LIBRARY HISTORY AT OLA SUPER CONFERENCE 2012, 2 FEBRUARY

There will be a library history session at the OLA Super Conference on February 2nd, 2012. With the sponsorship of Ex Libris Association and Ontario Library Association, two speakers will discuss the history of multicultural service in the morning at 10:40 (session #402).

Here is what you need to know:

Session # 402: Thursday, 2 Feb. at 10:40 a.m.

ONTARIO PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE TO CANADIAN IMMIGRANTS BEFORE 1939
 
Speakers: Barbara Myrvold, Service Specialist-Local History Toronto Public Library, and and Dr. Elizabeth Hanson, retired, Indiana University.

Ontario public libraries responded to new waves of immigration before and after the First World War, 1910 to 1939, with offerings such as foreign language collections and customized programs for individuals and groups, sometimes using surveys to identify local needs. In the early period, services to "New Canadians" often sought to help to Canadianize and ease the transition to local community life.

The presentations will focus on the pioneering work of Mary Black in Fort William (Thunder Bay) and George H. Locke in Toronto.

Don't miss this session -- it will inform and capture your attention.

CALL FOR PAPERS -- CANADIAN LIBRARY HISTORY NETWORK

LIBRARY HISTORY

A Call for Papers

The Library History Network (formerly the Library History Interest Group) is soliciting papers for a programme at the National Conference & Trade Show of the Canadian Library Association, Ottawa, Ontario, May 30 – June 2, 2012. Particular consideration will be given to proposals dealing with the varied aspects of Canadian Library History. Consideration will also be given to papers on other themes.

Selected papers may be published by the Library History Network in conjunction with CLA.

 Papers are solicited on any of the following categories of library history:

1.Overviews and syntheses.

2.Studies of particular individuals, institutions, or developments, which provide generalizable interpretations or else serve as case studies.

3.Methodological studies, which look at various aspects of research in library history.

It is anticipated that papers will be based upon personal, funded, institutional, or degree projects. Papers should not have been previously published elsewhere. They should be fully documented, and accompanied by illustrations where appropriate. They may be presented in either English or French.

Deadlines:

October 21, 2011 proposals and brief abstracts

May 1, 2012 completed papers

For further information, or submission of proposals, abstracts, and papers please contact:

Professor Peter F. McNally

School of Information Studies

McGill University

3661 Peel St.

Montreal, QC

H3A 1X1

Telephone: 514-398-3367

FAX: 514-398-7193

email: peter.mcnally@mcgill.ca

LIBRARY HISTORY NETWORK PROPOSED FOR CANADIAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

In May 2011,  the Canadian Library Association membership voted to dissolve its Divisions and Interest Groups. In their place, new network groups are to be formed by members. The following proposal is to continue with a library history group within the new revised constitution of CLA which requires ten or more members to form a group in its initial stage.

The following proposal is a petition to to satisfy this requirement. Please contact the moderator for this activity if you are interested in being a member. You should contact:

Peter F. McNally, Professor, School of Information Studies, McGill University
peter.mcnally@mcgill.ca

The proposed network information follows:

LIBRARY HISTORY NETWORK of the Canadian Library Association/Association canadienne des bibliothèques

 A. TERMS OF REFERENCE:

The Library History Network holds that Librarianship and related fields require an understanding of their historical, theoretical, and philosophical foundations in order to face intelligently present and future challenges and aspirations. The Network has four major aims:

1. To adopt as its areas of concern the history of Libraries and related fields particularly as they relate to Canada.

2. To encourage awareness and discussion of the social and cultural role – within an historical context - of Libraries, Librarianship, and related fields in a changing world.

3. To promote research and publication on Library History and related fields.

4. To foster communication among various disciplines relevant to Library History.

B. TIME FRAME:

It is anticipated that the Library History Network will be ongoing into the indefinite future.

