History of our Library
In 1973, it was decided to move the library from the C. E. Office, where access was somewhat limited and book browsing not all that easy, that the library should be located in a small room off of Lusk Hall. By 1975, under the leadership of Ethel Morrison, there was a reorganization of the Library space and an effort was made to have the members of the congregation make more use of the resources and books. In 1977, a long time member of St John’s, rejoined the congregation after a stay in St. Catherines, and took over as the librarian, Helen loved books; her apartment on Pine Avenue had books on every table and often on the chairs! She took over at a time when there many seminars and resources were available on how to organize and manage church libraries and Helen attended many of them. With her library budget, Helen made many buying trips to the United Church Book Room. She was deeply involved in the running of the Library for fifteen years. (attached is the reporting the Church Annual Report of 1992, by Betty Canavan, who worked with Helen for many years and took over the library in 1992.) I’m sure Betty will have many stories to tell about the library for she has been part of it for a long time, as librarian and Helen’s right hand worker, looking after things as Helen read the books! Jim Campbell
St. John's United Church |
In 1972, we had, as a great many churches did, an eclectic collection of books and Christian Education Resources on shelves in the Christian Education office. Florence Balderston, who was looking after Christian Education at the time, recruited Grace Hardy and Lillian McKay to organize and catalogue the material that was there.