The Huron County Library is celebrating Pride Month by sharing valuable resources, participating in community events, and hosting activities in our branches.

Here is a round-up of what’s happening throughout June:

Huron County Pride Outreach: The Huron County Library is popping up at this year’s Huron County Pride Festival! Find us on the Square in downtown Goderich on Saturday, June 7, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and take in the amazing activities happening throughout the day!

LGBTQ2S+ Resources for young people and their families: Library staff have put together a valuable resource guide to support young people and their families. The guide features links to online resources, books from our collection, local supports, and more.

Book Raffle: The Library is raffling off 10 LGBTQ2S+ books for a variety of ages (picture books, junior fiction, young adult, adult fiction, and adult non-fiction). Find ballots throughout the month of June at all 12 branches or visit us at the Huron Pride Festival.

Film Screening: The Librarians: To celebrate Pride Month, join us Thursday, June 11, 7 p.m., for a FREE screening of this award-winning documentary that highlights librarians fighting to protect intellectual freedom. Where: Huron County Museum, 110 North St., Goderich

Rainbow Storytime with author Chris Paul Rainbows: Join award-winning author Chris Paul Rainbows at the Goderich Branch on Saturday, June 20, 11 a.m., for an inclusive Storytime celebrating identity, diversity, and big feelings.

Author Event: EK Johnston: Join local New York Times bestselling author EK Johnston at the Clinton Branch on Saturday, June 20, 2 p.m., for a discussion of her books that range from hopeful sci-fi to quiet epics, and beyond!

Pride Author Talk: Curtis Campbell: Join Young Adult author Curtis Campell at the Exeter Branch on Wednesday, June 24, 3:30 p.m. for a virtual discussion about his book Lying, Stealing, and Other Ways to Save the Planet.

Pride Poetry Talk with Nathanya Field: Join poet Nathanya Field at the Goderich Branch, Saturday, June 27, 2:30 p.m., as she discusses her collection of poetic monologues based on anonymous queer confessions.

Now it’s time to move on to the South Team’s third and final branch, Hensall. The first library in Hensall was a Mechanics’ Institute established in 1890 under the care of J.C. Stoneman’s jewellery store on the south side of King street. Jeweller’s would make good librarians, right?

Things certainly were different back then. One difference was that only the librarian had access to the shelves. Another was that anyone accepting the position of librarian was also required to supply the rooms with lighting and heat. I’m probably way off, but I’m picturing some sort of bicycle setup that when pedalled, powered up lights and turned the heat on.

In 1897 or 1898, the Hensall Public Library organization was born and took over the assets of the Mechanics’ Institute. Mr. Stoneman continued on as Hensall’s librarian and landlord.

Just a few years later, on August 11th 1900, a disastrous fire destroyed several stores on the south side of King street, including Stoneman’s jewellery store. The books were lost along with all of the early town records. Apparently Mr. Stoneman, who was also the village clerk at the time, had all the town records stored at his store for safe keeping. Fortunately, thanks to the insurance money that was paid out, the buildings were rebuilt and the library was operational the very next year on the same premises with the same librarian.

In 1907, the library stopped charging subscription fees to all taxpayers. Hensall was an innovator! Most other libraries were still taking subscription fees and would continue to charge for many years after, some all the way until 1967 when libraries were reorganized into a county system.

In 1909, the library was moved across the street to another local jeweller’s store, that of Fred C. McDonell, who succeeded Mr. Stoneman as librarian. Apparently the jewellers of Hensall had an eye for library’s back in the day.

Unfortunately, just four years later, in August 1913, tragedy struck once more when this location, along with almost the entire business block on the north side of King street, was destroyed by another fire. The library was bookless, homeless, and in a critical financial situation as they had to borrow $50.00 from a member to pay Mr. McDonell up to date. Before long, the County, provincial government, and village grants, plus insurance benefits, gave the library a working capital of $1,210.72,

Two fires just 13 years apart. The Hensall library sure didn’t have it easy in those early days.

After this second fire, the library temporarily rented quarters in D.W. Foss’s baker’s shop where his daughter Florence served as librarian. As luck would have it, a brand new Town Hall was completed in 1914 with provisions for a library and Reading Room, and by October 1915, the entire library was moved in. At the same time, in 1915, the library decided to adopt the Dewey Decimal system. What a great day that must have been!

Since that fire in 1913, the Hensall Library has had much better luck, as it still remains in the Town Hall to this day. It has had one move within the building since 1913. In 1975, the lower tier of the Town Hall was completely renovated, and as a result of these renovations, the library was relocated to the east side of the building. This new spot enlarged the branch to a size of 15×44 feet. 

