Five municipal public library systems are currently (as of September, 1957) in operation within the Greater Winnipeg area -- those of Winnipeg, St. Boniface, St. James, St. Vital and Fort Garry.
The City of Winnipeg public library system was launched in 1905, with the construction of the present main branch on William Avenue. Ten years later two additional branches were built, one in the North End, on Salter Street at Machray Avenue, and the other in South Winnipeg, just east of the Maryland Bridge. The construction of all three of these buildings was financed almost entirely by grants from the Carnegie Foundation. In 1941, a fourth branch was established, in rented quarters on Osborne Street near Corydon.
Additional branches are maintained in four City schools, located in different parts of the City, these being open two days per week from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Travelling bookmobiles reglarly visit different parts of the City.
As prescribed by the Winnipeg charter, the Winnipeg system is administered by a Committee appointed by the City Council. The Committee may include citizen members, and at present consists of five aldermen and four private citizens, the mayor being a member ex-officio. The Board makes up its annual estimates and submits them tothe City Council for approval; having approved them, Council provides the funds out of the general revenue of the City.
Until quite recently, no suburban municipality operated a public library. In 1948, however, the Manitoba Government passed the Public Libraries Act, which authorized municipalities to establish public libraries. The Act required that before a municipal public library could be established, a by-law to this effect had to be submitted to the ratepayers for approval. If approved by a majority of the voters, the library was to be established.
The Act provided that such a municipal library be administered by a board of either three or five persons, of whom one was to be a member of the municipal council. Under the Act, each board is authorized to request the municipal council to levy up to one mill on the municipal assessment for library purposes, Council being obligated to hand over to the board the full amount realized through this levy, plus any donations specifically contributed for library purposes.
Under the Act, St. Boniface established a public library in 1950, comprised of a branch i the Norwood district toserve the English-speaking residents of the City, and a branch on Langevin Street to serve the French-speaking community. St. Vital established a public library in 1954, St. James in 1955, and Fort Garry in 1956. The St. Boniface and St. Vital libraries operate in rented quarters; the St. James Library is contained in a new building constructed for the purpose in 1957; the Fort Garry library is located in a room of the Municipal Office building. (Construction of a building to house the Fort Garry library is planned for the near future.) Transcona passed a municipal library by-law in October, 1957; hitherto the local Home and School Association had operated a lending library, without assistance from public funds.
Table I shows the 1956 expenditures and book stocks of the various municipal libraries in operation in Greater Winnipeg. The figures given represent the municipal expenditure only: each library received in addition a $400 grant from the Provincial Government; (1) several received contributions from private organizations; fines imposed on delinquent borrowers plus some fees charged for rentals constituted additional minor sources of revenue.
As is evident from Table I, Fort Garry's per capita expenditures for library purposes were higher than those of any other municipality, including Winnipeg. This is largely attributable to the fact that Fort Garry imposed the maximum levy of one mill authorized for library purposes by the Municipal Act; the appropriation or levy for library purposes amounted to substantially less than one mill in Winnipeg, St. Boniface and St. James. While the library levy was also one mill in St. Vital, the fact that assessment level of this municipality was only about one-half of that used in the other municipalities causes its one mill levy to be approximately equivalent to a one-half mill levy in the others.
| Mill Rate for Library 1956 | Municipal Library Expend. Per Cap. 1956 | No. of Books held by Library Dec. 31, 1956 | No. of Books per 1000 of Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winnipeg | 0.706 | 1.02 | 177,845 | 697 |
| St. Boniface | 0.8 | 0.87 | 18,090 | 627 |
| St. James | 0.5 (2) | 0.62 | 5,018 | 189 |
| St. Vital | 1.0 | 0.42 | 4,521 | 191 |
| Fort Garry | 1.0 | 1.08 | (3) |
The Winnipeg Library lends out films and records, in addition to books, charging small fees for such loans. No suburban library now lends out anything more than books, although the St. James Library expects to be lending films early in 1958.