Murray Harbour Library & Community Access Program - C. A. P. site

Built in 1903 as a school.

1381 Main Street
Murray Harbour, PE
C0A 1V0
Telephone: (902) 962-3875
murray_harbour@gov.pe.ca

Built in 1903 as a school, the Murray Harbour Community Centre is now used extensively year round by area residents. The Murray Harbour Community Centre is one of the largest structures in Southern Kings County; therefore, it is used to host many of the community events.

The Murray Harbour Community Centre is used at least five days a week for community events, banquets, workshops, theatre, and children’s programs and houses a library and Community Access Program (CAP) sites. Libraries in Murray Harbour have changed a great deal over the years. The library now located in the Community Centre since 1973, has moved several times. Like the post office, it originally was operated from private homes with an extra room to rent out. The first library was located in the home of Alberta White in 1934; it was the first house on the right as you leave the village heading for White Sands, on the lot beside the house now owned by Alice Glover. The house is no longer in existence. In 1941, the library moved to Fayne MacLeod's home, the building now owned by Jean Fraser where she operates a beauty shop. Like the post office, the library moved to separate buildings in 1952, at the time when Jesse Penny became the new librarian. The library was located in a small building on Library Street, owned by Danny Beck and Alvin Stewart. The building has since been moved by Julie and Ken Daley to be used as a house. Valda Harris was librarian from 1968 to 1990; during this time, the library moved to its present location in 1973. In 1990, Kaye MacLean became the present librarian. From a few books in a room in a private home, the library today is fully automated, and has computer access to millions of books.

The school has also changed over the years. The second school was on the opposite side of the road where the Community Centre is now, approximately 100 years ago. It was renovated to 4 rooms in 1958, and was closed in June 1972. Now used as a community centre and a library, various functions are held here, and the former school is once again the heart of the community. It is used for community school, village meetings, seniors, various celebrations and events, wedding receptions, rifle shooting, and cadets. To the left of the school and near the road, there was once a hall; it is now a vacant spot. This well known community building was constructed in 1893, and destroyed by fire in 1970. Now covered with trees was the site of the outdoor Murray Harbour Bruins Rink. Built in 1949, it was well used until its destruction by fire in July, 1970. The E.A. Keeping Memorial Field was opened in 1973 with funds left to the community by Mr. Keeping; it is located in pasture land previously owned by Lorne Buell.

There are 7 computers, 3 printers(2 color inkjet and one Laser Jet)and a flatbed scanner. Connected to the internet on all 6 computers on a high speed line. The only charge is $1.00 for printing.Various software packages available.

Hours of Operation

Monday, 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.;
Tuesday, 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.;
Wednesday, 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.;
Thursday, 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.;
Friday, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Summer Hours

Open an additional 16 hours.
Tues. 10 am - 6 pm
Thurs. 10 am - 6 pm
Call (902) 962-2203 for more information

Community Access Program (CAP)

The Community Access Program (CAP)is an Industry Canada initiative developed to help provide Canadians with affordable public access to the Internet and the skills to use it effectively. Under CAP, public sites such as schools, libraries and community centres act as access points to the Information Highway and provide support to Islanders on how to make the best use of the Internet. The Province of Prince Edward Island has the distinction of being the first to have its CAP Program evolve to the next level of development. Hired human resources for advanced service delivery, mandated to generate revenues to ensure sites are maintained and potentially self sustaining are classified as Community Network Centres. Internet Support Centres which are typically located within community sites such as a school, library, or community centres, offer computer and Internet access, as well as other services, such as summer camps for kids, computer training sessions and distance education. Infrastructure at these sites usually consists of one to ten PC’s with an average of 4 PC’s per location. Pentium 133 processors with approximately 16-32 megabytes of RAM are regularly used. A vast majority of these sites also have access to standard equipment such as printers and scanners. Internet connectivity varies from site to site, as some sites located in schools use T-1 lines or school networks. Most sites, however, use standard phone lines with 56K modems for their Internet access. There are twenty five located across the Province.

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