That repository of documented and photographic material that has been collected in a room in the lower floor of Crowstand Centre has been moved.
Known as the “history room,” the room and its contents were under the supervision of the Kamsack Library board, but was not part of the official relationship between the Town of Kamsack and the Parkland Library. Access was gained by appointments arranged by the librarian.
The room had been set up in the late 1980s as a space in which the persons working on Kamsack’s history book, entitled Spinning Stories; a Woven History could do their work. Materials, including family histories, various documents and photographs that were used in compiling the history book were filed.
After the printing of the history book in 1988, materials not picked up by family members were stored in cabinets in the room. The bound copies of the Kamsack Times from the 1940s to the present were kept in the room as well as a microfilm reader and microfilms of the Times’ issues.
And since the printing of the book, documents and photographs, often from estates, or following the down-sizing of residents’ possessions, were periodically donated to the history room.
Over time, the room was only staffed by volunteers and it had been provided by the Town at no charge, Mayor Nancy Brunt said last week when discussing the room.
In the past town council has applied for funding for the room, but has never been successful in obtaining funds, Brunt explained.
“But, the Kamsack Family Resource Centre, located next door, needs more space and it is paying rent on a per square foot basis,” Brunt said.
Over the Christmas season, all the material that had been stored in the room was moved into the library, some of it into a library storage room, some of it into the library proper.
It is expected the Family Resource Centre will begin making use of its expanded space by the beginning of February.
