The Brampton Library is a system of public libraries in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.
During the 2003 Ontario Public Library Week (October 20 to 26), the library was rebranded with a new logo, and changed its name from the Brampton Public Library to Brampton Library.
The library has eight branches, with a collection of more than 562,000 books, magazines, large-print materials, audiobooks, and DVDs.[3][4] It has a staff of 160 full-time and part-time employees.[citation needed]
Todd Kyle is the chief executive officer of the Brampton Library.[5]
In 1858, a library was founded and run by the Mechanic's Institute.[6] Its 360 volumes, plus a federal grant of $160, were the starting blocks for the first actual public library in Brampton, founded in 1887 in the Golding Building on Queen Street.[citation needed] As printing presses were still relatively expensive to operate, and thus book prices high, the facility had written contracts with patrons to check out books. Only the librarian and library board members were allowed to take books off the shelves.[citation needed]
In 1902, the library was one of several public libraries to receive a grant from American industrialist Andrew Carnegie to build a new library.[7] After a meeting with the Brampton Board of Trade's R.J. Copeland, and a promise from the city to increase its funding from $1000 to $1250 a year, Carnegie provided another $12,500 for the facility.[citation needed]
In 1946, the Brampton Library began letting residents under the age of 16 sign out books from the collection.[citation needed]
During the 1960s and 1970s, the system expanded to fit the needs of a growing population. The expansion included the Northwood Park Branch, South Branch, and Heart Lake Branch. The Heart Lake later became Cyril Clark Branch.[citation needed]
In 1972, Bramalea Consolidated Developments constructed the Civic Centre for the town of Bramalea. This facility included a large space for a central library branch.[8][9] When Brampton and Bramalea merged in 1974,[10] their library systems became one. Bramalea's Chinguacousy Branch joined Brampton's Central Branch (which had replaced the Carnegie library in 1958 and was later renamed to Four Corners Branch)[11] and others. As the reference branch, Chinguacousy was host to an extensive collection of microfilm, local history materials, and genealogy resources.[12][13] In 2008, the majority of these materials were moved to the Four Corners location in the newly renovated Local History section on the second floor.[14]
Books-by-mail services ended in 1975.[15]
A neighbourhood branch was eventually created in a mall at Ray Lawson Boulevard and Hurontario Street; it was renamed the County Court Branch when it was moved to an office building nearby, and later renamed again to Fletcher's Creek Branch. When the South Fletcher's Sportsplex was built, Fletcher's Creek moved from private to public property, and was renamed South Fletcher's Branch.[citation needed]
In 2011, the Brampton Library system opened the Mount Pleasant Branch in the northwest area of the city. This replaced the Northwest Interim Branch.[16]
The Gore Meadows Branch was built in the northeast of the city at Castlemore Road and The Gore Road and opened in 2013.[17] This location is part of a city recreation centre.[18]
In addition to the six regular branches, Brampton Library also operated an interim site in the northeast region of the city. This housed a very small collection, mostly DVDs and paperbacks, as well as allowing customers to pick up and return items. This interim site closed in the fall of 2016 because the nearby full-service branch was expected to begin operating in the summer of 2016.[19] The new full-service location opened in 2017.[20]
In 2018, the library stopped charging late fees for children's materials;[21] in December 2021 the library board voted to eliminate fines for any material returned late[22] and canceled all outstanding fines on 31 January 2022.[23] It still assesses fines for materials not returned, for those returned in damaged condition, or for holds that are not picked up.[23]
In 2023, despite criticism from residents, Brampton City Council voted to close the Chinguacousy Branch located in the Bramalea Civic Centre and relocate it to the Chinguacousy Park Ski Chalet, a much smaller space. The Civic Centre location was permanently shuttered on August 1, 2023, after 50 years in operation. The branch reopened in the Chinguacousy Park Ski Chalet on August 22, 2023, on an interim basis until a new permanently location could be found.[24][25] At a special council meeting on January 16th, 2025 Brampton City Council unanimously voted to move the Chinguacousy Branch to the site of the former Howden Recreation Centre for a joint redevelopment that will see 30,000 square foot of library space return with a connecting Recreation Centre.[26]
Brampton was the first public library system in Ontario to acquire federal and provincial case law records. The case law collection was opened in this branch in 1978, on the prompt of the Central Ontario Regional Library System.[27]
This branch was renovated in late 2016 and early 2017, and was reopened in August 2017.[28][29]
This branch removed to Chinguacousy Park in 2023 due to Toronto Metropolitan University's (TMU) new medical school after city council voted to gift the building. Services have been reduced at current location limited to 10,000 square feet versus the 30,000 at the Civic Centre.
It is named after the Township of Chinguacousy's last reeve, Cyril Clark.[30]
At the 1938 annual general meeting, it was announced that Wm. Perkins Bull's "pioneer and Indian relics" would be housed at the library on display.[35] When former Brampton High School principal William James Fenton died in 1952, it was decided that the proposed addition to the structure would be named in his honour.[36]
