Calgary Public Library

Last updated
Calgary Public Library
Calgary Public Library logo.svg
Location Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Established1912 (1912)
Branches22
Collection
Size2,332,581 (2012)
Access and use
Circulation17,121,718
Other information
DirectorSarah Meilleur
Website calgarylibrary.ca

The Calgary Public Library (CPL) is a distributed library system featuring 22 branch locations including the Central Library. [1] As of 2012, it is the second most used system in Canada (after the Toronto Public Library) [2] and the sixth most used library system in North America. [3] This is despite the fact that the Calgary Public Library has one of the lowest per capita funding in the country, receiving as little as half the money of other Canadian public libraries. [4] [5] [6]

Contents

History

The Calgary Public Library Board of Trustees was established on May 18, 1908. R. B. Bennett, who would later serve as Prime Minister of Canada, was among the five people appointed to the board. [7] The first public library opened on January 2, 1912, thanks in part to the generosity of Scottish / American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. [8] [9]

Memorial Park branch, 2008. The First World War memorial was erected in 1924 by the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire. Centralmemorialparklibrary calgary.png
Memorial Park branch, 2008. The First World War memorial was erected in 1924 by the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire.

Carnegie funded $80,000 of the $100,000 cost of Calgary's Central Library, (now renamed the Memorial Park Branch), pressuring City Hall to fund the rest. [10]

The building was the first purpose-built public library in Alberta. It was designed by Boston architects McLean & Wright, and built out of local Paskapoo Sandstone (a soft stone that today presents a substantial preservation challenge). This library branch is a copy of a library in Attleboro, Massachusetts.

In 1929 the formal Victorian-style park surrounding the Central Library was dedicated to the honour of those who had died in the Great War. During construction of the original building, the Calgary Library Board sought out a librarian to oversee the opening of its new library. In January 1911, Alexander Calhoun, a thirty-one-year-old graduate of Queen's University, was appointed Calgary's Librarian. Calhoun served as the head of the Calgary Public Library until his retirement in 1945. [11] [12]

When a new downtown central library was constructed in the early 1960s, the original branch was renamed the Memorial Park branch, and still operates today. An addition to the 1960s Central Library was built in 1974, doubling the size of the building. [13]

21st century

In 2013, CNOOC subsidiary Nexen donated 1.5M dollars to the Calgary Public Library. The company has secured the naming rights for high tech learning commons in the new Calgary Central Library. CNOOC CEO Li Fanrong reiterated the gesture was motivated by the company's corporate responsibilities to Calgary. [14] There have been concerns of censorship as CNOOC is a Chinese state run company, however McIntyre Royston library foundation head assures that the library's collection won't be censored.

Logo used prior to rebranding in January 2015 Calgary Public Library logo.png
Logo used prior to rebranding in January 2015

The location of the new library is in the Downtown East Village (just across 3rd St. S.E. from the new City Hall). [15] On February 25, 2013, City Hall was approved the master plan to have the new library be built at the fore-mentioned location at Downtown East Village with the overall cost of C$245 million. The 286,000-square foot complex was completed on November 1, 2018. [16] [17] [18]

In 2019, the new library was recognized as one of "The Worlds 100 Greatest Places of 2019" by Time magazine. [19]

In 2019, Calgary opened Seton Library at the World's Largest YMCA (Brookfield Residential YMCA at Seton).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the library introduced expanded online services for patrons and provided health resources developed by 19 to Zero, a health communications initiative led by Alberta students. [20]

In 2024, Calgary opened its first all-digital Library space in the NE Community of Skyview Ranch.

Branches

Southwest Community Libraries

Southeast Community Libraries

Northwest Community Libraries

Northeast Community Libraries

Former branches

Renamed branches

Services

Statistics

Calgary Public Library Facts (2012): [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deerfoot Trail</span> Freeway in Calgary

Deerfoot Trail is a 46.4-kilometre (28.8 mi) freeway segment of Highway 2 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It stretches the entire length of the city from south to north and links suburbs to downtown via Memorial Drive and 17 Avenue SE. The freeway begins south of Calgary where it splits from Macleod Trail, crosses the Bow River into city limits, and reaches the Stoney Trail ring road. Crisscrossing twice more with the river, it intersects Glenmore Trail and Memorial Drive; the former is a major east–west expressway while the latter is a freeway spur into downtown. In north Calgary, it crosses Highway 1 and passes Calgary International Airport before ending at a second interchange with Stoney Trail. Highway 2 becomes the Queen Elizabeth II Highway as it continues north into Rocky View County towards Red Deer and Edmonton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City Hall/Bow Valley College station</span> Light rail station in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoney Trail</span> Freeway in Calgary, Alberta

