History of the Library

History of the Brownvale Community Library

Before the Brownvale Community Library existed as it is today, it went through many stages of growth. Originally, in the mid 1950s, the library was in the entrance of a community member's house! The local school had no library of its own at the time, so the Brownvale community members decided to step up and open their own home. 

Further organizing of the Library continued in 1957. Passionate and dedicated local volunteers ensured the official opening went smoothly on January 18, 1958. At that time the library was only open one day a week and membership fees were set at $.50 per person per year! Maintenance and expenses, in early times, were taken care of through work bees, community teas and raffles. Most memorably, live pigs were raffled for $0.25 a ticket! Other raffles included cake raffles at Christmas and Easter time. Volunteers painstakingly hand wrote all tickets and used sewing machines to dot the lines.

Over the years we have gone from using space inside a local business, to the former Grimshaw Library building (which was moved to Brownvale in June of 1962) and are now in our present location within the Brownvale Community Club building.

We were established, through by-law, as a municipal library in 1984 by Council for the Municipal District of Peace No. 135. In 2001 the MD of Peace No. 135 joined the Peace Library System, connecting the Brownvale Community Library to the wider Library System in Alberta.

The Brownvale Community Library continues to develop and grow. We strive to provide our patrons and the public with great library services. Why don’t you stop in for a visit? We would love to see you!