Maureen Williams Fund

The Waterloo Public Library has announced the creation of a special memorial fund to celebrate the contribution of Maureen Williams to children’s services and the love of reading in families in Waterloo.

Maureen Williams was a children’s librarian at the Waterloo Public Library for many years. She passed away on September 1, 2004 in her 90th year. The Maureen Williams Memorial Fund will support the expansion of the picture book collection for children at the Main Library and McCormick Branch.

A donation of $2,000 to initiate the Fund was presented to Library Board Chair Tim Jackson in a ceremony December 7, 2004, by family spokesperson Cathy Williams. Cathy, and her sister Anne Fries, are delighted that the Waterloo Public Library is honouring their mother’s love of children and books in this way. Additional family members will contribute to the Fund in the coming months.

“It’s a wonderful tribute to someone who helped bring a love of reading to many young people,” said Chief Librarian Cathy Matyas. “This fund will ensure that early learning and family literacy continue to be supported in our community, in a way that was important to Mrs. Williams.”

Mrs. Williams was born in Linwood, and attended McMaster University, where she received an Honours BA in English and French. She received her Bachelor of Library Science from the University of Toronto. She began work at the Waterloo Public Library in the mid-1940’s. She retired from WPL in 1971.

Articles that appeared in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record in 1961 describe how Maureen Williams created a modern children’s library in the former Carnegie Library on Dorset Street, bringing the lower level of the building to life after it had been used for storage for 58 years.

After her retirement from WPL, Mrs. Williams traveled to many places in the world. However, she continued to give generously to her community through her volunteer at the Emmanuel Day Care, where she worked with children with special needs, and by establishing a library for her own church.

To make a donation to the Maureen Williams Memorial Fund, or for more information, please contact Laurie Clarke, CEO, at 519-886-1310 ext. 123. Tax receipts will be issued for donations of $10 or more.