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Library service in Enderby began in
1900 when Sir Arthur Stepney, a wealthy rancher in the area, offered to donate a
collection of books to the city to form the nucleus of a public library. His only wish was
that they be properly housed and cared for.
Mr. Heggie. an employee of Sir Stepney, and Mr. Appleton. the manager of the Columbia Flour Mill, obtained the use of the courtroom. Shelves were provided by some of the citizens, and a management committee was formed. Thus the Lending Library and Public Reading Room was founded, with seventy-five dollars worth of standard but select works from Sir Stepney as its base. In addition, many books and periodicals were donated by friends. Papers were subscribed for, and the room was open three nights a week to the public.
In 1910, when the City Hall was built, the Library was moved to the southeast corner of that building. It remained a public reading room. and became very popular as a meeting hall.
The Lending Library remained independent and self- sufficient until 1935, when all but three of sixty places in the Okanagan Valley elected to become part of a public libraries district which became the Okanagan Regional Library.
In the early fifties. an addition was made onto the eastern side of City Hall, and the library was relocated to these premises. It was still there in 1970, as Dorothy Garner, a retired librarian, said: 'That was a tiny, dark place, but. my the books that went out of there."
The Library moved to a brick building on the north side of Cliff Street next to Reimer's Department Store. Unfortunately on March Ist, 1985, this location, and the fabric store next to it, were destroyed by a fire.
Ten days later, however, it was accepting books in its new location on Maud St. next to Happy Day Supermarket. It remained there for over two years until, in the summer of 1987, the newly renovated City Hall complex was opened, with the Library in the lower level. This site is the best yet, and the Library will likely remain there for some time. if there is one distinguishing feature of the Library's time in Enderby, it is likely its constant, if ever changing presence.
Robert Henry
ALF School 1989