Helen Stewart's leadership in the Fraser Valley was a healthy young library service. Lidster of New Westminster, the chairman of the Public Library Commission, to Reeve Noel Booth of the Township of Langley, first chairman of the Fraser Valley Union Library. 13 dated June 22nd 1934 proclaimed the lands within the 20 municipalities and rural school districts to be the Fraser Valley Union Library District.įounding members were the cities of Chilliwack and Port Coquitlam the Township of Chilliwack the Districts of Kent, Langley, Maple Ridge, Matsqui, Mission, Pitt Meadows, Sumas and Surrey and the rural school districts of Abbotsford, Barnston Island, Concord, Deroche, Dewdney, Hatzic, Hope, McConnell Creek and Popkum.Īt the ceremony held in Chilliwack on September 28th 1934, the assets of the Carnegie Demonstration were officially turned over by Mr. In December 1933, electors in 20 of the 24 municipalities and rural school districts voted to support a co–operative library service when the Demonstration was finished.Īfter an agreement was signed by local representatives to this effect, Order–in–Council No. In October 1934 the headquarters was moved to Abbotsford. Project offices were at 31 Elliot Street in New Westminster with Chilliwack being the main branch and distribution centre. She organized it, with the assistance of the Commission and various local committees, and guided it through the Demonstration years. She was "the first trained librarian west of Toronto" and promoted the library vigorously throughout the valley. Helen Gordon Stewart, a former member of the Public Library Commission and former Victoria Public Library head, as director. Known as the Fraser Valley Public Library Demonstration, the project started on March 1st, 1930 with Dr. In 1929 the Commission selected the Fraser Valley for the experiment. The Library Commission sought and received a grant of $100,000 from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to test the idea over a five–year term.
This produced a report recommending a new idea – the formation of a library district as a unit for rural library service. Black, who, as chairman of the Public Library Commission in 1927, organized a study of library needs in British Columbia.
The early history of Surrey's Public Libraries goes back to Dr. In 1930 most of the rural municipalities in the lower mainland, like Surrey, had no library service.
The History of Surrey's Public Libraries The Beginnings – The Fraser Valley Regional Library (FVRL)
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