Local history

Current In-Person Services
19/10/2020
22 of our branches and the Bookmobile are open for modified services at this time. For details on our current in-person services, visit: https://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/current-branch-services.

Visit our Hours and Locations page for our current branch hours and our Bookmobile page for the current Bookmobile schedule.

MANDATORY: Masks are required to be worn inside Ottawa Public Library branches, as per the Temporary Mandatory Mask By-law. Customers who are not wearing masks will not be allowed inside branches. Exceptions apply for people with medical exemptions.

Stony Monday riot, the rabid Duke of Richmond, rowdy lumberjacks and eccentric geniuses. . . Ottawa's history is anything but boring! And OPL is the place to find out all about it. Our local history collections tell the stories of the people, customs, and institutions that built Ottawa and the surrounding communities.

Reference materials, including books, newspapers, directories, and municipal reports, can be consulted at Main, Nepean Centrepointe, or Beaverbrook branches. In addition, OPL is pleased to house the collections of 3 local history societies. And, of course, the most popular local history titles are available to borrow at many branches. Together, OPL's local history collections provide an extensive resource on Ottawa and the surrounding area, past and present.

Online resources

Ottawa Citizen - ProQuest Historical Newspapers (1845 - 2010)

This digitized full-images archives of the Ottawa Citizen provides genealogists, researchers and general public with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. This will allow Ottawans to digitally travel back through...

Ottawa Citizen - ProQuest Historical Newspapers (1845 - 2010)