A popular book detailing the history of Collingwood Township will soon be coming to the digital world.
At its meeting on Sept. 9, The Blue Mountains council endorsed a request from The Blue Mountains Public Library to digitize: An Illustrated History of Collingwood Township.
Library CEO Jennifer Murley appeared as a delegation to support a letter she had written to request permission to proceed with the project.
The library has multiple copies of the book, however, they have been checked out so much by local residents that the library is concerned the books are becoming too fragile.
“We’ve had to take it off the shelves. It’s so popular,” Murley told CollingwoodToday in an interview a few days after the meeting.
Council had to give permission for the digitization because the publication rights for the book were transferred to the town after Collingwood Township amalgamated with the Town of Thornbury to form The Blue Mountains.
Murley said the book is a tremendous resource to the community.
“It was written in 1979 by Bill Shannon. He contributed a lot to local history in the local area,” Murley said. “It is the most comprehensive and authoritative book on the history of Collingwood Township.”
The book is filled with historical pictures of the township, along with plenty of historical facts and stories about local families and communities.
“It’s a pretty interesting book,” said Murley.
Council voted unanimously to allow the library to proceed with the project. Mayor Andrea Matrosovs said she was able to purchase a copy of the history book at Beaver Valley Outreach.
“I refer to it regularly,” she said.
Murley said digitizing the book will ensure the book’s contents and historical facts are available to local residents forever.
“We’re really excited. (The book) will be made accessible to people in the community and across the globe,” she said. “We’re really grateful council supported us.”
The library has already reached out to a local company for quotes for the digitization and will make a public announcement once that process is finished and the material is available online for viewing.
