Stayner library gets $10,000 donation
Clearview Township Library has received a $10,000 donation toward a future new Stayner branch.
The donation was made by former Clearview Township councillor and Clearview Public Library board chair Joyce Smith. The long-time New Lowell resident now lives in Goulais River in Northern Ontario.
Smith was CEO of the Sunnidale Township Public Library prior to amalgamation and was head of the Sunnidale and Creemore branches until her retirement.
When the closure of the Sunnidale Community Hall caused the library’s Sunnidale Branch to close, Smith ran for council and advocated tirelessly for a new facility in New Lowell, said Clearview Public Library CEO Jennifer LaChappelle.
Her fundraising initiatives helped to ensure that the community’s financial commitment to the Sunnidale Branch project were not only met but exceeded in a single year, said LaChappelle.
In recognition of her efforts, Smith was awarded the James Bain Medallion by the Ontario Library Association in 2008.
“Even before the Sunnidale Branch project was completed, Joyce, as board chair, began advocating for the replacement of the Stayner branch facility,” said LaChappelle.
She said the library is not actively fundraising for a new building until the township has set a concrete timeline for the new branch but the financial boost brings its construction fund up to $13,300.
