The John Guilfoil Memorial Library

John H. Guilfoil Jr.

The library at Fort de Chartres was officially re-opened and dedicated to the memory of John H. Guilfoil Jr. on July 9, 2016.  

John was born May 20, 1933, and left this world on June 16, 2015.  John was the proprietor of the trading post at Fort de Chartres for many years.  He also portrayed a French priest, was a member of St. Anne’s Militia, and was a member of Les Amis du Fort de Chartes.  

John’s great love of history manifested itself in the many hours he spent in the library at the Fort.  He also amassed his own historical library over his lifetime and generously donated his private library to the fort. 

“Books, like friends, should be few and well chosen.” - Samuel Johnson

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Visiting the Library at the Fort

The public is invited to visit the John Guilfoil Memorial Library, which is open during regular Fort hours when the site director is available.  

The library is not a lending library, so all research/reading is required to be completed on site.  In an effort to facilitate patrons, we have begun preparing a computerized catalogue of the Fort’s books.  

At this time, we have over 600 of the library's books catalogued so that patrons may verify the availability of a book prior to driving to the Fort.  This is an ongoing project.

If you would like to donate books to the library, we welcome those donations which will enhance the reading and research experience for all visitors.  Looking forward to reading with you at the library!

Does the Fort Library Have the Book I Need?

From the comfort of your own computer, you may access the website www.libib.com.  

On the toolbar across the top to the far right, you will click on “LOGIN”.  You will be taken to the login page where you will need to enter an email address and password as provided below.

Email address: ftdchart@htc.net

Password: Boisbriand

After signing in, you will be taken to the John Guilfoil Memorial Library website.  You can search for a particular book or author, or view books alphabetically.  

The books are also tagged by various applicable categories, so you can view the TAG LIST, go to a category i.e.  fur trade, clothing, firearms, etc.  

There you will find books that have been tagged for that type of content.  Whenever possible, the system does pull a copy of the cover of the book, author, publisher, number of pages, ISBN, description, and number of copies. 

Under the number of copies is where you will find the call number of the book.

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