National Meeting on Canadian School Libraries and Librarianship at Edmonton (1959)

Proceedings of the Library Service in the Schools Workshop, University of Alberta, Edmonton, June 26–27, 1959. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association/Association Canadienne des Bibliothèques, September 1959. 59 p.

Although there were hundreds of Canadian school libraries by the mid-19th century, these were primarily small, informal classroom collections managed by busy one-room teachers. As they developed in the mid-part of the 20th century, larger elementary schools remained underfunded, and students often relied on children’s services supplied by public libraries or bookmobile services from regional or county libraries. Centralized school libraries began to appear first in the postsecondary sector, and by the 1930s, the efforts of energetic librarians, such as Arthur Slyfield (Oshawa), Margaret Fraser (Galt, now Cambridge), and Mary Mustard (Brantford) in Ontario, began to spur development by encouraging student use of libraries, initiating regional surveys, and publishing handbooks for students.

In the immediate postwar period following 1945, there was more government emphasis on improving services with the appointment of supervisors in departments of education: prominent librarians such as Lillian Evelyn (Lyle) Evans in Saskatchewan in 1946 and Hélène Grenier in the Montreal Catholic School Commission in 1952. During this period, the Young People’s Section of the Canadian Library Association (CLA) addressed many problems related to school libraries; nonetheless, progress seemed to unfold at a snail’s pace. When the Canadian Education Association surveyed the nation‘s school libraries in 1951, it revealed their underdeveloped state; for example, in Nova Scotia, “most of the schools in the province have book col1ections, but more than half of the 554,187 volumes in individual schools are felt by the Department [of Education] to be of little value.” Several years later, in 1958, when the Dominion Bureau of Statistics published a major survey of elementary and secondary schools in communities of 10,000 and over, it received responses from 200 school boards in 123 centres representing 2,951 schools. The survey revealed that only 1,058 schools (about a third), with a total pupil enrollment of 668,680, operated centralized libraries. Total stock amounted to 2,898,780 volumes or 4.5 volumes per pupil. Fully trained staff, with teacher training and library training to a degree level, was concentrated in intermediate or junior high schools and secondary schools, where 129 professionals supervised 270 libraries

To spur activity, CLA initiated action to plan a national workshop on schools to bring together leaders from seven national associations: the Canadian Association of School Inspectors & Superintendents, Canadian Book Publishers Association, Canadian Education Association, Canadian Home and School and Parent-Teacher Federation, Canadian School Trustees Association, and the Canadian Teachers Federation. CLA aimed to prompt discussion on problems of mutual interest and to allow participants to become acquainted personally. It was hoped that specific ideas arising from this first national workshop would encourage the sponsoring organizations to hold future sessions on specific subjects. The two-day workshop was held at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, in June 1959. The 195 registered delegates included school superintendents, principals, school board and public library board trustees, and public and school librarians. Formal presentations and separate discussion groups dealt with different topics. In general, the entire workshop was themed around providing resources, training librarians to provide services, and how services could best be organized.

Nancy Day, the Supervisor of Library Services in the South Carolina State Department of Education and former President of the American Association of School Libraries, addressed a general session on Friday morning with her topic, “The Place of School Library Service in Education.” She emphasized the importance of recognizing the library as part of the curriculum where learning and learning skills occur. Librarians should select materials, provide reading guidance, and encourage the use of the collection. It is imperative to have someone who knew the collection, the curriculum, and how to work with both children and teachers. Several freewheeling discussions on various issues took place in Friday afternoon breakout groups. There was a sharp division of opinion between school superintendents and librarians about how best to develop libraries initially. The former believed there was a more urgent need to get more books into the schools, their view being expressed as ‘books before librarians.’ The public library’s role in providing student resources also came under scrutiny. Many delegates felt the responsibility for libraries in schools should come under a Department of Education. Public library activities should encourage school libraries but not directly provide the services, even though some school officials tended to expect such assistance. Although cooperation was stressed, there was skepticism that public and school libraries could be combined successfully. There was general agreement that a certified teacher with some professional library training would be the ideal staff for a school library; but for larger schools, a professional librarian with a BEd could best work with teachers. Generally, delegates favoured the centralized library, a dedicated space available to all students which could also supply and refresh classroom collections.

