Oshawa’s population tripled by 1923, quadrupled by 1933, and was 26,856 in 1943. The library had become very crowded. A Children's department was put in the basement. An internal gallery was added to provide more shelving. When that wasn't enough, over 1,200 books were put in storage off site.

In 1949, City Council held a vote on a bylaw to build a new library. It was narrowly defeated - a crushing disappointment for the library's users, the Libra ry Board and staff.

By 1953, the population of Oshawa was 44,101; and the old library was cramped to the point of bursting. It now had over 42,000 volumes, 16,151 borrowers, and an annual circulation of 179,047. The staff had increased to 11, and Miss Jean Fetterly was the Chief Librarian.

On June 20th, 1952, Colonel R. S. McLaughlin offered the city the gift of a library building “I would feel honoured to have the city of Oshawa accept from me a library building which would be a cultural centre adequate for the needs of our people.”