C. PLAN OF ACTIVITY:

The Library History Network proposes the following activities:

 1. To hold sessions at annual CLA Conferences where research papers can be presented.

2. To develop publication routes for these papers.

3. To provide an (electronic) communication service for people supporting the Network and Library History.

D. MODERATOR:

Peter F. McNally, Professor, School of Information Studies, McGill University.

E. CLA/ACB MEMBERS SUPPPORTING THIS PETITION:

OLA SUPERCONFERENCE 2011 LIBRARY HISTORY ROUNDUP

Library history at the Ontario Library Association Superconference has come and gone now, with two successful sessions on Friday, Feb. 4th.

The Ex Libris Association sponsored the workshops at OLA Superconference 2011 with four speakers: Dr. Leslie McGrath, Toronto Public Library; Peter McNally, McGill University; Dr. Elaine Boone, Belleville; and Larry Moore, former OLA Executive Director 1984-2008. Almost twenty persons turned out for each session. Good questions and discussions helped inform each gathering.

The morning session featured Leslie McGrath’s powerpoint presentation on the development of Toronto’s Boys and Girls House and the growth of special children’s collections at the Lillian H. Smith branch, which opened in 1995. Many important people and events from the 1920s to 1990s appeared in interesting slides of buildings and books. Facts about Lillian Smith’s work in promoting and organizing children’s services, the Edgar Osborne Collection donated to TPL in 1949, and the eventual reorganization of children’s work at TPL in the 1980s and 1990s were quite interesting. Children’s services and collections have changed greatly and TPL has been at the forefront for many years.

The second morning speaker, Peter McNally, spoke to the issue of academic status for university librarians in Quebec and Ontario. This development began in earnest in the 1970s and has received considerable attention in the literature, although definitions of terms of employment, academic freedom, academic governance, and faculty status remain contested (and perhaps misunderstood?) by many librarians. Given the primacy of local conditions, librarians have developed status through bargaining as professional staff, academic staff, and faculty with varying degrees of rights and entitlements. The effort to achieve academic status is ongoing.

The afternoon session began with Elaine Boone’s presentation on children’s library work at TPL before the 1930s. Using an “imaginary interview” as a frame of reference, Elaine worked through many things that George Locke or Lillian Smith expected their librarians to perform during their regular working hours, including keeping books clean, and standing when Ms. Smith entered the room for a meeting! Children’s librarians often got their training “on the job” and were encouraged to improve children’s reading with the “best books.” Formal classes for school library work first appeared in Toronto in the 1930s.

The final presenter, Larry Moore, talked about education for Ontario’s school librarians in the post-1960s period. He featured important educators, such as Margaret Scott, and particular programs, such as Partners in Action (1992). The sixties and seventies was an exciting time for school librarians when educational requirements and curriculum ideas were expanded and new school libraries were built across the province. However, financial retrenchment in the 1980s and 1990s did not allow educators to build on those successes in ways originally conceived to be most effective. Many of the ideas outlined in Partners have yet to be implemented on a broad basis.

Will there be library history session at OLA Superconference 2012? Stay tuned ...

CANADIAN LIBRARY HISTORY AT HALIFAX, MAY 2011

I just found out that speakers for the program at the Canadian Library History group this summer are now set for the Halifax conference in May. The titles and pertinent information on speakers and their topics is as follows:

“LIBRARIES, CULTURE, and HERITAGE: NEW RESEARCH in CANADIAN LIBRARY HISTORY”

LIBRARY HISTORY INTEREST GROUP

CANADIAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

WORLD TRADE and CONVENTION CENTRE

.

FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2011

8:30 – 10:00 AM

PROGRAM

Introduction and welcome by convenor, Peter McNally, McGill University

8:35-8:55, “Mission unique: La Bibliothèque Champlain de 1985 à aujourd'hui.” Victoria Volkanova, l’Université de Moncton.

8:55-9:15, “΄We First Saw the Prairies in the Tragic Days΄: Exploring the History of the Lady Tweedsmuir Prairie Library Scheme.” Geoffrey Little, Concordia University.

