken more than a dozen years after it opened on July 4, 1904. Andrew Carnegie promised Brantford $30,000 after receiving a 1902 request from a prominent local judge, Alexander David Hardy. He wrote to the Carnegie Corporation on February 28, 1902 about the current deficiency of the city library: "The accommodation however is poor and such as no improvement can now be made in the library, it being located in cramped quarters on the second floor of an office building." Judge Hardy, who was deeply interested in books, libraries, history, and...

At the turn of the 20th century, library grants from the foundation Andrew Carnegie had created became readily available for Canadian municipalities. Carnegie believed in the efficacy of public libraries to improve society and in the ability of local governments to better the lives of all residents. In order to qualify for a grant, a municipality submitted a letter outlining its local need for library service. Carnegie required local governments to provide a building site, provide ten percent of the construction cost each year from public taxation for the library’s future operation, and allow free access for residents. These were generous terms, and 125 Canadian cities successfully obtained and built Carnegie libraries. Brockville was one such community, a small market town in rural Eastern Ontario with a population of 8,940 according to the 1901 Canadian census. On March 11, 1903, E.A. Buckman, the chair of the town's finance committee, wrote to Andrew Carnegie: "We have now ...