Belleville Public Library

Completed January 1908

Belleville became a free public library in 1903. Following this change in status, Senator Harry Corby first offered a generous grant to construct a new library in November 1905, but later presented the city with a former bank building, the Merchants' Bank, at the corner of Pinnacle and Campbell Streets, refitted as a library. It opened to the public on 20 January 1908.

Main floor: reading rooms, children's room, board room, newspaper and magazine reading areas.

Cost: building value $35,000; site $6,000; and $2,100 for furnishings.

Size: 40 ft. x 48 ft. (1,920 sq. ft)

Source: National Archives of Canada, C-21464

Photo caption: Belleville cut stone entrance, 1911

Page created on 12 May 1997, modified 9 July 2000