December 1876 - "Mechanics's Institute" formed. A room in the printing office is designated as a reading room. W.T. Turney is designated as president. Subscription rates were $2.00 for males and $1.00 for females over the age of 18 per year. They receive a legislative grant of $4.00.

The library has had several homes over the years. Over Pitcher's store, in the Miller Block, in the Moore Block, and over Haken's Drug Store.

1899 or 1900 - Fire breaks out in the Tidey Block and soon develops in Haken's Drug Store. Over 3000 volumes are lost to fire and the library is only insured for $500.00

1913-1915 - Thanks to a petition signed by 50 people, the Norwich Council decides to help begin a public library. The library is endowed by the Carnegie Fund. The Carnegie Foundation offers $7000.00 towards the construction of a permanent library building (the current library building) if the municipality agrees to pay $700.00 for the operation and maintenance of the library. Final cost for the building is $7009.44.

1936 - Norwich Library joins the Oxford County Library Association.

1953 - A bookmobile service increases the number of books available at the Norwich Library.

1965 - Norwich Library becomes a branch of the Oxford County Library System.

1973 - The library is redecorated including a new roof, wall to wall carpeting and matching drapes, decorated walls, new book racks, colourful new tables and chairs, an antique screen, a new hot water tank, and a book receptacle to collect books when the library is closed. A new telephone is also installed.

1976 - Norwich Library celebrates its 100^th birthday.

1985 - April and Susan from the Mr. Dress-Up Show visit the library to hold a performance.

April 1988 - Canadian Poet David McFadden visits the library to read poetry from his latest collection.

1995 - Each Oxford County household contributes $40.00 to support public libraries in the county. The Norwich Optimist Club donates $250.00 for the purchase of children's books.

1997 - Norwich Optimist Club donates time and money to redecorate the library. Redecorating includes painting the walls, blinds for the windows, and brand new carpeting. It is estimated to cost $10,000.00 in material goods and labour.

It is interesting to note that this figure is $3000.00 more than the cost of the building when it was made in 1913-1914.

1998 - The library receives funding to become a CAP (Community Access Program) site. Funding includes the purchase of three computers networked together, computer desks and chairs. North Norwich Telephones provides Internet access allowing the library to offer free access to the computers and the Internet.

*Disclaimer* This information was compiled from a collection of articles from the Norwich Archives. Articles pertaining to the Norwich Library are available at the Norwich Archives, located at R.R. # 3 Norwich, Ontario, N0J 1P0. Due to discrepancies between articles, some dates listed could be wrong. This information was compiled with the intention of being as accurate as possible, but it is necessary to note that the discrepancies do exist.