GRAND VALLEY PUBLIC LIBRARY
HISTORY
1908-1988
The original Carnegie Library was constructed in 1913 with a $7,500 grant from the Andrew Carnegie Corporation of New York. Carnegie, a wealthy steel magnate turned philanthropist, awarded grants for the construction of 111 libraries in Ontario.
While library grants were made to many communities, Grand Valley did not get its grant without a struggle. Negotiations for a grant from the corporation began in 1902, but it would be 11 years before a building was constructed. The correspondence between James Bertram, private secretary to Andrew Carnegie, and James Reith, in 1908 the Reeve of Grand Valley; was often filled with disagreements between the two about how the building should actually be constructed. How big the library should be and whether the Carnegie Corporation would allow Grand Valley to include a lecture room were some of the issues. Despite the many obstacles, construction of the building was finally completed and the official opening was on May 1, 1913. Prior to the Second World War, the lecture space was taken over by the community to house municipal offices, which again caused some objections from the Carnegie Corporation.
Our Full History
On May 31, 1985 at 4:26 p.m. the Grand Valley Carnegie Library was completely destroyed by a tornado. The Library Board was able to bring library service back to the community within three weeks thanks to the loan of a bookmobile by the Kitchener Public Library and the many donations of books from various libraries and individuals.
Over the next three years the Library Board and Municipality worked to rebuild the Library/Municipal facility in Grand Valley. Architect Paul Dawson, from Flesherton, was hired to design and oversee the building. Monteith Enterprises was awarded the contract to build the new Library/Municipal facility.
The grand opening of the new Library/Municipal offices took place on June 4, 1988 with much fanfare. The new library is a modern, bright facility. Over the years the library has improved services to offer videos, DVD's, books on tape, music CD's and public Internet Access.
