Lilac extravaganza

Bloomfield Library gets a welcome makeover

The Friends of the Bloomfield Library invited County residents to their Lilac Extravaganza on Saturday afternoon to see for themselves the recent changes made to the library. This was a symbolic nod to an earlier era when a “Lilac Tea” was held as a fundraiser for the library by the Women’s Institute, who played a pivotal role in establishing a library in the village. The tea served on Saturday was of the iced variety and was accompanied by cupcakes with lilac icing, and of course, there were lilac blooms aplenty decorating the library. Thanks to the fundraising efforts of the Friends, the library has a fresh new look. The interior has been repainted, there’s a new carpet, the children’s area has been refurbished, and there’s an expanded book collection for young readers. One of the Friends, Barb Boos, said that more changes are coming. “We will be installing new shelving as well. We have a lot of ideas for this branch. We do the fundraising and the County library arranges for the work to be done,” she said.

The Bloomfield Public Library has been in existence since 1896, when it was established by a group of local residents who each contributed $250 for the purchase of books and newspaper and magazine subscriptions. The library had two interim locations before it was established on its current site on Main Street in1923 in a building that was purchased by the Women’s Institute and moved there. The land was gifted to the library in 1940 by Emily Fraleigh, with the stipulation that it would revert to her surviving descendants should the library cease to operate.

The Lilac Extravaganza was intended to raise awareness of the services offered by this library branch in the heart of Bloomfield. “We’re hoping for more people to utilize the library and to understand exactly what is offered. There’s way more than books,” said Paula Moore-Insley, another of the Friends and a descendant of Ms. Fraleigh. The library offers items such as games, passes for provincial parks and conservation areas, a Wi-Fi hotspot for home use, musical instruments, and even a metal detector for budding treasure hunters. There are also online streaming and book-lending services such as Hoopla, Libby and Kanopy. There’s a special pop-up play program on Thursday, offered in collaboration with The HUB as a means to encourage families with young children to visit the library branch. Please visit the branch at 300 Main Street for more information.