Page 12 - A_View_Of_Their_Own_the_Story_of_Westmount

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Four Additions
1911, 1924, 1936 and 1959
S
tripped of its intended children's room, the
library of 1899 was, in a sense, incomplete
before it even opened. And stubborn librarian Mary
Solace Saxe refused to let anyone forget it.
She wrote in one report that it took her 10 years
to persuade the Library Committee to build a
children's room "not in the basement, nor in the
attic but a wing with a separate entrance, separate
hours and (its) own separate librarian."
The building of the Children's Library pavilion
in 1911 marked the first of four significant additions
that took place before the renewal project of the
1990s. It was followed by a south reading room in
1924, new work space and extensive interior work
in 1936 and a three-storey annex in 1959 for stacks
and the children's department.
THE 1911 CHILDREN'S PAVILION
The original Children's Library was financed by
a special fundraising campaign. Also designed by
Robert Findlay, it had its own entrance facing
Sherbrooke Street, an open fireplace and a distinct
residential charm. At the same time, a second storey
was added to the stack room at the rear of the main
library, but there was no connection between the
children's room and the main building.
"Apparently children were not to be seen as well
as not heard," says Raymond Ullyatt who chaired
the library renewal project's steering committee in
the 1990s.
Miss Saxe, who had succeeded original librarian
Beatrice Moore in 1901, considered the children's
pavilion to be the most important achievement of
her 30-year career. Her retirement came only two
years before the Canadian Committee of Enquiry, in
a national survey, would report Westmount to be "a
pioneer in introducing the children's room and the
trained children's librarian."
THE SOUTH ADDITION OF 1924
Her tenure saw another important addition in
1924: the building of a south section to the main
building, a reference room to commemorate the
library's 25th anniversary. Designed by Robert
Findlay and his son Frank, it created a balanced
tripartite plan featuring two reading rooms, one
either side of a central lobby. A mezzanine stretched
North elevation of library showing addition of Children's
Pavilion of 1911, architect Robert Findlay
Restored 1911 pavilion
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