Pettes Memorial Library was built and donated to Brome Township by Narcissa Farrand Pettes in memory of her late husband and federal Member of Parliament Nathaniel Pettes. 

It became the first free public library in Quebec following its foundation with an act of Parliament in 1894; it remains a free library to this day.

Pettes Memorial continues to play a central role in the Brome Lake community providing French and English speakers with access to a  wide range of information, ideas, books and a space where they can come together to share and learn from one another. 

Despite being built over a century ago, Pettes Memorial is still located in the same building donated by Mrs. Pettes.

Wanting to remain the hub of the local community, the institution launched a public fundraising campaign in the summer of 2021 for a major expansion project. 

The original fundraising goal was $1.5 million, but Pettes Memorial recently announced that it has been surpassed. 

“As of the other day, when I checked with the executive director at the library, we have raised just over $3 million from private sources in the community,” said Jane Livingston, chair of the board of trustees for Pettes Memorial. “The response has been tremendous.”

Despite reaching its fundraising goal, the library is still waiting for news on a grant application it submitted to the provincial government. 

“We’re very positive, we are thinking positively, that we will receive this grant that is the area of $2.07 million. I know the ministry (Ministry of Culture and Communications) has been in touch with us with several questions over the application we put in, which we’re considering a good sign,” mentioned Livingston. “We hope to hear from them in the next few months. That’s the big piece of the puzzle that we are waiting to fall into place.”

The original architectural plan for the expansion project, produced by Chevalier Morales Architectes, has been modified in terms of size, but not in terms of what the new space will offer.

“With the rising costs in supplies in construction, we did modify the expansion. We ratcheted it down by some square footage, but we certainly do plan an expansion,” noted Livingston. 

The expansion will see an addition to the back of the library overlooking Coldbrook Park. 

“We hope that there will be a real free flow of the community. Our doors will face out onto the park and we will have it set up in such a way that it will be welcoming visitors, community members, everybody,” said Livingston.

Within this extension, there will be new spaces that will help meet the needs of the community, like a multipurpose room for talks, meetings, vernissages, ateliers, book clubs, a larger children’s area, and community washrooms.

“There will be a tourist information booth,” explained Livingston. “The town is one of our biggest supporters here. They’ve always had a little building on the grounds of the park, but that will now be served in the new confines of the addition of the library. So, the town and the library will be working very closely together.”

There will also be a space that Livingston refers to as a “fab-lab.”

“Which is going to be a big audio-visual space. I don’t even know what the modern terminology is, but we will have 3D printers. There will be all kinds of new bells and whistles for our library users above and beyond just standard books,” she noted. 

Donations can still be made to the expansion project here.

For more information Pettes Memorial Library.

Listen to the full interview below: