The Skead Library was officially opened on October 31, 1962 by the MacLennan Public School Board. It began as a single cupboard in the school's basement. At the time, there were only thirty-five books available at any one time and these titles were only exchanged on a quarterly basis through the book mobile. The first librarians were Sheila Stephen and Inez Bignell. They would each work one hour per week, with the remainder of the library's hours being worked by numerous volunteers.
Over the years, many books were donated by local residents and by 1965, the library boasted over 600 titles in its collection. When the Public School closed in 1965, the Skead Recreation Committee took over the building, supporting the library and permitting them to continue their operations in the basement. One year later, in 1966, when the Separate School was closed, the Skead Recreation Committee took over that building as well and moved the library to the basement of the separate school, where it remained until 1972.
In 1972, a Regional Government was instituted and Skead became part of the Nickel Centre Public Library system and the library was subsequently moved to the old Poupore Lumber Company offices. By this time, the library possessed over 10,000 books and had access to millions more through the inter-library loan program.
The library continued to operate successfully for many years before being forced to close in 1996 due to budget cuts. One year later, in 1997, the library was reopened in the basement of the Skead Recreation Centre as a community library and was manned by community volunteers.
Today, the closest Public Library available to residents is located in Garson.
Material compiled from Skead, Ontario, Canada: 1924-1999.