New Sydenham branch library opens

Wilma Kenny | Jul 14, 2011

Photo: Mayor Davison and Gladys Lewis, first person to enter the new Sydenham branch library.

Although the official opening isn't until September, a large group was on hand Monday morning eager to get their first peek inside the new library building in Sydenham, as soon as the doors opened. Mrs. Gladys Lewis was guest of honour, and was first through the door. A long-time resident of Sydenham, Mrs. Lewis, who is nearing her 106th birthday, spoke of her lifelong connection with the library. She was part of a group of dedicated volunteers who kept it functioning for many decades. She first remembered a collection of books in a room of a small yellow house near the bank, which was destroyed by fire in 1935. Shortly after the war the Red Cross donated money to buy a house at the corner of Cross and Mill, which became the Sydenham Memorial Library. The books must have been saved from the fire, for Mrs. Lewis remembered helping clean and repair the tattered collection, and scrub the shelves: "We had very little money to buy new books in those days." Later, when the county system began, the library was relocated to the stone tearoom, then to a space built for it adjoining the township hall. "I remember Joan Clarke was librarian there, and we had a lot more books, but after that, I moved to Kingston." Gladys Lewis continues to get 15 books a month from KFPL, delivered by volunteers to her present home in Rideaucrest.

Former library board member Carol Forde was first to sign out a book using the new self-serve checkout, a feature intended to give the staff more time for other duties. Soon books, CDs and DVDs were flying off the shelves; the quiet study room was occupied; computers hummed; and everyone stopped by the community room for punch and cookies.