Blake Ellis/The Independent

“It is an amazing building,” said Lambton County Warden Kevin Marriott, as the Watford Public Library was officially reopened.

One of the few Carnegie libraries still in operation, Marriott said when the library first opened, books were kept behind the service desks and patrons relied on the librarian to retrieve a book.

“It is remarkable to think how much libraries have changed since then,” said Marriott.

A contribution of $6,000 for the Watford Public Library was given in 1912 by Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish-American industrialist who earned most of his fortune in the steel industry, later donated almost all of it to charitable causes later in his life. 

Officials at the grand reopening Oct. 22 praised the partnership between the County of Lambton and the Township of Warwick in getting the public library project completed.

“It is a good one, it’s a sold one,” said Warwick Township Mayor Todd Case about the partnership. This municipality decided to invest in this library years ago and this investment continues to today, says Case.

This current reinvestment into the Watford Public Library honours the legacy of that original Carnegie contribution.

“He probably never dreamed that over 100 years later the community would still be benefiting from that donation,” said County of Lambton’s General Manager of Cultural Services Andrew Meyer.

Among some of the enhancements is an accessible service desk, lighting, ceiling improvements and new flooring.

While the County of Lambton contributed $160,000, the Township of Warwick contributed $250,000 in the last five years in two phases. This included new windows, a new roof and a furnace

Warwick Township’s Manager of Parks and Recreation Ryan Chamney called the project pretty significant.