On Saturday, Dr. Marion Jenkinson of the University of Alberta Faculty of Education gave an excellent summary of four topics that every group wrestled with. First, the approach librarians utilized to student reading was essential: the librarian viewed children individually, not as part of a classroom pattern. Second, improvements in teacher training were necessary. Thirdly, although there was an air of prestige bestowed on reading, often readers were derided as ‘eggheads’ or ‘squares.’ The Alberta professor declared, “We have to turn the TV image into the feeling that the reader is the ‘best sort of guy to be.’” Fouth, the issue of teacher training was paramount:

Teacher training is not adequate. Elementary teachers frequently receive only seven months training. Here librarians can help in advising in the training. Librarianship is a graduate profession; in the elementary schools there is need for a graduate teaching profession. In a graduate programme for teachers, there should be courses in children's literature. (p. 51)

Dr. Jenkinson stated that teachers, interested groups, and parents should work cooperatively with librarians and education officials in their local communities. She concluded by stressing the need to clarify important issues. There should be more concise definitions about school library work: (1) identify the function of the teacher-librarian as opposed to the children’s librarian; (2) clarify the purposes of different branches of library services; (3) articulate the basis for the selection of books; and (4) establish priorities in school library service. At the end of the workshop, delegates adopted two resolutions: they requested the Dominion Bureau of Statistics (DBS) to conduct a representative survey of libraries in publicly operated schools, and they asked for the Wilson Education Index to include the periodical, The Reading Teacher, in its indexing service.

It is difficult to assess the impact of the 1959 national workshop, but there is no doubt that the pace of school library progress quickened in the early 1960s. The DBS began surveying school libraries on an annual basis and by 1964, the Bureau reported that there were 2,595 centralized libraries staffed by 263 full-time professional school librarians. During 1961 the Canadian School Library Association (CSLA) was formed as a separate CLA division. The Association soon began publishing a lively quarterly newsletter, the Moccasin Telegraph. It also launched a national award in partnership with Encyclopaedia Britannica for elementary school libraries in 1967. School librarians also organized a Workshop on School Library Standards at the annual CLA conference held in Toronto in June 1965. Two years later, in 1967, Standards of Library Service for Canadian Schools was published. However, by the early 1970s, it was evident that in terms of facilities, personnel, and collections, school libraries for the most part did not meet the 1967 standards.

The meeting in Edmonton also allowed school librarians to network and develop professionally. Laurence Wiedrick, a teacher-librarian at Eastglen Composite High School in Edmonton, began teaching library studies at the University of Alberta in 1964. Another attendee, John Wright, librarian at the Aden Bowman Collegiate in Saskatoon, was appointed Supervisor of School Libraries for the Saskatchewan Department of Education in 1963 and later became president of CSLA in 1967. His colleague, Lyle Evans, followed him as CSLA president in 1969. Many other teachers, librarians, and administrators returned home to continue improving reading, teaching, and learning in elementary and secondary schools. A national consciousness and community of interest had been created on an inter-provincial scale. The delineation of fundamental issues was an essential ingredient in fostering progress in the subsequent decade. The recognition of the need for better-quality, modernized school libraries was an important (and lasting) outcome of the workshop.

Reports by Edwin Williams and Robert Downs on Canadian Academic Libraries, 1962—1967

Resources of Canadian University Libraries for Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences: Report of a Survey for the National Conference of Canadian Universities and Colleges, by Edwin E. Williams. Ottawa: National Conference of Canadian Universities and Colleges, November 1962. 87 p.

Resources of Canadian Academic and Research Libraries/Ressources des Bibliothèques d’Université et de Recherche au Canada by Robert B. Downs. Ottawa: Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, 1967. 301 p.

By the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, the number of full-time undergraduate and graduate university students across Canada was increasing dramatically, and provincial governments were granting new charters to several universities, such as Victoria, Calgary, Waterloo, York, Guelph, Brock, and Carleton. Additional funding for faculty, teaching staff, and buildings came from federal and provincial governments to accommodate this growth. Consequently, the expansion of libraries, especially collections, formed part of ambitious educational plans, a library phase which might appropriately be termed ‘mid-century modernization.’

During this period, library concerns were noted by the National Conference of Canadian Universities and Colleges (NCCUC), which represented university presidents. The genesis of national planning for university libraries grew out of a recommendation by a library committee appointed by the NCCUC to survey academic libraries to evaluate their research capabilities, particularly in the humanities and social sciences. Fourteen of Canada’s largest academic libraries, which collectively held almost six million volumes, were selected for the survey. As with many Canadian studies, financing for the study came from the United States. Funds from the Council on Library Resources were secured, and Edwin E. Williams, the Counsellor to the Director of Collections of Harvard University Library, was chosen to conduct the survey. Edwin Williams held many senior positions at the Harvard University library from 1940 until his retirement in 1980. More importantly, he was quite familiar with the Farmington Plan, a national project organized by American libraries to develop a cooperative acquisitions program for foreign materials. His study was conducted through conversations with 211 faculty members, the distribution of a questionnaire to professors on the strength of collections, the compilation of a checklist of 10 periodicals in each of 24 fields in the humanities and social sciences, and personal visits to each university. Williams published his findings in September 1962.

The findings of Williams’ six-week survey were not surprising to informed observers.

Any recapitulation of strong points in Canadian research collections soon makes it evident that, except in Canadian subjects and in mediaeval studies, there are no collections in major fields that are outstanding as a whole — assuming that an outstanding collection is one strong enough to attract scholars from other countries. The collections that have reached this level are devoted to individuals or to comparatively narrow fields — Soviet church-state relations and D. H. Lawrence at Alberta; South China gazetteers and Robert Burns at British Columbia; Kipling at Dalhousie; the psychomechanics of language at Laval; Urdu, Thomas Browne, Noel Buxton, Viscount Hardinge, and Hume at McGill; Icelandic at Manitoba; Bonar Law at New Brunswick; and certain fields of Italian and Spanish drama, plus Coleridge, Dickens, Petronius, Tennyson, and Yeats at Toronto. (p 48)

Williams discovered universities were enthusiastic about the potential of inter-library loan even for undergraduates, a practice he cautioned against because it was not a substitute for strong campus collections. To further serious research, he recommended that the National Library’s Union Catalogue project move ahead more rapidly along with the publication of a union list of serials in the humanities and social sciences. This latter task began in 1963 and was completed in 1968 with publication of Periodicals in the Social Sciences and Humanities Currently Received by Canadian Libraries. He discussed the advantages of strengthening research collections through an undertaking similar to the Farmington Plan, but felt libraries were not adequate to embark on this expenditure on their own. Instead, he suggested it would be more desirable to use “special funds” for specialization that could make inter-lending more effective for postgraduate programs. An extension of existing Canada Council grants would benefit the entire country and allow universities to build their resources using local revenue. To spur cooperation in the development of research collections, the surveyor advised the creation of an Office of Canadian Library Resources in the National Library. The work of this office would allow universities to build substantial collections locally and ultimately serve national research activity. Another benefit would be the ability to compete more effectively in second-hand book markets for significant publications.

Williams declared that it would be expensive to strengthen university library collections, nevertheless, it was a necessary step to further national and regional educational goals. He concluded:

Yet, while foundations are being laid across the country, the National Library ought to move ahead rapidly, and the existing strong collections at Toronto and other Canadian universities should be improved; failure to develop the National Library and to make great collections out of good ones would demonstrate that Canada aspires to be no more than a dependency of other countries in graduate study and research in the humanities and social sciences. (p. 60)

Resources of Canadian University Libraries was enthusiastically received and served as a catalyst for transformative change. When the Canadian Association of College and University Libraries (CACUL) became a constituent part of the Canadian Library Association in June 1963, it assumed a leadership role in representing library concerns. CACUL immediately realized the importance of Williams’ findings and began to liaise with the National Conference of Canadian Universities and Colleges (NCCUC), representing university presidents dealing with the Williams’ recommendations. The new library group advocated for the establishment of an Office of Library Resources, a proposal the NCCUC agreed to support later in the year. Eventually, in 1968, this office came into existence and became part of the collection development branch in the 1970s.

Later, in the fall 1963, when the NCCUC annual conference was held, CACUL successfully secured support for a more extensive national survey of academic libraries to expand and amplify the briefer work of Edwin Williams, which had been limited to library resources for graduate study in the humanities and social sciences. Subsequently, the NCCUC (reconstituted as the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, AUCC) commissioned Professor Vincent Bladen to conduct a study of financing higher education in 1964 to which CACUL made a presentation on the need for greatly increased library funding, especially from the federal government. Also, the CACUL submission advised that 10% of a university operating budget be regarded as a minimum standard for collection purposes. The Bladen Commission adopted the federal proposal for funding in its final report, Financing Higher Education in Canada, in 1965. A year later, in 1966, the Canada Council announced annual funding for university libraries for acquiring research collections which totalled more than $3,000,000 before it concluded in 1969.

The AUCC also agreed to launch a more extensive national survey with grants from the Canada Council and the Council on Library Resources in Washington, DC. Robert B. Downs, the Dean of Library Administration at the University of Illinois, was invited to lead a survey which included three Canadians. Downs had pursued an illustrious academic career and served as President of the American Library Association in 1953–53. His mandate was quite broad: he was charged with assessing library administrative and technical organization, staffing, buildings, collections, and financing to maintain expected growth in the following decade. The Downs report was published in 1967 entitled Resources of Canadian Academic and Research Libraries.

Robert Downs submitted his report with a wealth of information on the current conditions of university libraries. There were 35 tables of data on 43 institutions that revealed marked progress had been made just a few years after the Williams report had landed on many desks; for example, 17 libraries reported adding an annual average of more than 20,000 volumes between 1961–66, a noticeable improvement with immediate postwar conditions, 1945–60. Indeed, 1963–64 marked the first time university libraries collectively began to add more than a million volumes per year to their holdings. Resources studied eleven major areas including administration, technical services, buildings, reader services (reference, instruction, and circulation), mechanization and automation, finances to sustain growth, cooperative activities, collections, special research holdings, and faculty and student views of the library. Downs’ investigation was accomplished by conducting interviews, questionnaires, checklists, and personal observation. A total of 41 recommendations were made, many of which became standard guidelines for professional decision-making for a generation of administrators and librarians. The array of information Downs produced also influenced university administrators because they also believed in the value of higher education and the need for accessibility to satisfactory library resources and services.

