Anne Nyland, who died last month at the age of 99 came to Cornwall as Chief Librarian in 1964. She was a highly effective librarian during her twenty years here, and leaves quite a legacy for literacy and public service in this area.
At that time Cornwall Public Library – the main source of reading material in English and in French – was housed in the Cline House on Second Street East. (If you had the money, there were two small places to buy books in town: Kyte’s and Weber’s, both on Pitt Street.)
Anne enlarged the library building with the Simon Fraser wing – opened by Prime Minister Lester Pearson in 1967 – and set up branch libraries in the east, at St Joseph’s Park, and the west of the city, in Broadview Parks.
Her arrival here was greeted by a pile of letters from Counties’ residents, asking the City of Cornwall for library services. Reading material in the area between Cornwall and Ottawa was strictly limited to a handful of small independent libraries were scattered throughout the countryside, in places like South Mountain, Iroquois, Newington, Ingleside, Lancaster and Martintown.
Anne, and her husband, Herman, put a bookmobile out on a pilot project to crisscross the Counties, stopping at schools and on country roadsides. Stocked with reading material from the Cornwall library, the bookmobile and collections of books in villages like Finch, Avonmore and Moose Creek were warmly received by residents, young and old. Local governments, careful of their tax dollars, were not always open to idea of contributing to libraries, which were seen to some extent as being ‘more for the ladies’.
But Anne persisted, and with Cornwall Public Library sharing its resources and expertise, she ultimately opened branch after branch in the Counties, in former stores and schoolhouses, beneath arenas, in a former convent, a former Masonic Lodge, and a historical residence.
Today, they are bright, busy community centres in villages across the Counties, providing activities for children and adults, books, reading and viewing materials – and electronic opportunities undreamed of by Anne Nyland.
Cornwall and the United Counties owe her a debt of gratitude.
– Frances Martin
