1950 Marine Drive -- Map
West Vancouver, BC V7V 1J8
Phone: 604 925 7400
Fax: 604 925 5933
www.westvanlib.org
The plaques were located in the main entrance to the library and the plaque on the left was moved outside under the flag pole on October 14, 2006 please view the photos in our Gallery.
“To the Memory of Lieut. Horace Gordon Stone,
only son of Henry A. and Beatrice H. Stone of the city,
who died on Active Service December 15, 1918”
The focal point of the main hall in the West Vancouver Memorial Library is this magnificent stained glass window named “Harmony” created in 1931 by John Henry Dearle. Dearle, the chief designer for Morris & Co. in England designed the window as a commission piece for Henry Athelstan Stone of Vancouver. Morris & Co., founded and led by William Morris and David Burne-Jones, was a major force in the revival of the art of stained glass during the "Arts and Crafts movement" of the late 19th Century.
Henry Stone, a founder of the Vancouver Art Gallery, commissioned the window as a memorial to his son, Lieut. Horace Gordon Stone, who was a naval officer. Lieut. Stone died during the First World War. Mr. Stone presented the window to the Vancouver Art Gallery. The Art Gallery displayed the window until World War II when it was removed, possibly for safekeeping.
After the war, the Art Gallery returned the window to Mrs. Allen Gentles, Lieut. Stone's sister. When the West Vancouver Memorial Library was constructed in 1950 as a memorial to those who lost their lives in World War II, Mrs. Gentles presented the window to the Library. The Library is proud to have displayed it since then.
HISTORY
In 1947, it was decided by plebiscite to build a library on its present site. On April 2, 1948, the committee became the West Vancouver Memorial Library.
It is not clear how or why the word “Memorial” was included. However, the following excerpt from an editorial written in the West Van News by Francis Lovegrove might explain the reason for the name:
“Following the conclusion of the 1914-1918 conflict, it became the custom to erect cenotaphs in most places of any size all over the Empire, at which citizens have since gathered in large numbers on November 11th for a service in honour of the Fallen. On the other hand many of those who fought in the last war felt that a memorial should take the form of something more practical than a cenotaph, a form which would remind people continually of the sacrifice of the men and women in whose honour it was erected. This could not be achieved by a cenotaph, at which one attended a service on November 11th and for the most part casually noticed, if one noticed at all during the remainder of the year.”
The library became a fitting memorial to the veterans of WWII, especially in view of the Book of Remembrance contained therein. This book was the only listing of the casualties of WWII until two granite plinths were erected at the Cenotaph in 1979.
In 1979, the Friends of the Library began hosting a tea and musical entertainment after the Remembrance Ceremony to which the public was invited. The tradition is carried on today.
It is interesting to note that to build the library, many citizens throughout the municipality donated to the construction, equipment and books.
The library officially opened on November 11, 1950. Since then it has been open on November 11th for West Vancouver citizens to view the Book of Remembrance.
