Bloomfield library celebrates 101 years of community

Story and photos by Sharon Harrison
“For over a century now, this small but mighty library has been a cornerstone of our community, and I know with everyone’s hard work, that is going to continue for a very long time,” said councillor Phil St-Jean, at the Bloomfield-Hallowell Public Library’s 101st birthday party celebration Friday afternoon.

On Aug. 23, 1923, the Bloomfield-Hallowell Union Library opened at its current location, and 101 years on, the newly-formed Friends of the Bloomfield-Hallowell Public Library honoured the special anniversary with library supporters and community members gathered to celebrate the auspicious occasion and also proudly show off the newly-painted blue front door (it was previously red).

“Since its inception, the Bloomfield-Hallowell Library has been more than a repository of books as it has grown into a vibrant hub for knowledge, community engagement and lifelong learning,” said Denise Boos, co-chair of the Friends of the Bloomfield-Hallowell Public Library. “The celebration is an opportunity to reflect on over a century of dedicated service and to look forward to many more years of enriching lives and fostering connections within Bloomfield.

Nancy Parks and Denise Boos at the craft table

“Our mandate is to advocate, promote and support the importance of our library in the community, and the idea of the birthday party came about when we discovered it had been 101 years that the library had resided at its location,” Boos said.

She explained how a group of interested people came together to form Friends of Bloomfield-Hallowell Public Library in April of this year. Several other County library branches have friends groups, where the idea is to put on events or activities that the library proper is unable to, due to limited resources for example, enabling further engagement and connection to the community.

The volunteer friends group is interested in helping to promote the services, programs and activities the library provides overall, but they also want to bring awareness, and encourage participation and engagement at the little Bloomfield branch for existing patrons, new patrons too, to help them better understand how volunteer efforts can make the branch a more vibrant and active part of the community.

Janet McConnell

Library friend Janet McConnell spoke to the history of the library and her family’s involvement, but also to the generosity of community, and how friends, supporters and community will ensure Bloomfield will continue to have a library branch for many years to come.

“What we are celebrating today is a 101 year community commitment to a cause –the library – thank you for celebrating with us.”

“What commitment the Women’s Institute had moving the library from place-to-place, raising funds, holding lilac teas, buying this building, placing it on Fraleigh land and finally setting up the library in this very space over 100 years ago,” said McConnell, who is a descendant of Emily Fraleigh, where she also spoke to the foresight of her ancestor.

“Upon her passing in 1940, she bequeathed the land this library sits on to the village of Bloomfield and stipulated in her last will and testament that this building and land must continue to be used as a library, or be returned to its survivors or their line.”

It seems that having moved around a little, a library building was moved from 1 Stanley Street to its current space at 300 Bloomfield Main St., (moved from a few streets away) in 1923, opening its doors on Aug. 23, where it is believed WI members became the librarians as they had been operating the library in the previous location purchased by the WI in the early 1920s.

County Library CEO Barbara Sweet spoke to how the branch has always been a friendly and welcoming place; touched on the longevity of the branch an its long history ensuring the branch remains viable and important to everyone that accesses the important service in Bloomfield. “It is a testament to the warm and wonderful service that it has provided to the village and beyond for its 101 years.”

She explained how on Jan. 1, 1998, one town, two villages, and seven townships amalgamated to form the County of Prince Edward.

“There was some trepidation at the time for the future of the library branches, but 26 years later, all six are still here and going strong,” said Sweet. “Six sites are admittedly costly to operate and that is one reason why it is so important to have the support and help of the community to maintain these assets.”

A silent auction ran for 10 days up to and including the anniversary event with donated contributions from local businesses. Items up for bid included a patio heater, kids cooking classes, various gift certificates and gift baskets, artwork and décor items – even pizza.

Funds raised will go toward a new children’s area helping to ensure the library can continue to inspire young minds. It is hoped the space can be made more comfortable and inviting with new games and activities, as well as new chairs. Funds raised through the branch’s ‘Booktique’ section and other fundraising efforts are to help this and other initiatives going forward.

The party continued through the afternoon with live musical entertainment, a variety of games and activities, including a giant map of Canada spread across the front lawn where folks could walk across Canada, from coast-to-coast in just a few minutes; face painting and bubbles, bringing lots of fun, smiles and community spirit, all enjoyed with lemonade, and, of course, a rather large 101st birthday cake.

As the cake was cut by a volunteer child attendee, acoustic guitarist Bobby Cameron strummed a few notes of ‘Happy Birthday’ on guitar as the gathered crowd sang along to a few bars of the tune.

Representing the mayor, councillor Phil St-Jean, a Bloomfield resident, spoke to his many decades of visiting the library branch as a regular patron, highlighting the mobile toy lending library, something he said was close to his heart.

Phil St.-Jean

“This is one of those things we all took advantage of and it was such a great thing, and a great way to bring children into the library; bring them in early and they will continue to come here and continue to learn and continue to broaden their experiences,” said St-Jean.

He also spoke to the library branch’s long 101-year history, after indulging in a little research wondereding what books may have lined the shelves back in 1923, and what folks were reading back in the day.

“I am sure all of us would remember authors like Agatha Christie, her book the Murder on the Links, was released in 1923, and people are still reading Agatha Christie all these years later, he said.

“Robert Frost released his compendium of poems New Hampshire with, “The woods are lovely, dark and deep and I have miles to go before I sleep”, we all remember those poems. For those of you who are country and western fans, Zane Grey, H.G. Wells was at his peak, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan and the Golden Lion, and one of the ones that really jumped out at me, that really surprised me, Felix Salten’s book, Bambi – a 100 years ago!” remarked St-Jean. “I’m sure some of those, especially the children’s books, must have been here in this library, the originals.”

Thanking all of the volunteers and all the patrons, and for having the celebration, he said, “this is what community is all about, so let’s continue to do that, let’s support this library, let’s keep it going strong”.

St-Jean concluded with a quote from Andrew Carnegie, industrialist who became a leading philanthropist with emphasis on building libraries: “A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people; it’s a never-ending spring in the desert”.

A history timeline was put together after further research by some of the library friends which can be found on the wall inside the library.

Also inside the library is a small wishing tree on which people were encouraged to hang a decoration with their handwritten thoughts and hopes of what they wish for the library, what they would like to see and what improvement could be made.

Sweet described how after 10 years of being a stay-at-home mother, she was hired by the Bloomfield-Hallowell Union Library Board.

“It was a dream job,” said Sweet, “the patrons so appreciated the branch, and the service, and everyone was welcoming. It was an interlude I look back on fondly, and I am still very grateful for, and I know that the staff who followed me felt the same about the branch.”

Mary Meader was the branch librarian (1993 to 2002) who succeeded Sweet’s tenure, and though unable to be there in person, she sent a message of greetings which Sweet read aloud:

“Congratulations on achieving 101 years of continuous library service for the community. I have many fond memories of serving our library patrons, most of it was the patrons, young and old, who became friends and inspired us to provide the best library service with the valuable support of our library board.”

The Bloomfield branch is one of six library branches in the County (and is believed to be the oldest). They all offer free access to a wide range of resources, from books and technology to educational programs and community events, supporting job seekers and serving as a meeting space for community engagement.

Find out more about the countless events, activities, books, services and resources available at all six Prince Edward County library branches by visiting peclibrary.org, or simply drop into one of the branches.