Many of Downs’ recommendations seem rudimentary by today’s standards; for example, “for economy, efficiency, and effective service, library administration should be centralized” (p. 2), but the prevalence of 1960s campus departmental libraries and diffused authority warranted this type of review. In the area of automation, which libraries were only beginning to experiment with, Downs could only hint at future directions: “Developments in data processing have made feasible the concept of national and international library networks, offering new approaches to problems of gathering and retrieving certain types of information” (p. 5). The provision of photocopying services, established building standards, the recognition of professional librarians as key members of the academic community, the separation of clerical and professional duties in staffing, the exercise of leadership on the part of the National Library and the National Science Library in fostering cooperation, special grants from the Canada Council, and sharing of library resources on a local, regional, and national basis were all flagged as necessary to encourage growth. Downs reiterated William’s proposal that 10% of an institutional budget should be earmarked for library collections. Especially concerning collections, the report was explicit: “In no case should a college or university provide less than $150 per year for library maintenance for each full-time student. (p. 7). Further, Downs proposed that

Sustained financial support over a period of years is essential to the growth of strong libraries in Canadian universities; additional appropriations totaling $150,000,000 for collection development will be required over the next decade, beyond present budget allotments and the current rate of annual increases, for retrospective collecting, if these libraries are to reach a stage of development comparable to the leading American university libraries. (p. 6)

One interesting section of Resources that sparks interest now reveals student attitudes to 1960s libraries. Students did not prefer study halls and often brought their own books for study purposes. They indicated more reserve books were needed, assistance from staff was inadequate, and material was in another library elsewhere on campus. For their part, faculty suggested stronger research collections, staff specialists for collection development and reference, speedier processing and access to acquired materials, duplicate copies of books in frequent demand, improved inter-library loans, more efficient circulation systems, and, in a direct conflict with Down’s recommendation, more departmental libraries, especially in the sciences.

The Down’s report was well received. It became the subject of a conference—“Libraries for Tomorrow”—held in Montreal in April 1968 that the AUCC and CACUL convened to discuss the future of Canadian academic libraries. About seventy librarians attended, and papers were presented on future financing by Robert Blackburn (Toronto) and general trends in higher education by Basil Stuart-Stubbs (British Columbia). Although this meeting, subsequent discussions, and library reports on standardization and financing by the AUCC did not constitute a comprehensive review and working plan for the implementation of the Downs Report, many of its recommendations were taken to heart across Canada’s burgeoning university sector. In 1967, Downs concluded that “despite their rapid progress, the Canadian university libraries, on the whole, will require years of concentrated effort to bring their collections up to a high point of excellence.” (p. 224), and by 1971, there were six libraries with more than a million volumes: Toronto, McGill, British Columbia, Western, Montreal, and Laval.

For CACUL members, the report highlighted an area of significance that Downs was known for: his support for academic recognition of librarians. “In the case of college and university libraries, the institutions that will be most successful in attracting and holding able staff members are those where librarians are recognized as an integral part of the academic ranks, a vital group in the educational process, with high qualifications for appointment, and all the rights and privileges of other academic employees (p. 110).” When Downs compiled his survey, academic librarians were subject to various terms of service and methods of appointment. He suggested enlisting the support of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) to improve and standardize the status of university professional librarians, an approach adopted by CACUL that was to prove beneficial in gaining status for librarians and creating a common community of interest with faculty during the 1970s.

However, future economic conditions in the 1970s, namely, rising costs and slower growth, often referred to as ‘stagflation,’ would curb the rapid development of university libraries. Along with increasing rates of inflation, administrators faced new challenges, such as providing resources to support Canadian studies, automated bibliographic control, computerized searching, and sharing information through networking on a national scale. Libraries had to contend with the ‘information explosion’ as books and journals flooded the scholarly marketplace. New university programs were launched that often lacked adequate library resources. New faculty appointments were made, although it was difficult to support their specializations. The advent of cross-disciplinary programs required new library resource fields and services. The 1970s would be just as challenging as the 1960s, because  expectations exceeded eroded revenues. Observers of retrenchment in the decade following the Downs report often refer to a ‘golden age’ of university growth in the 1960s that had passed.

The reports by Edwin Williams and Robert Down were valuable reviews of current conditions and helpful guides to future action. As well, the reports heightened awareness and visibility concerning library needs in Canadian higher education. The two authors provided an astonishing wealth of information about collections, contemporary conditions, and potential costs of funding improved services. But there was no master national plan envisaged. While CACUL and CAUT assumed leadership for professional librarian concerns, the AUCC and senior university officials, together with library directors, were ultimately responsible for encouraging and implementing local progress. For the most part, the efforts of these groups and individuals were successful.

The Williams Report is available on the Internet Archive.

The Downs Report is available on the Internet Archive.

A New History of the English Public Library: Intellectual and Social Contexts, 1850–1914 by Alistair Black (1996)

A New History of the English Public Library: Intellectual and Social Contexts, 1850–1914 by Alistair Black. London: Leicester University Press, 1996. 353 p.

