By Barbara Rayner, The Courier
It’s been 60 years since a group of local citizens decided that St. George needed a library and it has been run by volunteers at various locations ever since.
Mary Anne Craig, who chairs the public library committee, said it was in 1965 that Mrs. Caldwell Stewart and Father John Francis Ryan spearheaded the group of local citizens who established the library in the town which was first located at the corner of Portage and Main Streets — in the former telegraph building.
From there, the library moved to the Clarke House, which is now NB Housing, and then downstairs at the municipal building.
The next move was to St. George Elementary School but, as a result of security concerns at schools, the library was returned to the municipal building in 2008 but this time upstairs in what was formally used as both a council chamber and for court.
Being located upstairs has its drawbacks when it comes to accessibility, said Craig, and they would like to be located in a building which provides easy access but, to date, have been unsuccessful in finding somewhere.
Attempts to join the regional library system have been unsuccessful and the library operates with a grant from the municipality of $1000 a year. Two new computers and a printer have recently been added which are well used.
“The convenience of being in a municipally owned building cannot be ignored,” she said. “We are included in the building insurance policy, maintenance, cleaning, utilities, internet and there are municipal staff present in the building.”
Volunteers take care of the processing of books when purchased and every book is assigned a proper library designation which is entered into their records, covered and an ID code placed on the spine, Craig said.
The library, which includes a children’s and young adults section, is open from Mondays to Thursdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. thanks to a group of volunteers. Unfortunately, Craig said, they are not able to offer other programs without a paid professional staff librarian present.
“I think St. George has received a valuable service from loyal volunteers for the last 60 years. We long ago decided we could not live in a community without a library,” she said.
Craig herself is one of the longest serving volunteers. She, together with Martha Bryan and Barb Robinson, have between them given more than 120 years of volunteer service to the library.
She said they can always use more volunteers and, if people cannot commit to a regular day each month, they can join as “spares” when someone is needed to fill in and they will be shown the ropes.
“We are buying new material and people are very kind and give us gently used books as well,” she said.
