Kitchener Public Library

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Kitchener Public Library
Location	Kitchener, Ontario
Established	1884
Number of branches	5
Collection size	580,000 books 5,000 audiovisuals
Annual circulation	2,000,000
Population served	200,000
Budget	$9.2m
Director	Sonia Lewis
Website	http://www.kpl.org/

The Kitchener Public Library (KPL) is the public library system for the city of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. It has a main branch in the downtown core, and four smaller branches throughout the wider community.

History The first institution committed to the sharing of information in what was then known as Berlin, Ontario was a Mechanics’ Institute established in 1854 by a group of interested citizens. Forty years later, in February, 1884, the Berlin Town Council approved the creation of a free public library. By April of that year, a Reading Room was opened with newspapers and periodicals, and that September a book collection of nearly 3,000 volumes was made available. In those early years, the Berlin Public Library was located in the Town Hall, but it quickly outgrew the available space. In 1902, the Carnegie Foundation approved a first grant of $15,000 for a library building, followed by additional grants for furnishings. The new Berlin Public Library opened on January 8, 1904.

A Growing Library The last twenty years have seen many changes for the Kitchener Public Library. The Main Library has undergone several renovations over the years, including extensions in 1978 and 1994; and each Community Library has been either renovated or rebuilt completely. In 2002, the Grand River Stanley Park Community Library opened as a shared facility next to the Grand River Collegiate Institute; and in 2004, the Country Hills Community Library was constructed as part of the new St. Mary’s High School.

At present, the Library Board is working on plans to renovate and expand the current main library location on Queen Street.

Library Leadership In 1908, Mabel Dunham was hired, the first professionally trained librarian to be placed in charge of a library in Ontario. She pioneered several services to children, introducing a Children’s Story Hour in 1912 and arranging for a separate children’s room to be added to the Library in 1916.

She was succeeded in 1944 by Dorothy Shoemaker, who administered the Library during a time of burgeoning growth in the City of Kitchener. In May, 1962, after seventeen years of planning and advocacy, the present Main Library was opened to the public. And, in 1971, the first Community Library was opened in Stanley Park. Mr. Lynn Matthews served as Chief Librarian from 1973 to 1993, during which time extensive development of all library services and resources took place. Additional library branches opened in Forest Heights (1976) and Pioneer Park (1982). In 1978, an extension was added to the Main Library building and shortly thereafter, the Library introduced its first automated computer catalogue system. KPL marked its 100th anniversary celebrations in 1984 with the opening of the Grace Schmidt Room of Local History.

Margaret Walshe served as Chief Executive Officer from 1993 until her retirement at the end of 2003. During Ms. Walshe’s tenure, the library moved from a totally text-based environment to an almost completely graphical one. Now the library can offer not only 24/7 service via our great new website, but also services like KidTech workstations, public Internet access, public access to Microsoft Office computer products, remote access to a wonderful roster of online databases, a Computer Centre and a Homework Centre, to name a few.

In August 2004, Sonia Lewis was appointed the new Chief Executive Officer of KPL. Previous to her move to Kitchener, Sonia was the Director of Service Development at the Burlington Public Library. During her time at Burlington Public Library, Sonia led a major expansion and renovation project for the Central Library, an experience which will be helpful as the library board is currently examining the feasibility of a new Main library in Kitchener. Sonia will also be exploring possible partnerships with other libraries in Waterloo Region.

[edit] Branches

Branch	Founded	Present building opened	Attached public facility
Main	1884	1962	Standalone
Grand River Stanley Park	1971	2002	Grand River Collegiate Institute
Forest Heights	1976	1976	Forest Heights Community Pool; Forest Heights Collegiate Institute
Pioneer Park	1982	1989	Doon-Pioneer Park Community Centre
Country Hills	2004	2004	St. Mary's High School