Inuvik Centennial Library

Monday 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM (closed 12 – 1)

Tuesday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (closed 12 – 1)

Wednesday 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM (closed 12 – 1)

Thursday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (closed 12 – 1)

Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (closed 12 – 1)

Saturday 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Sunday : Closed 

The library offers a variety of services beyond access to our collections, including:

• Free computer and WiFi access.
• Vicki Billingsley Community Room - available for free to non-profit groups to use for meetings or for rent for a nominal fee to other organizations. (8 person capacity under current health regulations)
• Free Interlibrary Loan services (ILS) from other libraries within the Northwest Territories and across Canada.
• Print, fax, photocopy, scan to email, and lamination services available in both black & white and colour.

Search for and renew library materials online: NWT Library Services Catalog

In order to renew materials and view your account details online, you will need your 14-digit User ID# and PIN. Your User ID# can be found on your library card. Library staff will provide your PIN upon request.

Contact us if you:

• do not know your library card number + 4-digit PIN
• are having trouble accessing services using your card
• are an Inuvik resident and wish to obtain a library card

Email: lfrontdesk@inuvik.ca for help.

As part of NWT Library Services, your library membership enables access to a number of free eResources. To access many of the resources below, you will need your 14-digit User ID# number. Please ask a staff member if you need help connecting to these services.

• eBooks
  • Overdrive
    • Libby - Use the Libby app to read ebooks from Overdrive on a mobile device.
  • Freading
• Open Educational Resources - Free educational resources and eTextbooks
  • OER Commons
  • BCcampus Open Textbooks
  • eCampus Ontario Open Library
• Art and Craft Classes (Creativebug)
• Free Music Downloads (Freegal Music)
• Learn New Languages (Rocket Languages)
• Online Magazines (Flipster)
• Canadian Research/Reference Centre
• TumbleBooks: eBooks for all ages
• TumbeBookLibrary helps to teach kids in grades K-6 the joy of reading by using animation, music, and narration to bring picture books to life. Read along online, or have TumbleBooks read to you.
• BiblioEnfants is the same as TumbleBookLibrary but in French
• TumbleMath is a collection of math picture books for grades K-6. These books also include supplementary material like lesson plans and quizzes.
• TeenBookCloud includes ebooks, graphic novels, videos and audiobooks aimed at grades 7-12. This collection includes fiction and nonfiction titles.
• World Book Encyclopedia Online
• Dictionary of Canadian Biography
• Oxford English Dictionary
• Larousse French Dictionary includes an encyclopedia, conjugation tables, multiple bilingual dictionaries, games, recipes, and more.

• NNELS – National Network for Equitable Library Service

  • NNELS provides access to a growing collection of downloadable audio books and other accessible formats for public library patrons who cannot read traditional print because of a visual, physical or cognitive disability.
• CELA – Centre for Equitable Library Access
  • CELA has books, magazines and newspapers in accessible formats, including DAISY audiobooks (CD and downloadable), e-text and braille (print and downloadable). 

For more information or to book the Vicki Billingsley Community Room, please contact the Library at:

Phone: (867)777-8620 

Email: lfrontdesk@inuvik.ca

Inuvik Centennial Library and the Town of Inuvik are pleased to announce the resumption of free after school programming at the library.

Centennial Library hosts a variety of programs throughout the year and welcomes suggestions for new programs that would be of interest to the community, including sew or quilting clubs, arts & artisans workshops, reading groups, film & documentary nights, and more. Current summer programs include,

• Reading Rascals (Friday mornings 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.) picture books & crafts for Toddlers.
• Books in the Home (Monday evenings 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.)  
• TD Summer Reading Club to promote children’s reading that includes book-related crafts, colouring, and free-to-take-home books for all attendees. www.tdsummerreadingclub.ca  
• Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Canada A free book gifting program where each month enrolled children receive a high quality, age appropriate book in the mail, from birth to age five free of charge. Registration forms are available at the Library front desk. 

Have an idea for an item the library should own? Please fill our form: Recommend to Order.

The Library holds a collection of over 35,000 items including the following:

• "Dick Hill Northern Collection," donated by Dick Hill, the first Mayor of Inuvik and an avid collector of anything Northern: books, articles, reports, maps, site plans, oil and gas hearings, artifacts, and more. A great resource for researchers or those seeking to learn more about the history and development of the region.  
• A collection of local art and photographs related to Inuvik and its people, including local portraits, commemorative arts, a large polar bear skin and musk-ox head.
• A large collection of DVDs including documentaries and DVDs related to the Northern life.
• A large selection of magazines and northern newspapers.
• A collection of the Funeral/Memorial programs of people who have passed away from the Town of Inuvik and the Beaufort-Delta region. These resources can be printed and made available to family members interested in obtaining keepsakes. 

Inuvik has a long history of library service: 

• The first library was established in the late 1950s in a small room beside the stage in Sir Alexander Mackenzie School with books donated by the Aklavik East Home and School Association. Many of these books are still on display at the library.
• With Canada's Centennial celebrations coming in 1967, funding was announced for community projects to celebrate this important Canadian milestone. A plebiscite was held in 1966 and the library project was the winner.
• The centrally located library building (now the site of the Inuvik Community Corporation building) was completed and officially opened on January 15, 1967.
• Library services continued to grow and a target collection of 10,000 items was soon met and surpassed. Space in the building was extremely tight and the search for a new location began.
• In 1994 the Town of Inuvik acquired the old Liquor Warehouse (right next door to the existing Library) and in 1995 renovations began.
• The library moved into its current space with the official opening of the current building on June 20, 1996.