Local History Policy

 

Purpose

To describe the assumptions that underlie the delivery of Local History services.

Policy

Waterloo Public Library develops and maintains a Local History collection that is a separately housed, non-circulating, research collection consisting of works relating to the historical, cultural, socio-economic, and geographic composition of the City of Waterloo, and to a lesser extent the Region of Waterloo.

Emphasis is placed on collecting primary and secondary materials on the history of Waterloo as it has evolved from a village to a city. Acquisitions are made at the discretion of the Manager of Local History (or at the discretion of the Library).

Materials acquired by the Library for its Local History Collection shall become the permanent property of the Library, until such time as the Library deems it no longer relevant to the collection, in which case the material may be donated to another collection, sold, or discarded. The Library will only accept material on a permanent basis, except when borrowing material for short-term loans to reproduce or to include in displays or exhibits.

The Library retains the right to reproduce materials by mechanical, electronic or photographic means for security, conservation or research purposes.

The Library will protect its primary source materials from unnecessary handling by making reproductions available for customers to consult in their research. The majority of the collection is available at Our Ontario.

Copies of most of the Library’s historical photographs may be obtained for non-commercial and non-advertising purposes. There is a fee for this service.

Waterloo Public Library adheres to the rules of Canadian copyright.

No food or drink is permitted in the Ellis Little Local History Room.

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Document Record

June 2003 – Initial Release
July 2015 – Reviewed
June 2019 – Reviewed