Highway 201, better known by its official names of Stoney Trail and Tsuut'ina Trail, is a 101-kilometre (63 mi) freeway that encircles Calgary, Alberta. It serves as a bypass for the congested routes of 16 Avenue N and Deerfoot Trail through Calgary. At its busiest point near Beddington Trail in north Calgary, the six-lane freeway carried nearly 70,000 vehicles per day in 2023, and forms part of the CANAMEX Corridor which connects Calgary to Edmonton and Interstate 15 in the United States via Highways 2, 3, and 4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alberta Highway 22X</span> Highway in Alberta

Highway 22X is a highway in and around Calgary in the Canadian province of Alberta, extending 54 kilometres (34 mi) to the east from Highway 22. It is concurrent with Stoney Trail between 53 Street SW and 88 Street SE in Calgary, becoming a freeway and forming the southernmost portion of a ring road around Calgary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alberta Highway 1A</span> Designation for two disconnected sections of provincial highway in Alberta, Canada

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memorial Drive (Calgary)</span> Road in Calgary

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centre Street (Calgary)</span> Major street in Calgary, Alberta

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaganappi Trail</span> Major super-4 expressway in the northwest quadrant of Calgary, Alberta

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bow Trail</span> Expressway in the southwest quadrant of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

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References

  1. Zickefoose, Sherri (July 2, 2012). "Calgary library system defies Alberta trend of slowing patronage". Calgary Herald . Archived from the original on July 6, 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
  2. 1 2 "Calgary Public Library Report to the Community 2012 (page 33)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2013-11-02.
  3. "Calgary's library system is 6th-busiest in North America". CBC. January 29, 2012. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  4. "2012 Calgary Public Library Audited Financial Statements" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2013-11-02.
  5. "Invest in the Next 100". Archived from the original on 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2013-11-02.
  6. "Cash Cow: User Fees in Alberta Public Libraries" . Retrieved 2013-11-02.
  7. Gorosh,E. Calgary's "Temple of Knowledge": A History of the Public Library. 1975 Century Calgary Publications. p.5.
  8. "Carnegie Library, Calgary, Alberta". Community Heritage and Family History Digital Library. Calgary: Calgary Public Library. 2002-06-04. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
  9. Zickefoose, Sherri (June 1, 2012). "How a great city acquired a great library (Unlikely champions were ardent supporters of free books)". Calgary Herald . Archived from the original on June 4, 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
  10. Gorosh, E. Calgary's 'Temple of Knowledge'. Calgary, Alberta: Century Calgary Publications, 1975. p. 6 http://www.ourfutureourpast.ca/loc_hist/page.aspx?id=498191 Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Nicholson, Barbara; Lohnes, Donna (1987). "Alexander Calhoun". In Foran, Max; Jameson, Sheilagh S. (eds.). Citymakers: Calgarians after the frontier. Historical Society of Alberta; Chinook Country Chapter. pp. 149–172. ISBN   0-88925-725-6.
  12. Ward, Rachel (30 March 2018). "How Calgary's 'revolutionary' first librarian shaped the city". CBC. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  13. Gorosh, E. Calgary's 'Temple of Knowledge'. Calgary, Alberta: Century Calgary Publications, 1975. p.106 http://www.ourfutureourpast.ca/loc_hist/page.aspx?id=498191 Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
  14. Markusoff, Jason (September 13, 2014). "Chinese state-owned CNOOC makes largest-ever donation to Calgary Public Library". Calgary Herald. Archived from the original on September 15, 2013.
  15. "New central library - FAQ" . Retrieved 2013-11-02.
  16. "New Central Library Plan Takes Shape: The Master Plan". Calgary Herald . February 15, 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  17. "New Central Library on its way to being realized". The City of Calgary Newsroom. February 25, 2013. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  18. "New central library plan approved by council ($245-million project to be built in East Village next to city hall by 2018)". CBRT-DT (CBC News Calgary). February 26, 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  19. "Calgary's Central Library earns some major recognition from Time". Calgary. 2019-08-22. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  20. "COVID-19". Calgary Public Library. Archived from the original on 2022-10-21. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  21. Brennan, Brian (2012) The Calgary Public Library: Inspiring Life Stories Since 1912. Calgary: Calgary Public Library p. 63
  22. "Report to the Community 2013" (PDF). Calgary Public Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 2, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2022.