However, as the decades passed, this space also proved to be too small. In March of 2001, the Friends of the Hensall Library were granted permission by Hensall Council to proceed with their plans to renovate and expand the branch into the space that had previously been used as council chambers. Thanks to more than 750 hours of volunteer labour from the Friends of the Hensall Library, the Hensall & District Kinsmen, and others, the project was quickly completed and below budget. Later that same year, the library reopened with more than double the space it had had before. What a great example of what can be done when a community gets behind a project and individuals are willing to donate their time and effort to see it through.

Back in the late 19^th and early 20^th century, libraries faced the much more common occurrence of devastating fires, and sometimes, things went wrong. Things certainly went wrong for Hensall library with those two fires. But ever since those difficult, early times, the library has remained a stalwart pillar in the community.

 Through the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program, community organizations host free tax clinics where volunteers file tax returns for people with a modest income and a simple tax situation. CVITP volunteers use 9 of our 12 branches as drop-off points for tax returns. To see if you are eligible for this service, check under “eligibility criteria” on this page: About free tax clinics – Canada.ca.

All clinics run at the following branches are by appointment only. Call or email your local clinic volunteer to schedule an appointment:

• Alice Munro Branch, Wingham: Friday, 10 a.m.– 4 p.m. Year-Round
  Fred Vander Sterre, phone: 519-887-9506 or email: fvandersterre@gmail.com
• Bayfield Branch: By Appointment. Year-Round
  Mary Norris, phone: 647-295-8292 or email: mpnorris58@gmail.com
• Blyth Branch: Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, 9 a.m. – 10 a.m. Year-Round
  Fred Vander Sterre, phone: 519-887-9506 or email:  fvandersterre@gmail.com
• Brussels Branch: Saturday 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. Year-Round
  Fred Vander Sterre, phone: 519-887-9506 or email:  fvandersterre@gmail.com
• Clinton Branch: Tuesday, Thursday 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Year-Round
  Mary Lou McGregor, phone: 519-441-2771 or email: bmmcgregor@tcc.on.ca
• Exeter Branch: By Appointment. Year-Round
  Karen Dickins, phone: 519-870-9131 or email: kdickins00@hotmail.com
• Hensall Branch: Tuesday 3 – 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Year-Round
  Lynn Leppington, phone: 519-262-2938 or email: lynnleppington@gmail.com
• Seaforth Branch: Monday, Wednesday, 10 a.m.– 12 p.m. Year-Round                                                           Brenda Adams, phone: 519-525-9485 or email: bd.adams@live.com
• Zurich Branch: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Year-Round
  Sally Desjardine, phone: 519-236-4509 or email: sally.desjardine@hotmail.com

Thank you to the Social Research and Planning Council of United Way Perth-Huron for Tax Clinic volunteer coordination.

Calling all crafters! Love crafting and love seeing others enjoy what you make? Join the Spring Craft Swap where you will be partnered with another crafter in Huron County!

Make your partner a custom craft, while they do the same for you! All crafting mediums welcome – knitting, crocheting, sewing, candle making, pottery, scrapbooking, needlefelting, etc. The sky is the limit!

Guidelines: We ask that you craft TWO small items or ONE medium sized item.

• Medium = A scarf, a wallet, a set of notecards (4), a reusable shopping bag
• Small = A piece of jewelry, a bookmark, a washcloth, a facemask, a small candle

Please note that a library staff person will be in touch with you between March 24-28 to assign your partner. You will have from March 29-April 29 to craft. Please drop your completed craft off to your local Huron County Library branch between April 30-May 6 (or earlier). You will receive the craft from your partner soon after. A library staff person will send email reminders along the way. Please ensure that crafts do not exceed the size of a standard tote box (28” x 17” x 15″).

*Should a partner not complete a craft, an alternate partner will be arranged. Should multiple partners not complete a craft, individuals may be paired with one another. Pre-completed crafts will be used in reassignments (no need to make an entirely new craft!).

Important Dates:

• Registration: March 2-23
• Partner Assigned: March 24-28
• Crafting: March 29-April 29
• Craft Due: April30-May 6

Registration: Spring Craft Swap registration

Need some inspiration? Explore our online catalogue for a wide variety of crafty books or explore Creativebug, an online resource that offers online craft workshops for free with a Huron County Library card!

Today, the Huron County Library’s Exeter Branch is located on the Main Street of Exeter, right downtown alongside the Town Hall. But it wasn’t always so.

Way back in 1878, a location called Taman’s Store, which was located on a different lot on Main Street, housed Exeter’s earliest library. However, it was not called the Exeter Library – it was called the Exeter Mechanics’ Institute.

That’s right. A Mechanics’ Institute.

First established in England during the 1820s, Mechanics’ Institutes began as voluntary associations of working men seeking self-improvement through education. The community-based institutes offered evening lectures, lending libraries and periodical reading rooms.