This blog is a condensed version of my review that appeared originally as “In review: the new history for public libraries,” Epilogue; Canadian Bulletin for the History of Books, Libraries, and Archives 11, 2 (1996): 27–35 published by Dalhousie University.

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Alistair Black recently published an important book on public library history in England. His timing is apt because it appears when speculation and pessimism about the prospect for library history exists. To distinguish his new history, Black has used a theoretical perspective and model for public library development in the Victorian-Edwardian period and presented his ideas using a non-narrative historical mode. As well, this New History explores the dimensions of the two library histories: history-as-event (the actual past) and history-as-account (past recorded by historians). His valuable work merits a critical review and it invites a short discussion about the study of library history from a Canadian context and a general historiographic perspective.

Black’s publication encompasses the period from the mid-Victorian years to the onset of the Great War. His main arguments are as follows. Beginning in the last part of the nineteenth century the public library as a social institution inspired and promoted an agenda of societal progress and individual self-realization that incorporated intellectual, aesthetic ideas, and material, practical concerns. Black contends that libraries were considered to be a stabilizing force because they were part of an overall civilizing process and because they incorporated existing elements of social control along class lines between 1850–1914. To organize his arguments, the author introduces a model composed of idealist and utilitarian “flywheels.” At the societal-structural level, each of these revolving, conceptual movements were a source of aesthetic and practical arguments to encourage access to resources in municipal rate-supported public libraries.

The cultural uplift and stabilizing missions that libraries undertook are historical reconstructions that are relatively familiar and less controversial territory for library historians today than more than two decades ago when Michael H. Harris published a thought-provoking revisionist article on social control concerning the origin of the Boston Public Library in the 15th September 1973 issue of Library Journal. What is new is Black’s over-arching interpretation of library growth and the non-narrative basis of his work. He provides convincing deductive, theoretical statements about the general nature of culture and the relevance of social stability. In addition, he deliberately eschews the methodology that library historians have traditionally employed: various chapters of the New History focus on questions or issues rather than chronology, description, and narration of events. It is intellectual history at work, the viewpoint that ideas are major factors in shaping historical events.

I would encourage readers to explore the New History, for many stimulating ideas can be found. However, for the purpose of this review, I must be content with a brief summary.

In chapters 1–2, Black’s definitions of culture and social stability are discussed. As well, the public library goal of free service and tax-based funding is viewed from the different outlooks of the English social classes. In this context, the public library’s role in easing social tensions becomes a central part of its early development during a period of class conflict and the extension of political rights to the working class. The first part of Black’s book provides essential structural and theoretical information for the reader.

Next, the utilitarian promotion of public libraries by philosophic thinkers, such as John Stuart Mill, William Ewart, Edward Edwards, and the 1849 Select Committee parliamentary inquiry, is investigated in chapters 3–5. Material issues—the library’s contribution to the value of useful knowledge, the achievement of economic well-being by individuals through lifelong learning, and the demonstration of political economic benefits (e.g., the growth of a skilled workforce for labour markets)-are covered in chapter 6. Obviously, the utilitarian flywheel helped generate library development during the birth of the public library movement at mid-century.

In chapter 7, the idealist flywheel, particularly reform liberalism that encouraged state intervention, a more informed citizenship, and equality, is introduced. The influential idealist philosophy of Thomas Hill Green is especially relevant here. In the following chapter, Black argues that many idealist elements became the principal concerns of an assertive middle class which endorsed the concept of cultural advancement associated with free libraries. This process included support for ideas related to social control and emulation of many worthy Victorian virtues, such as success, that harmonized social relations in the later part of the nineteenth century.

Black proceeds in chapters 9–10 to analyze and describe an emerging profession of librarians and public library design. As librarians gradually adopted an expanded public service ethic, they also advanced scientific claims for their own profession. These developments are discussed in terms of power and status and their properties in society. As well, the design of social space in libraries exhibited changing architectural styles and plans; for example, open access to collections recognized democratic reforms and monumental, decorative exteriors reflected the public’s preference for expressing civic prominence and dignity. By 1914, Black deems that the major phases of development in the New History had evolved fully.

In his concluding chapter, Black discusses his main arguments about the public library’s important stabilizing societal role before 1914 in dispensing humanistic and scientific education that satisfied the aesthetic and material concerns of all classes. Here, and throughout New History, I find his arguments informative, balanced, and convincing in terms of an historical account for England. The reader is not at a loss for definitions and relationships between variables. Within each chapter, Black identifies social terms (e.g., hegemony, status) and conducts an extensive examination of the connections that library promoters had with the two main conceptual flywheels. As he notes at an early stage, this can be a “heavyweight treatment” (p. 4), and, in the case of how much idealist philosophy the public library promoters read, he acknowledges that the evidence is slight in chapter 7 (p. 157). Akin to other British and American library history colleagues who have recently developed new research fronts, Black has launched a fresh approach and navigated his subject with vigour and candour.

