The Aurora Public Library is located in

Aurora, Ontario Aurora ( 2021 population: 62,057) is a town in central York Region in the Greater Toronto Area, within the Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located north of the City of Richmond Hill and is partially situated on the Oak Ridge ...

, Canada. The

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

has a collection of more than 256,643 items and has over 25,406 registered users.

Timeline of history

*1820s: A free library was organized by local Quakers. *1855: ''Aurora Association for the Diffusion of Helpful Knowledge'' formed, later called the ''Aurora Mechanics Institute and Library Association''. The association provided weekly

lecture A lecture (from ) is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history, background, theo ...

s and

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

s rather than lending books. *1863: The library had a collection of 500 books and was open for two hours each Friday. *1868: The association built ''The Mechanics Hall''is built at the southeast corner of Mosley and Victoria Streets. It was used for lectures and concerts but also as a library reading room. *1895: A ''Public Library Association'' was formed with a Board of Management appointed by the Town Council. *1920: The library assets were absorbed into a Municipal Public Library under the

Free Public Libraries Act Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, the ability to act or change without constraint or restriction * Emancipate, attaining civil and political rights or equality * Free (''gratis''), free of charge * Gratis versus libre, the difference betw ...

and the library moved to the Town Hall on the northeast corner of Yonge and Mosley Streets. *1926: A children's section was added to the library, but children were only allowed on Saturday afternoons. *1945: The library moved to Health Hall, now called Victoria Hall, on the southwest corner of Mosley and Victoria Streets. *1963: The library moved to a new dedicated building of at 56 Victoria Street as part of Aurora's centennial. *1967: The collection size was 14,900 and there were 5,236 members. *1979 A extension was finished, designed to serve a population of 20,000. *2001 The library moved to its current location, a facility on the northeast corner of Yonge and Church Streets. In 2018, work began on a renovation project to create a multi-purpose room and a creative studio, to update the children's area, to improve lighting, and to create a new seating and new living room-style area. On 11 April 2020, the library

laid off A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing an organization ...

28 of its 33 employees as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

References

External links

Aurora Public Library
{{Authority control Public libraries in Ontario Aurora, Ontario Library buildings completed in 1963

Timeline of history

See also

References

External links