9:15-9:35, “McGill University’s Islamic Studies Library: Its Unique Collecting History.” Sean Swanick, McGill University.

9:35-10:00, Discussion and Business Meeting

See you there.

LIBRARY HISTORY AT OLA SUPER CONFERENCE 2011, 4 FEBRUARY

Good news ... there will be two library history sessions at the OLA Super Conference in February 2011. With the sponsorship of Ex Libris Association and Ontario Library Association we have four speakers at two sessions, one in the morning at 9:05 (session #1016) and another later in the afternoon at 2:10 (session 1215).

Here is what you need to know:


Session # 1016: Friday, 4 Feb. at 9:05 a.m. on Library History Research

Leslie McGrath, Toronto Public Library; and Peter McNally, McGill University

These two presentations will offer information for children's librarians and academic librarians. Learn how Toronto Public Library's renowned Boys and Girls House, established 1922, evolved into the current Lillian H. Smith Library and how book selections for children evolved. Find out how academic status for university librarians developed in central Canada after the expansion of librarianship in the 1960s.

Session # 1215: Friday, 4 Feb. at 2:10 p.m. on Education for Librarians: Ontario's History

Dr. Elaine Boone, Belleville; and Larry Moore, Global Citizen

These two presentation will focus on the fascinating training and education of librarians in Ontario for work with children and students. Two knowledgeable presentations on our history will inform both public and teacher librarians about the historical background in Ontario. Find out how these services originated and developed on a professional basis in the 20th century.

Don't miss these sessions -- they are sure to inform and capture your attention.

"PLACES TO GROW; PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND COMMUNITES IN ONTARIO, 1930-2000"

Just published! A follow up from my previous history of public library growth in Ontario, Free Books for All: the Public Library Movement in Ontario, 1850-1930.

Places to Grow covers the history of the development of Ontario's public library system from the Great Depression to the Millennium. It describes the growth of larger systems of service, plans in the 1950s and 1960s for a provincial library system centred in Toronto, the professional growth of librarianship, library architecture, the decline of censorship and growth of intellectual freedom, library automation, the rise of electronic libraries,  the impact of the Information Highway in the nineties, and many other issues. Chapters include:


1. Introduction                           
2. Depression and Survival                   
Broader Perspectives: Libraries in Canada
The Public Libraries Branch and the OLA
Modern Methods
Local Libraries in the Great Slump
County Library Associations
School Curriculum Revision and the Public Library
The Libraries Recover
3. War and the Home Front                   
Military Libraries and American Allies
Wartime Services and Planning
The Spirit of Reconstruction
Peacetime Prospects
4. Postwar Renewal, 1945-55
The Library in the Community                  
Revised Regulations and Legislation
Postwar Progress and the Massey Commission
Intellectual Freedom and the Right to Read
The Hope Commission Report, 1950
New Media and Services
Setting Provincial Priorities
5. Provincial Library Planning, 1955-66           
Library Leadership and Professionalism
Book Selection and Censorship
The Wallace Report, 1957
The Provincial Library Service and Shaw Report
The Sixties: Cultural and Societal Change
Towards the St. John Survey and Bill 155
6. “Many Voices, Many Solutions, Many Opinions,” 1967-75                   
The Centennial Spirit
Reorganizing Local Government
Schools and Libraries
Regional and Local Roles
Reaching New Publics and Partners
The Learning Society and Cultural Affairs
The Bowron Report
7. Review and Reorganization, 1975-85           
“Canadian Libraries in Their Changing Environment”
“Entering the 80’s”
The Programme Review
A Foundation for the Future
The Public Libraries Act, 1984
8. The Road Ahead: Libraries 2000               
New Directions and Consolidation
Legal Obligations
One Place to Look: A Strategic Plan for the Nineties
The Information Highway
 Savings and Restructuring, the Megacity, and Bill 109
The Millennium Arrives

If you want a copy at $35, please contact me by email at lbruce@uoguelph.ca.