Burnaby Public Library or BPL is a public library that serves

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and the surrounding Lower Mainland. According to its 2019-2022

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, BPL aims to "empower the community to engage with and share stories, ideas and information." BPL provides access to information services and library collections (including books, DVDs, newspapers, magazines and research materials) through its four branches as well as online and through community outreach.

Services

BPL provides a broad range of services and programs that reflect the needs of its community. The following list is a small sample of the regular services available: *Information and reference services *Access to full text databases *Community information *Internet access * Readers' advisory services *Storytimes for babies, toddlers and preschoolers *Programs for children, youth, adults and seniors *Newcomer services including English as an additional language supports *Delivery to homebound individuals *

Interlibrary loan Interlibrary loan (abbreviated ILL, and sometimes called interloan, interlending, document delivery, document supply, or interlibrary services, abbreviated ILS) is a service where patrons of one library can borrow materials and receive photocopies ...

*Free downloadable audiobooks *Movie nights *"Book bike" mobile library outreach *Philosophers' Cafe series, in partnership with

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located ...

History

Burnaby's first library was founded in 1927 as the North Burnaby Library Association with members paying one dollar to use a collection of 397 books. The first actual library building was established on East Hastings Street in 1935. In 1954, a municipal bylaw was enacted to officially establish the Burnaby Public Library. After merging with the North Burnaby Library Association in 1957, BPL's first permanent library building, the McGill Branch, was built in North Burnaby in 1961. The branch was named after Grace McGill, a volunteer with the North Burnaby Library Association since its 1927 inception. The Kingsway branch was established in 1962 followed by the Central Park branch in 1974 and the Cameron branch in 1980. In 1991, the Central Park branch was replaced by the Bob Prittie Metrotown branch, BPL's current central branch. The branch is named in honour of former Burnaby teacher, MP, alderman, mayor and library board member Robert "Bob" Prittie. In 2001, the current 27,000 square-foot McGill branch was completed. In 2009, the Kingsway branch was closed and replaced with the Tommy Douglas branch. The branch is named after Canadian politician

Tommy Douglas Thomas Clement Douglas (20 October 1904 – 24 February 1986) was a Scottish-born Canadian politician who served as seventh premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and Leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Baptist min ...

, who served as the Member of the House of Commons of Canada for the now-defunct

Burnaby—Coquitlam Burnaby—Coquitlam was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1953 to 1968. This riding was created in 1952 from parts of Burnaby—Richmond riding. It was aboli ...

district from 1962 to 1968.

Branches

The library has four branches: *

Bob Prittie Robert William Prittie (December 5, 1919 – January 14, 2002) was a Canadian politician. He was a New Democrat Member of Parliament from Burnaby—Richmond from 1962 to 1968 and mayor of Burnaby, British Columbia Burnaby is a city in the ...

Metrotown - : As of 2012, this 61,000 square foot branch holds 383,771 items and serves as BPL's main research library with a reference collection that includes local and provincial historical materials, legal and business information, car repair manuals The branch features 21 public internet stations and three stations for accessing the library's database collection. * McGill - : This 20,000 square foot branch holds 159,704 items as of 2012, and features 16 public internet stations and three stations dedicated to accessing BPL's database collection. The City of Burnaby Archives, Burnaby's official repository for municipal records dating back to 1892, occupies a 4,000-square-foot space adjacent to the McGill branch. * Tommy Douglas - : The Tommy Douglas branch is 17,500 square feet and holds 84,568 items as of 2012. Opened on November 21, 2009, this building replaces the old Kingsway branch. The branch features 34 public internet stations, which includes six children's terminals. This branch is also home to Bibliotech, BPL's creative technology lab which loans digital cameras, camcorders and tripods and provides access to computers with

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, iMovie, Garageband and other creative digital software. * Cameron - : As of 2012 this 5,000 square foot library holds 62,941 items and provides public internet and computer access via eight computer terminals. The branch was renovated in 2016.

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Public libraries in British Columbia Buildings and structures in Burnaby Libraries established in 1954 1954 establishments in British Columbia Tourist attractions in Burnaby