History of Memorial Park Library 

Memorial Park Library was Alberta’s first public library. The effort to build it was spearheaded by Annie Davidson, one of Calgary’s cultural pioneers, beginning in 1906. As the founder and president of the Calgary Women’s Literary Club, Davidson organized a petition to prove to City Hall that there was enough interest to support a public library in Calgary. 

American steel industrialist Andrew Carnegie offered Calgary City Council a total of $80,000 to build a library, so long as the City provided the site, books, equipment and maintenance for the facility. The city supplied $20,000, and the Province of Alberta provided $10,000 towards the purchase of books. The money from the Carnegie Foundation would be worth over $2 million in 2022.  

Central Park Library, as it was known then, opened on January 2, 1912, under the leadership of Chief Librarian Alexander Calhoun, a classics scholar from Ontario. On opening day, it housed 5,000 books, chosen by Calhoun to “satisfy the thirst of all classes of individuals.” The carving of an open book above the main doors of the Library was constructed by local stonemasons, and is still visible today. 

Memorial Park Library was named a provincial historic site in 1976, and in 2018, the Library and surrounding park were designated a National Historic Site. Following this, in 2020 the location underwent renovations to restore the décor of its interior to more closely resemble what it looked like on opening over 110 years ago. 

Photo: Calgary Public Library Archives, Our Story in Pictures