Other library historians also believe the use of theory and hypotheses may serve us well. Clearly, Black favours using rigorous historical methodology common to the social sciences. He feels, for many reasons, that traditional event-based historical works lack a focus or do not effectively serve contemporary librarianship. Conceptual frameworks, structural inquiries, and non-chronological presentations can be difficult to read, but they have merits that appear in New History. First, there is a more explicit approach to historical assumptions about chronological periods and the social structure within which library development occurred. This approach allows a theory of library development to be elaborated without the interruption of any [hi]story. Second, ideas about library growth and progress are set out as theses to be tested from the available evidence rather than sequences of events to be followed step-by-step. Third, terminology from the social sciences, e.g., social hegemony (how the domination of a group or groups is achieved by political and ideological means) or culture (the beliefs, customs, and way of life of groups), are presented in a more precise way. Finally, the use of models, the energizing, methodically revolving flywheels in this case, is introduced for specific purposes to represent the real world.

The use of theory and models in the New History requires some examination. It is not theory on a grand scale: its role is more humble. We are not dealing with the Frontier, Staple, Laurentian, or Metropolitan-Hinterland Theses that Canadian history students study from a national perspective to explain Canada’s development. Black’s use of theory provides a conceptual framework for historical inquiry, a means to describe and to understand library development by testing evidence for the utilitarian-idealist model. This application allows for a certain coherent, structured analysis throughout. After the evidence has been interpreted, analyzed, and presented, the reader should give some thought to the overall hypothesis of the “why” of development. Of course, the place of theory in history is a matter of continuing debate. Some historians, especially in Britain, would reject the use of theories in their inquiries because they believe that people and events have a uniqueness and singular importance each of their own.

Black’s modelling effort for the 1850–1914 period also presents an opportunity to be creative. Historical models can be helpful frameworks that set out the major components involved and indicate their importance. In this way, unconscious assumptions cannot impose upon the “facts” (judgements on the past which historians usually agree upon), the historian of libraries must focus upon how components relate to one another in the historical process. The reader profits from a more systematic presentation of issues. Of course, any model is not an actual replica of a process: one important criticism of structuralism is that it discounts the struggles that individuals and groups engage in to achieve their goals. Models should act as a link between theory, hypotheses, and observations and the historical field of study. They should not displace people and events in historical reconstructions.

At a more general historical level we could ask: what are historians attempting to do, and what is history about? After all, Alistair Black refers to the present unrest in library history (pp. 16-19), and, in his concluding chapter, entices his readers (myself at least) to explore the interrelationships between history-as-event and history-as-account by discovering how contemporary late twentieth-century public library viewpoints of service may be invigorated by observing more proactive Victorian and Edwardian precedents. He is especially concerned that today’s libraries and librarians make modest societal claims; indeed, they appear to have lost the ability to stake out valuable positions that would attract widespread support and actively promote further library growth. But we must understand that introspection is not limited to the field of library studies. The entire historical profession has been engaged in serious self-analysis for some time. Today there are numerous historical schools of thought, but, in general, there are four main groupings. There are those who continue to narrate the events of history and use a chronological format for their presentations. Typically, this is the “old history,” but there have been new converts to narration in the last twenty years. There are social-scientific oriented historians who employ a broad range of analyses and quantitative techniques. There are Marxists. And there are many followers of the French Annales school, a very diverse group which explores all aspects of history, the events of everyday life and the subconscious. In fact, these four groupings have existed for decades and it is difficult to say what is old or new about their approaches or selection of subject matter. The old history is not a monolithic edifice by any means because it is continually refreshed by new ideas and methods.

Increasingly, postmodern concerns intrude on the study of history. Postmodernism presents a challenge to the historical profession at the same time that, in its own way, it provides fresh historical insights. Generally, postmodernists dismiss history: they declare it is empty of meaning for individuals, groups, or nations; or conversely, say that “everyone is his/her own historian” in the search for past meanings. There are many arguments to be presented against the linearity of time, the objectivity of historians, and the conventional, narrative explanations frequently presented in history books. The “end of-history” is a phrase now often raised by contemporaries; it seems to signal the end of identifiable historical directions; the rejection of progress or evolutionary historical explanations; and skepticism about the value of historical narratives, theory, models, and explanation.

Postmodern critics challenge the very basis of historical inquiry. They reject the view that historians should or can be objective; they scoff at the idea that history-as-account can help interpret or transmit our cultural heritage to future generations; they deny that reason can be used to explain history-as-event, the past we all view from different perspectives; and, further, they deny that there is a real, knowable past. History for many postmoderns is a very limited, personal inquiry with mostly contemporary time frames; discontinuous events; and stories drawn from memory, interpreted texts, as well as a great variety of non-traditional documentary sources. It is as important to feel history as it is to understand it. These redefinitions have serious consequences. Without the concept of linear time and the status of scientific objectivity, historians find the creation of causal explanations an impossible task. Theory making at any level, on a meta- or micro-scale, becomes a transient activity with relatively few definite consequences.

