| Library service began at Weston on
February 8, 1858 when the Weston Mechanics’ Institute was
incorporated, receiving a grant of $140 from the provincial government.
Members paid an annual fee to use its library, located on Main Street
(Weston Road) in the home of the librarian, James Cruickshank, a
local wagon maker, undertaker and justice of the peace.
In 1885, the Weston Mechanics' Institute was revitalized (the book
collection had been stored in the John Hathaway Banks’s drug
store, Main Street), reorganized and relocated to two rooms in the
rear of the new Weston Town Hall, completed that year at the northwest
corner of Main Street and Little Avenue.
This handsome building, situated in the centre of
the village, was erected in 1883. It was two stories in height,
and on the ground floor were the municipal offices, the council
chamber and the Mechanics’ Institute, predecessor of the Public
Library. The second floor was occupied entirely by the spacious
Dufferin Hall…the scene of many concerts and other entertainments.
Many of the outstanding political figures of the last century were
heard in this hall. 1
Local citizens donated books and raised funds for the library,
which was open two evenings a week. In 1888, evening classes in
bookkeeping and other subjects were taught at the Institute. In
1909, a children’s department was established and the collection
of 2,809 adult and 465 juvenile books was catalogued and classified
by the official cataloguer with the Ontario Inspector of Public
Libraries.
A board of management operated the Weston Mechanics’ Institute.
It held annual elections to appoint a chairman, a secretary, a treasurer
and a librarian. In May 1909, library officials approached the Village
of Weston Council about applying for a Carnegie grant to build a
library. The original Weston Town Hall was demolished in 1957.
1F.
D. Cruickshank and J. Nason. History of Weston. Originally
printed by The Times and Guide, Weston, Ontario, 1937. Toronto:
Weston Historical Society, 1983, 25-6.
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