The legacy of the Loon Lake Library lives on, a legacy that began with one woman – Edith Farn. And, to recognize her contributions, a special celebration was held in Farn’s honour Sunday (Oct. 4) at the Loon Lake Recreation Centre, an event organizers say will go down as another important chapter in the history of the library itself.
“Edith is to be commended for her invaluable and lasting impact in our community for beginning all of this,” remarked library board chair Joni Taylor. “Her contributions have and will impact many generations. We want to say thank you to Edith and all the other library pioneers in this area for helping develop the library system we enjoy today and hope to continue to enjoy for years to come.” Joe and Edith Farn moved to Loon Lake in 1962 and stayed to raise their family and be very active members of the community. In 1964, Joe Farn took over running the local meat market from Mat Sitter. Meanwhile, Edith Farn, an avid reader, decided to set up a book exchange in the store because there was no local pubic library. The books were donated. There was an initial starter set and then people brought a book or two to exchange when they took one to read. Most of the books were for adults, but Farn noted there were a few Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books donated, and these were so popular they eventually wore out. The book exchange stayed at the meat market for a couple of years and then moved to the village office.
“The village office at that time was a small building that sat beside the current library building,” reads a brief history of the library prepared by former board chair Joan Harrison back in 2018. “George Williamson was the village staff person at that time – administrator, maintenance person, water hauler and, for a few years, keeper of the book exchange. The late 1960s and early 1970s was a period when many of Saskatchewan’s library regions were formed. Edith was keen to see Loon Lake have a public library. She attended many meetings in North Battleford that eventually resulted in the formation of the Lakeland Regional Library system in 1972. At that point, Edith served on the village council and represented the village and rural municipality at the regional library level, where she also served on the steering committee.”
It took about two years of local negotiations to get the contributions, known as levees, in place to support the library region. When the Loon Lake Public Library opened, it was housed in a building beside what used to be the CIBC building, currently the McKevvits residence. The former book exchange collection of 150 books moved there too. Farn was the first paid librarian, and the library itself was open for six hours a week split between Saturday and Wednesday afternoons. The library moved to its current location in the mid-1970s. The building was built to house the village office upstairs and the library downstairs. Denzil Prosser helped build the building. His wife, Roma, remains as a member on the library board. Farn acted as librarian until 1984. She was followed by Meredith Chuiko, Lucy Berube, Darlene Graham, Linda Baldwin, Mindy Lorenz, and current librarian Micayla McRea-Young.
“I am not aware of who filled the position of board chair before Edith, but next was Joan Harrison and then myself,” Taylor stated. “Edith remains an active member of the library board up to present day. The Loon Lake Library is now open 12 hours a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Most days we are open, more than 40 people visit the library. We serve people from the village, the rural municipality, Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation, as well as cottagers and campers. Our two computers are appreciated by locals and visitors, the DVDs are quite popular and our book collection sees lots of use.” Taylor also said the interlibrary loan system is highly appreciated in smaller libraries and Loon Lake patrons make extensive use of this service.
“We remain high up on regional numbers for library usage annually,” Taylor added. “Libraries are a very important part of any community, especially in rural locations. Libraries provide safe spaces for learning, creating, imagination and human connections. Our local library runs a story hour where our pre-school children can come and listen to a book then create and play together. A Thursday afternoon ‘To-Gather’ time where community members can come spend some time together building puzzles, working on individual projects and enjoying tea together. A monthly book club is held, where a group of people share what they have read over the past month. We try to have as many craft nights, special events and programming as we are able to. You will find most everything libraries provide for their community is fully free of charge – truly unheard of in today’s world.”
Sunday’s celebration, meanwhile, also saw Loon Lake mayor Brian Hirschfeld address those in attendance on behalf of village council. Battlefords-LloydminsterMeadow Lake MP Rosemarie Falk was unable to attend, but did send her regrets along with a letter and certificate. Farn also received a special certificate courtesy of Meadow Lake MLA Jeremy Harrison who was on hand for the event. “It was a pleasure to help celebrate Edith Farn’s six-decade contribution to libraries, learning and to her community of Loon Lake,” Harrison said. “Edith is a kind and dedicated lady who I’ve had the privilege of knowing since childhood. She’s been a pillar of our region and it was an honour to thank her on behalf of a grateful province.” In closing, Taylor said Farn was shocked and amazed by everyone who came out for the event. “She couldn’t believe how many people cared, and she had a really good afternoon,” Taylor said. “Her commitment to literacy is something to be admired for sure.”