What then can we be sure of? Library historians deal with what has taken place. In my view, historical knowledge cannot be an exact set of true statements, completely accurate descriptions, or definitive representations of the past. We must acknowledge limits to our understanding and the potential for different interpretations of events, facts, and evidence. Historical knowledge, like the science of physics or chemistry, must rest on understanding existing evidence. Because we cannot be certain that all relevant evidence is available to us in our present, there can be no closure on historical explanations, cause and effect relationships, structural analysis, or chronicle of past deeds and events. The dimension of time is always with us, and within it, we will constantly change our perspectives between the present and points in the past. The pursuit of new possibilities seems limitless.

Black’s New History should be viewed in this light. In the past half-century, a number of classic histories on public library development in the United States and Britain have focused on the “why” of public library growth. However, I believe library historians should not be too preoccupied with explaining why things have happened. Instead, they should also explain the how, what, when, who, and where of library history. These explanations require different questions: “What restrictions should be placed on the contents of a public library?”; “How did the practice of open access to public library collections come about?”; “Who was responsible for promoting public library growth?”; or “When did classification systems become standardized in public libraries?” The events and agents of change are as important as the concept of causation in history, and depending on the question or audience the historian is addressing, different forms of presentation will be employed.

At times, it is very difficult to separate history-as-account from history-as-event. The past shapes much of the present. What is written about the past and the way it is presented can influence contemporary historical events. Exactly how the past affects the present can be a historical and even a philosophical problem. Perhaps it is best to view the past as an open book, with many pages and many possibilities for additional pages. Historians have many procedures and methods which help us explore the past. Alistair Black’s New History has a lasting value. His book offers us new perspectives and explanations about the development of public libraries, and at the same time he encourages us to attempt to use different historical methods which lead to new discoveries about past and contemporary libraries and librarians.

The old history will always be with us, ready to be infused with the new history. In time, the new history itself will be challenged by even newer historical perspectives and methodologies and face the prospect of change. In many ways, the past is before us and the history of public libraries is ripe for (re)exploration, (re) interpretation, and, ultimately, revitalization.

 

The Canadian Library Association is Formed, June 1946

When the Second World War ended in summer 1945, the long-awaited time for creating a national organization for Canadian librarians, trustees, staff, and anyone interested in libraries had arrived. For almost four years, the Canadian Library Council (CLC), headed first by Charles Sanderson, Toronto Public Library, and then by Margaret Gill, National Research Library, had been planning for the establishment of a national association on a membership basis. There was general agreement that a country-wide association to promote library interests and a national library to provide services that were not currently available to Canadians were both essential. Earlier in the year, in April, the Council had set up specific committees to prepare concrete proposals concerning an organizational meeting and a constitution to be adopted by provincial library associations during summer and autumn 1945. Another  measure, a national survey of libraries to ascertain existing conditions and future library needs was also brought forward for action.

Afterwards, Elizabeth Homer Morton, the CLC executive director working from the National Research Library, crisscrossed the country to seven provinces to discuss matters, such as the national association, inter-library cooperation, and the proposed library survey. By the end of 1945, all seven provincial associations had approved the main CLC resolution. General sentiment favoured an association based on personal membership open to anyone interested in libraries. Because the American Library Association was due to convene in Buffalo in late June 1946, Canadian organizers decided that their meeting should be in proximity to allow for attendance at both conferences. The CLC formed an activities committee under the direction of Freda F. Waldon, Hamilton Public Library, to determine the scope of the proposed organization. Her colleague, Marget Meikelham at McMaster University, began arrangements to host the first meeting on her campus. Thus, the stage was set for an initial founding conference in Hamilton from Friday, June 14th, to Sunday, June 16th, 1946.

The theme selected for the organizational conference was Libraries in the Life of a Nation. The advance program featured two keynote addresses on national issues: the Liberal cabinet minister, Secretary of State Paul Martin, speaking on National Unity and Citizenship and Dr. Luther Evans, Librarian of Congress, speaking on The National Library in the Life of the Nation. As well, several workshop meetings with consultants; private meetings of individuals with mutual interests; a meeting of the new Executive; an assembly vote to create CLA; and the setting up of national committees were also features. Then, some members would be free to travel to Buffalo to attend ALA.

Convocation Hall in McMaster University Hall

The CLC met in Hamilton on June 12–13 at the Royal Connaught Hotel on King Street to review the activities of 1945/46 and make final preparations for the conference. Then, Margaret Gill opened the conference for delegates on Friday morning in Convocation Hall. “I hope that you all feel as I do, that this is really a very thrilling occasion. The older librarians will know that this is the culmination of a great many years of effort to give Canada a national library association. There have been various attempts in the past, and they have not succeeded in getting beyond the very first stage of good intentions. Today and tomorrow we are going to see something more effective. Both the weather and the reception we have had at McMaster indicate that we are well on the way to a good start.” Gerhard Lomer (McGill University) followed with a speech on the background of events leading up to the proposed national organization. Then, a panel discussion on the Canadian library scene was held to inform members about the state of libraries nationwide.

