Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

INUVIK (Jun 19/98) - From the smile, the handshake and the easy-going conversation, some might think Dick Hill is back running for Inuvik public office.

But this is just how he chooses to spend part of his summer now that he has retired near Toronto in rural Nottawa, Ont.

"I'm here for the sociability of it all," Inuvik's first mayor told a table of interested visitors while all were surrounded by stacks of books at Inuvik's Centennial Library.

"I come back once a year because I enjoy it here."

During his stay this year, Hill made two public appearances at the library, a place dear to his heart.

When Hill moved to Inuvik in 1963, he started collecting Northern books, journals and research papers. Most are Canadian but some span the Arctic region.

His 10,000-item collection was the largest privately-owned library in the NWT until he donated it to the library for all to view.

Now it is known as the Dick Hill Collection.

"Part of my philosophy about donating books to the library are that books are intended to be lent out and circulated."

He qualifies that statement by stressing he prefers his books to remain in the library so they are always available for people to peruse.

"But when you make a donation, you lose control. The library board can do what it wants," he said.

Still, the collection is entirely for reference use according to library board member Vicki Billingsley.

And that affords it the quality of being a sight to see.

"I've got two friends coming in this afternoon," Billingsley said.

"One great way for them to spend the afternoon and get oriented is to spend the afternoon at the library."

A unique library collection is something many people do not think of when they describe what Inuvik has to offer, she said.

But the collection, valued at about $100,000, is something which could help draw tourists.

Hill, who opened Boreal Books in 1966, said the Internet is a great tool for research but it is slow and limited.

Two Internet terminals at the library are available on a reserve basis for 15-minute sessions. And given some problems Inuvik has with Internet phone lines, a more leisurely way to do research could be to flip through pages of the Dick Hill collection.