Oshawa Public Library is a library system consisting of four branches, each serving its respective region of the city of Oshawa

Oshawa

Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario approximately 60 kilometres east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of both the Greater Toronto Area and the Golden Horseshoe. It is now commonly referred to as the most...

, and sharing its collections in common amongst all branches within the system. It provides public internet access, fiction, non-fiction, periodicals and video game collections at each of its branches.

History

Library services were first provided in Oshawa with the formation of the Oshawa Mechanics Institute, located near the intersection of Simcoe Street and King Street, in what is now downtown Oshawa. This organisation served as a reading room, sitting behind the D. Allin Bookstore, and offered free courses, as well as a collection of books and magazines. Serving as President was William McGill, and as librarian, William Dickson.

A purpose-built library developed to serve the municipality was built in 1906, thanks to Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...

, whose philanthropic support for the development of libraries provided necessary funding for the project.

The Modern Library

The library system operates four branches:

• the Legends Centre branch is located in the North Oshawa civic complex at 1661 Harmony Road.
• The Northview branch is located at Ritson Road and Beatrice Street.
• The downtown McLaughlin branch is located south of City Hall at 65 Bagot Street.
• The Jess Hann Branch is located in Lake Vista Plaza, Cedar Street and Wentworth Street, in South Oshawa.

Branch hours vary, but some branches remain open each day of the week and on weekends, outside of statutory holiday periods. All branches offer both adult and childrens materials, with the McLaughlin branch featuring a separate children's library.

In summer 2010, renovations began on the central McLaughlin branch to rebuild the south wing of the library's main floor. The new McLaughlin main floor was opened in the fall of 2010.