This artifact comes to the Museum by way of Mike Selby, Deputy Director of of Cranbrook Public Library and author of the ACRL award-winning book Freedom Libraries. The newspaper article reads:
Title: “No public library.”
Subtitle: “Widely traveled visitor comments upon Cranbrook’s lack in this particular.”
Lede: “In all my travels over British Columbia, and in fact over a large portion of Canada, Cranbrook is the only city of importance which I have visited in which there is no public library…”
Selby writes that “the Cranbrook Public Library in British Columbia is having its centenary next year; I have been going over archives for a commemorative book. This is from the Cranbrook Herald Newspaper, August 4th, 1921. The library here opened 4 years later.” It appears that perhaps the visitor’s observation may have helped spur the founding of a library.
There is an intriguing story here, we’ll look forward to the publication of Selby’s book on the book!