So, in 1878, the Exeter Mechanics Institute operated the town’s first library. Ten years later, in 1888, the library was moved to the two lower rooms of Exeter’s Town Hall.

Around 1912, there were talks about moving the library once again. You see, there was this multi-millionaire from Scotland named Andrew Carnegie who, ever since 1901, had been generously offering to grant money to many different communities in order to build libraries. All a community had to do was submit a proposal for approval, find an appropriate piece of land, and guarantee that 10 per cent of the grant would be spent annually on the library’s maintenance. In the end, Canada was awarded 125 grants for Carnegie libraries, and the very first one to open was in 1903 in Chatham, ON. Most were built in Ontario, but there were four built in Manitoba, three in Alberta and British Columbia, two in Saskatchewan, one in New Brunswick, and one in the Yukon Territory. There were 2,509 Carnegie libraries built worldwide, with most being built in the U.S. and Great Britain. As far as I know, no other multi-millionaire has ever given away so much money in order to build libraries.

That interesting tangent aside, Exeter was looking into building a Carnegie library, and in 1912, this was commonplace in Huron County. By then, two other communities in the County already had their Carnegie libraries built, and another was, like Exeter, looking into building one as well. We’ll learn more about these other Huron County Carnegie libraries in future posts.

At the end of 1913, the Exeter Library Board offered a certain Mrs. Bawden $1,100 for her property on Main Street and building commenced shortly thereafter. Altogether, Carnegie granted the library $8,800, and in 1915, the building was completed.

Back in those early years, the basement fulfilled a number of functions. Sometimes it was used as a classroom for the Exeter Public School. During the Second World War, it was used by the Red Cross. It was also used as a reading room, and for “legitimate” business meetings. 

In 1941, the Huron County Library Association was formed and Exeter was one of the libraries in the County that joined right out of the gate. They remained a member until 1952 when they dropped out of the association, only to rejoin in 1958.

Interesting facts

Due to the constraints during World War II, in October 1943, it was decided that the library should be closed on Friday afternoons in order to conserve fuel. Now there’s something we don’t even consider nowadays.

Another interesting thing is that in 1956, a new component was added to the library when it became the storehouse that stored films and a projector for the National Film Board of Canada. Who would have guessed that?

To be sure, the Exeter Library has been used for some unconventional and interesting purposes over the years. 

A new building

In 1993, there were talks about moving the library as the space was proving too small for the community’s needs. One possible idea that was being explored was moving the library to the South Huron District High School. At a public meeting, 87 community members crowded into the space and voiced their opposition to this idea. Here’s a quote from one of the men present.

“Most of us think that’s the most hairbrained scheme we’ve heard. Don’t move it to the high school, it’s asinine.” A nearly unanimous vote was taken opposing the proposed move, and the idea never gained legs.

But the writing was on the wall. By 1999, the decision was made to tear down the old Carnegie library to make way for a new building. Some of the deficiencies mentioned in regards to the Carnegie library were that it was too crowded, that it had no fully accessible entrance, and that it needed major renovations to bring it up to code.

At the beginning of 2000, Exeter Town Council announced the hiring of an architect to design the new library building. Sadly, the Carnegie library that had stood since 1915 was demolished in September 2000, and the library was moved to its temporary quarters in the former Canadian Tire building at the south end of Exeter. The new library was built at a cost of just over 1.4 million dollars and opened on Dec. 7, 2002.

Although the original Carnegie building was replaced, the current building does sit on the same lot. As you’ll see in future posts, keeping the library at the same location for over a 100 years isn’t always easy. Sometimes, things go wrong.

Unpredictable winter weather is a fact of life in Huron County. When conditions worsen and the safety of our visitors and staff becomes a concern, Huron County Library may need to close or adjust hours at any of our 12 locations.

When a branch needs to close due to weather, we will do our best to notify the public as quickly as possible.

Call ahead

During stormy or rapidly changing weather, please contact your local branch before heading out.

For the latest updates, you can also:

• Visit our website. Closure notices will appear on the homepage and in our online catalogue.

• Check our social media. We will share updates on the Huron County Library’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

We understand that weather-related closures can be inconvenient but please know that these decisions are made for the safety of our community and staff. 

Weather impacts on van deliveries

Road closures and unsafe road conditions have an impact on van deliveries between branches. This may delay delivery of your library holds to your local branch. You will receive notifications when your books are ready to be picked up.

Library from home

Even if branches remain open and you don’t feel comfortable venturing out, you can safely enjoy our online resources from home! Access audiobooks, movies, online learning, and so much more!

Winter driving information

Before heading out anywhere this winter, be sure to check the following sites for safety tips, winter driving information, and road conditions:

• County of Huron: https://www.huroncounty.ca/public-works/winter-road-conditions/
• Municipal road information: https://www.municipal511.ca/
• Provincial road information: https://511on.ca/