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"Remember When"
First Nation Public Library Week takes place this year from October 1 to 4, 2024. This year’s theme, "Remember When", evokes the start of a captivating story and aims to promote visiting, sharing and reminiscing.
In today's world, communities often find themselves disconnected, with visits becoming scheduled and purpose-driven. "Remember When" extends a welcoming invitation to prioritize community building through genuine face-to-face interactions and informal gatherings.
Join us in celebrating the joy of reminiscing and strengthening bonds within our communities during First Nation Public Library Week 2024!
Guelph Public Library acknowledges and honours the creations of all Indigenous nations equally. In Indigenous ways of living and learning, each story has and gifts its own voice. The shared voices of the storyteller, creator, author and illustrator are unique gifts too. Likewise, if you receive these ‘story gifts’, your voice has its own unique response.
Subscribe to our First Nations Métis Inuit NextReads newsletter to receive reading recommendations in your email inbox from the First Nation Communities Read Longlist. Each month’s newsletter is the result of a mutual relationship and collaboration between members of the Indigenous community in Guelph and the Guelph Public Library.
Winter Clothing Drive
The Guelph Public Library is pleased to partner with the Rotary Club of Guelph Trillium and The Clothing Closet to collect new and gently used winter coats and clothing for new immigrants and those in need in our community.
Donations will be accepted at the Main Library from October 15 to 31, 2024.
Connect
Friends of the Guelph Public Library presents
Open Minds: Fall Speaker Series
The Friends of the Guelph Public Library are thrilled to welcome guest speakers Kevin Matsui and Crime Stoppers Guelph Wellington as part of this year’s Fall Open Minds Speaker Series. Bring your own curiosity and questions to these in person events at the Main Library! Learn more about each event and register by clicking on the event title names below.
Wednesday, October 16 at 7 p.m.
Artificial Intelligence: Should we be Scared?
with Kevin Matsui, Managing Director of Care-AI at the University of Guelph
Wednesday, October 30 at 7 p.m.
Scams and Frauds
with Crime Stoppers Guelph Wellington
Celebrate Ontario Public Library Week
Libraries for Life! Join a book club, receive resume and tutoring help, research your family history, explore newcomer resources, request one-on-one tech support, download eBooks, movies and music or enjoy reading a newspaper! We continue to support you and your family with essential services like WiFi, computer access, online resources, free events and Makerspace technology. Check us out. The library is the place to be!
Request a Book Bundle
Visit our Book Bundles webpage and fill out a "Book Bundles" request form telling us as much as possible about you or your child’s reading interests. We will then select books on the theme you are requesting and place them on hold for you to pick up at any Guelph Public Library location of your choice.
Have a question about Book Bundles?
Phone 519-824-6220 or email us at askus@guelphpl.ca.
Thrive
Activate our Spaces: New Central Library Campaign
The Guelph Public Library is excited to announce the public launch of its community fundraising campaign in support of the new Central Library, a net-zero carbon-ready building that will enhance library services and programs for all Guelphites.
Anchoring the Baker District redevelopment, Guelph’s new Central Library will be close to three times the size of the existing Main Library. It will provide enhanced accessibility, advanced technology, spaces for community use, programming and partnerships, and will be fully equipped to serve as the hub supporting our five Library branches across the city.
In 2020, as a valuable partner in the new Central Library, the City of Guelph committed $62 million to fund the construction, basic furnishings, and equipment for the new facility. A $13.5 million grant from the Government of Canada’s Green and Inclusive Community Buildings Program, announced in March 2024, is being applied to the project cost.
With 1.99 million visits, over 2.2 million items checked out, 1,294 events, and more than 1.5 million technology uses each year, the Guelph Public Library system is the most used public resource in the City of Guelph. To ensure the new Library is fully equipped to meet the needs of our growing and diverse community, a fundraising campaign was initiated last September to raise funds and secure the additional funding required for the programs, special equipment, cutting-edge technologies, and other enabling resources necessary to enliven, animate, and activate the new Central Library spaces and inform, empower, and engage all who enter our doors.
Over the past 12 months a small volunteer committee has invited local families, businesses, and organizations to make founding campaign gifts. Thanks to these early leadership donors, $2.7 of the $4 million goal has been raised to date.
Last September, the Friends of the Guelph Public Library made an outstanding gift of $1 million – proceeds raised through their annual book sales - to launch this fundraising effort. The Library is now inviting all community members to contribute to this exciting new project and help make the vision of expanded and enhanced library services a reality.
Donations to the Library’s community campaign are directed to five specific areas:
- Community spaces and meeting rooms to host gatherings, programs, and community partnerships
- A Makerspace equipped with tools and technologies for innovation and creativity
- Dedicated Children and Teen areas to welcome and support young people
- A temperature-controlled Archives to protect, share, and celebrate Guelph’s rich history and heritage now and into the future
- An Endowment to fund future programming to meet emerging needs and opportunities
Become a visionary partner today!
