Local History Collections

VPL Central Branch maintains files with clippings and ephemeral material on BC artists and galleries. They can be found on Level 7 in Special Collections. Available by in-person request.

Use the BC Artists Files page to determine whether VPL has a file on the BC artist or gallery you are researching. 

Vancouver Public Library's collection of digitized British Columbia city directories dating from 1860 to 1955. Directories contain detailed historical information about British Columbian communities, including street and name listings of individuals and businesses in Vancouver and Victoria, as well as population figures, government listings, operating newspapers, schools and libraries from communities across the province.

Digitized newspaper archives covering:

• ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Province, 1898 - present (3 months embargo)
• ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Vancouver Sun, 1912 - present (3 months embargo)
• ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Times-Colonist, 1884 - present (3 months embargo)

Issues from most recent 3 months not available in this collection. See Canadian Newsstream for current issues.

Includes every issue, cover-to-cover, with full-page and article images in easily downloadable PDF format.

This resource is made available by public libraries to anyone residing in British Columbia, accessible through your own municipal or regional library.

*Also suitable for research at the high school and post-secondary levels

Search and view community newspapers from around BC published between 1865 and 1994. This collection makes many of BC's earliest newspapers freely available in digital format

Finding tool for documents and facts related to the history of British Columbia. Vancouver Public Library created the index to supplement information found in standard reference sources and major news databases. The library catalogue can be used to locate books and other major published works about BC. In this index you will find references to chapters or excerpts in books, articles in unindexed news sources such as local magazines, newsletters and newspapers, and uncatalogued material and pamphlets.

Vancouver Public Library's historical photographs database provides access to over 30,000 images of Vancouver and British Columbia from the 1880s to the 1980s. Search by keyword or browse by topic. Digital copies of photographs from this database can be ordered at the library.

Maintained by our Special Collections team, Local History Collections are comprised of both physical materials and digitized representations of items that can be accessed online. Three signature collections available to browse anytime include the Historical Photographs collection featuring more than 40,000 digitized images, the Vancouver Building Register, and the British Columbia Index. 

The Vancouver Public Library created This Vancouver to share the stories of Vancouverites and the history of Vancouver communities through images, audio clips, and videos. Many of the collections are the result of VPL collaborating with community members on community-based digital projects.

A digitized collection of rare and historical books from our collection. This collection focuses on the history of the Pacific Northwest, as well as 19th and early 20th century Canadian literature. More titles will be made available as the project progresses.

These books have been scanned in partnership with the Internet Archive, and are hosted on their website. An Internet Archive membership is required to borrow some titles. For more information about this project, see our Virtual Vault page.