The Niagara Library
Text from the plaque
On June 8, 1800, the Niagara Library, the first circulating library in Upper Canada, was established to diffuse knowledge among area subscribers. Financed by this group, library services were begun in 1801 with some 80 works for circulation, many on religion and history. Under the management of Andrew Heron, a merchant, the collection was steadily enlarged, and in 1805 the books of the Niagara Agricultural Society were added. The library operated successfully until the occupation of Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) by American forces in 1813, when numerous volumes were lost. By 1818 financial support for the library had seriously declined, and in 1820 the holdings were incorporated in a new subscription library, begun two years earlier by Heron, then a publisher and book-seller.
Transcribed from the marker, not summarised.
Find the place
The Region of Niagara
The Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake
At the new library complex at 10 Anderson Lane, SE of the Mississauga Road-Niagara Stone Road intersection.
Also recorded for this place: The Region of Niagara · The Region of Niagara
N 43 14.872 W 79 05.173
Recorded September 2017. Check current access before visiting.
More views
Where it stands
