Surrey City Centre Library

The history of library services to the town of Surrey, British Columbia, traces back to the Fraser Valley Public Library Demonstration. With the help of a grant from the Carnegie Corporation, this project aimed to test the idea of a distributed rural library service. Under the direction of Dr. Helen Gordon Stewart (“the first trained librarian west of Toronto”), operations started in Chilliwack in 1930 with a main branch and distribution centre. The project was deemed successful and in 1934, 20 municipalities banded to establish a co-operative regional library service.

The town of Surrey later opted to leave the co-op in 1983 to establish its own library, owing to its rapid population growth. The new Surrey Public Library started operations in five branches and with a state of the art computerized system. As the city continued to grow, its library branches were gradually expanded or moved to spacier locations. The central Whalley branch, established in a former plumbing supply store couldn’t however keep up with the increasing needs of its patrons and in 2009, plans to replace it with a larger structure emerged.

The conception and construction of the new Surrey City Centre Library happened remarkably quickly, with the new building by local architect Bing Thom (now Revery Architecture) opening its doors in September 2011, on time and on budget. Belying the old project management maxim that a project cannot meet time, budget and quality constraints, the library became an instant hit and its sleek iconic form an anchor for a revitalized city centre that now includes a new City Hall, performing arts centre and shopping complex

The images shown here date from my visit in June 2013.

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