The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
When Harry Hobbs' classmates unofficially named the college library after him, they meant it as a joke. But nearly four decades later, the retired Hapnot Collegiate librarian's name has stuck. The H. Hobbs Memorial Library will soon reopen on the former campus of his alma mater, Trent University in Peterborough, Ont. "It makes me feel very, very humbled," said Hobbs, who remains a Flin Flonner and is still very much alive despite the name of the library. The story of the H. Hobbs Memorial Library began in 1964, when Trent University opened and Hobbs, who hails from Cobourg, Ont., became its first student librarian. The history major was in charge of establishing a library for Peter Robinson College, one of two institutions that constituted the university. With a jovial nature and robust dedication to his work, the popular Hobbs quickly earned the respect of his fellow students ? so much so that they began talking about wanting to name the library after him. The idea started out as a jest, but by Hobbs' senior year in 1966, the students were quite serious. Unbeknownst to the college faculty, they placed a wooden plaque in the library declaring it the H. Hobbs Memorial Library. See 'Feel' P.# Con't from P.# The library had been known simply as "Memorial Library," and the students chose to keep the term "memory" when adding Hobbs' name. After Hobbs told his his father, a radio reporter, what had happened, the story ended up on the Canadian Press newswire. Thousands of readers soon learned about the 21-year-old student with the rare distinction of having a library named in his honour. Yet the president of the university remained in the dark. Dr. Thomas Symons didn't know what a reporter was talking about when asked to confirm the library story. Nevertheless, the library carried Hobbs' name until 2002, when the building in which it was located, Sadlier House, was closed by the university and put up for sale. It appeared the days of hitting the books at the H. Hobbs Memorial Library were over. But last year, the current student body at the university voted to purchase Sadlier House and convert it into an arts facility for students, faculty and the community. The plans included the reopening the library, complete with Hobbs' name. "That makes you feel really honoured, that they want to remember your place in the university's history," said Hobbs. "I'm just a name to them; I'm not anybody they know." Over the summer, Hobbs attended a re-dedication ceremony at the library, which is expected to reopen along with the rest of Sadlier House this spring. "I'm amazed the name has lasted this long," said Hobbs, who retired as the Hapnot librarian in 1999 after 23 years of service.
