The major tenant of the building, Claresholm Public Library is a member of Chinook Arch Regional Library System, a cooperative of 33 public libraries in Southwest Alberta. After the building was officially opened on June 14, 2004, two bronze plaques were mounted on the exterior near the library entrance, one of which was placed to commemorate the centennial of the Province of Alberta. The Provinces of
Alberta and
Saskatchewan were carved out of what remains the Northwest Territories in 1905, becoming Canada's ninth and tenth provinces.
This plaque, in the alcove leading to the library entrance, dedicates the building
To the People of Alberta to Commemorate Alberta's 100th Anniversary. They were actually a little early completing the building (and possibly under budget), as the building was completed in 2004. The plaque, though, followed in 2005.
A little history about the building and the library:
The Town purchased land from Rod Dryholm south of Amundsen Park and designated it for the Louise McKinney Centre, which would house the Community Literacy Program, Public Library and Town Archives. Construction started in November 2003 and the library moved into the new facility in May 2004. The official opening was June 14, 2004 with Her Honour the Lieutenant Governor Lois Hole attending.
The Claresholm Public Library was the idea, hope and dream of the members of the Col. Lyndon Chapter of the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire, I.O.D.E. The dream was first conceived from a comment made by Mrs. Marion (Tom) Riddle in the mid-1930s: “It is time this organization did something to justify its existence” and she further suggested that the town needed a library.
In 1991, the Claresholm Public Library was one of the libraries to join the Chinook Arch Regional Library System at the initial stage. Vera Mattoon spent many hours working on the steering committee to get the System underway.
In 2000 the Alberta Government announced the Centennial Legacy Grant Program. There were two main projects presented to the Town Council for their endorsement: expansion of the golf course, or building a new library.
[Some information was edited for content. You can read the entire history at the link provided.]
From the Claresholm Library
A native of Frankville, ON,
Louise McKinney, née Crummy was born September 22, 1868. Dedicating her life to the service of others Crummy holds the distinction of being the first woman elected to a legislature in the British Empire. She attended Ottawa Normal School and trained to be a teacher. After a sojourn in North Dakota Louise and her husband James McKinney came to Alberta, homesteading near Claresholm in 1903 and building the village’s first church.
A suffragist and a member of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, Crummy was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta on June 7, 1917 as a Non-Partisan League candidate. As a Member of the Legislative Assembly, McKinney was a strong proponent of social welfare programs. She ran again in 1921, but lost, never again running for office.
Later Crummy was a member of the
The Famous Five, Emily Murphy, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise Crummy McKinney and Irene Parlby. These five Alberta women successfully petitioned the Federal Government to have women recognized as persons in the infamous
Persons Case.
Louise died in her home in Claresholm on 10 July 1931, at age 63.