About the George Shepherd Library
The George Shepherd Library of the Western Development Museum is named after
George Shepherd, a pioneer homesteader who was also the curator of the museum
for more than 20 years.
Our main focus is to provide research services to the four Western Development
Museum (WDM) branches: Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, North Battleford, and Yorkton. Our
department also answers public inquiries.
The George Shepherd Library was created because there was a growing need to
preserve the rapidly disappearing historical materials that focus on
Saskatchewan agricultural and pioneer history. When artifacts were donated to
the museum, they were often accompanied by an operator’s manual or a handbook;
these resources eventually began to accumulate. The collected materials were
then organized, catalogued and placed in the library.
Today, the library contains over 3,200 reference books, more than 300 journal
titles with 27 active subscriptions, 6,000 photographs, slides and negatives,
over 20,000 agricultural manuals, parts lists, promotional materials, and mail order
catalogues as well as other print material of research value. The
collection is non-circulating, but is open to the public for research purposes.
We have a large collection of catalogues--Eaton's, Marshall-Wells, and Ashdowns
- full of information on clothes, toys, tools and equipment. We also have
brochures on Saskatchewan tourist attractions and literature extolling the
province's possibilities. These are only a few of the resources in our
Library. Contact us with your question; we may have the answer.