Brighton Public Library - Our History
Our History
Brighton has proudly managed a library since 1859; eight
years before John A. MacDonald led Canada into
confederation and almost a half century before The Ontario
Library Association was formed in 1901. Brighton Township
also maintained a municipal library.
The original library and its property were turned over to
the Mechanics Institute and Library Association in 1869.
The Mechanics Institutes were educational centres formed
to provide technical adult learning opportunities
particularly for working men. In 1899 this group and its
assets were re-organized into a Public Library. It boasted
100 members and held 800 books. In the last century or
more the Brighton Library has moved several times in the
downtown business section. For a short time it occupied a
room in the old town hall and often shared space with
local business while facing both good times and bad.
A Community Effort
More than once the efforts and imagination of dedicated
groups of citizens, volunteers and library board members
were called upon to find a way to ensure the library's
growth and well-being. In 1967 the local Legion announced
that their Centennial project was to provide a new
building for the library and aided by the local Lions Club
and volunteers, the library found itself with a new home
next to the Post Office. As the demand for services grew,
the library was unable to continue to provide those
services from this location and in 1994 moved to the new
municipal building on Alice Street where it remains until
this day.
In 2018, our renovated and expanded space opened at 35
Alice St. We now have a dedicated program room that
is available to community groups, plus plenty of soft
seating, study areas and places to plug in and power up.
More information on the history of Brighton and the
library is available in the reference section.