Fonds MS 50 - Rossland Public Library Association fonds

The Rossland Public Library Association started in October 1939 in a small building on Washington Street (later Wise Hardware Store and currently The Rossland Light Opera Players). At the beginning, there were only 250 books. Volunteers from the Junior Section of the Board of Trade helped build bookshelves for the building. Patrons were charged 50¢ a month to borrow books from the library, which was ran by volunteers until 1948 when a part-time library was hired for 50¢/hr. The Library moved locations in 1949 when the rent was raised from $15.00 a month to $30.00. Moving to the basement of the courthouse, which once housed the city jail then government liquor store, this area was ideal because they were given free rent, heat, and light. The library stayed in this location for 32 years, during which they were able to hire more staff and increase their collection. In the 1980s they needed to move once more as a planning expansion of government officers required the space they were in. The library board purchased the old Chevron gas station on Columbia Avenue, and with renovations in 1984 the library opened its doors in its new building.