London Public Library's London Room helps Londoners discover the people, places and stories that have shaped our community.
I could not do what I do, helping Londoners learn more about the history of where they live, without the London Room’s resources. You’d never find these source documents that detail the lives of Londoners anywhere else.
Meagan’s appreciation for the London Room, home to London Public Library’s local history collection, comes from firsthand experience.
An archivist and historian, she uses its resources for research and walking tours of Mount Pleasant Cemetery. When people contact the cemetery looking for information about their families, staff often refer them to the London Room, where extensive local history resources may help them find answers.
"There really isn’t another archive with the level of detail about London’s history that is also so accessible and welcoming,” Meagan says.
For almost 60 years, the London Room at Central Library has helped people explore the history of London, Middlesex County and the people who have called this community home.
Photo: Visitors to the London Room explore the card catalogue index.
Its collection includes books, photographs, maps, diaries, manuscripts, newspapers, directories, microfilm and other historical records. People visit to research their family history, learn about a home or neighbourhood, find an old photograph, or uncover information about a local person, organization or event.
Sometimes a visitor arrives with only a name, address, date or question. London Room staff know how to follow those clues through records that may exist nowhere else.
A single discovery can reconnect someone with a family member, reveal who once lived in a home or bring a long-ago community event back to life.
The collection is also an important resource for students, authors, historians and community organizations. Meagan introduces her Western University students to the London Room as they develop their archival research skills.
“Spending time there helps them learn the history of the city more intimately and accurately,” she says. “There’s a specificity I haven’t found anywhere else.”
History Builds Belonging
Knowing the stories of a community can deepen our sense of belonging. They connect us with the people and places that came before us and help newcomers discover the story of the city they now call home.
As London celebrates its Bicentennial, the London Room offers a place to look back at how our community has grown and changed over 200 years. It also helps ensure that the experiences of Londoners are preserved and shared with generations still to come.
Some of these stories are held in fragile materials and aging formats that are increasingly vulnerable to deterioration. This is particularly urgent for the Library’s London Free Press microfilm collection, an irreplaceable record of local history dating back to the 1800s. Much of this collection is not currently available in a searchable digital format.
Preserving original materials and creating digital copies will help protect these records while making London’s history easier for people to discover and explore. Community support helps make this work possible.
This fall, donations to London Public Library can help preserve the London Room’s unique resources and keep them accessible to families, students, researchers and future generations of Londoners.
Please consider donating to help preserve London's stories. Gifts of every amount make a difference.
Photo: A London Room Librarian teaches a class of young students about local history using a page from a local newspaper displayed on the London Room's microfilm reader.