The Friday afternoon session was given over to concerns about the proposed CLA constitution, financial affairs, and proposed CLA activities. Delegates made an important addition to the draft constitution by insisting that its title be bilingual before leaving for a tour of the Hamilton Public Library. Later in the evening, two speakers addressed delegates. C. Cecil Lingard, chief librarian at Regina, spoke about the role of UNESCO and its potential for change. Canada was a founding member of UNESCO, which came into being later in 1946. Paul Martin, the federal MP representing Windsor and Secretary of State for Canada in the Liberal Cabinet, emphasized the political and cultural importance of national institutions. Because Canada exhibited many different ethnic origins and regional disparities, “it is not surprising that in this country, despite our pride in our heritage, we find ourselves less unified than many of us would like.” He fully supported the work of librarians and the need for a national organization. “Your organization can assume an important role in developing a sense of Canadian unity. Through your work in the community you can bring knowledge of other communities. You can help explain to one part of Canada what other parts of Canada are like. You can contribute to the basic understanding that our fellow citizens, wherever they live, are much the same. They have the same objectives, they want the same guarantees and the same securities.”

Librarians resumed discussion on the constitution on Saturday morning before the announcement of the slate of officers for 1946/47.

President: Freda Waldon, Hamilton
First Vice-President:  W. K. Lamb, University of British Columbia
Second Vice-President:  Joseph Brunet, Montreal Catholic School Commission
Treasurer:  Hugh Gourlay, Edmonton
The current members of the CLC were elected councillors for one year pending the election of 1947.

The Saturday afternoon was given over to eight workshops on particular interests: (1) work with film collections, (2) library building design highlighting the London Public Library opened in 1941, (3) effective organization of library services, especially along regional lines, (4) Canadian reference tools, (5) cataloguing for the nation highlighted by a talk by Rev. Robert J. Scollard, St. Michael’s College, Toronto, who stressed the need for a National Library to take the lead in classifying, bibliographic control, and cataloguing for all Canada, (6) the possibility of library services from community centres, and (7) young person’s interests. Another session, held by the Canadian Association of Children’s Libraries, formed in 1939, decided to ask the CLA executive to establish their group as a distinct section of the new association. Sheila Egoff made a presentation on radio programming for children, and Jean Thompson, Toronto Public Library, was elected chair of this group for 1946/47.

For the evening session, Dr. Luther Evans described the evolution of the Library of Congress, touching upon one of its main responsibilities: “the complex of problems connected with mastering the devices to make these constantly increasing books and documents, sound recordings and motion pictures, newspapers and manuscripts, accessible to scholars and general readers.” Regarding the collections, he alluded to the need for work on a national basis, “co-operation that must inevitably be spearheaded by a leading agency such as a national library.” Loud applause erupted at the end of his speech and Dr. Evans told the audience that if they did not stop clapping, he would give another speech. The evening session concluded with the showing of three library films and discussions about the possibility of using films for public relations programs.

The general conference closed on Saturday night with an address by CLA’s first president, Freda Waldon. She kept her remarks short. “I just want to say that I am very conscious of the honour you have done me and very apprehensive of the responsibility that goes with it. I can only say that I will do my best, and I hope that I shall not let you down after the splendid leadership you have had from Miss Gill.” She finished by saying, “I feel that this conference is a challenge to us and an historic occasion and I do hope that we shall be able to make it go. We have just got to make it go.”

By all accounts, CLA-ACB was off to a successful start. The transition from the Canadian Library Council to the new association was a testament to the leadership, vision, and hard work of a dedicated few, such as Elizabeth Homer Morton, who had moved to Ottawa from Toronto to become secretary.  National goals were being developed and a small (300) membership base slowly expanded. The new executive and CLC councillors departed for ALA in Buffalo on Monday morning where they would meet again. Americans were hopeful that a national organization could be formed and traditional ties with Canadian members would be maintained. The CLC would continue in existence until the new association was incorporated. This eventually took place in December 1947 when W.K. Lamb was CLA president.

During its first CLA executive-council session in October 1946, a dinner meeting was held in Toronto with representatives from learned societies and national organizations. Of course, the principal topics were plans for a national library and a joint brief to the federal government. Shortly afterwards, a brief, A National Library for Canada; A Brief Presented to the Government of Canada, was prepared under the sponsorship of the Canadian Library Association, the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Historical Association, the Canadian Political Science Association and the Social Science Research Council of Canada. It emphasized services rather than a new building housing an extensive collection. It is the subject of my earlier blog published in 2021. 

Although it was not officially incorporated, the new association had immediately assumed all the activities of the older CLC and its executive office in Ottawa. Its primary pursuit after 1947 was a national library, and for this reason CLA-ACB repeated its ideas again in another brief in 1949, The National Library of Canada, Its Eventual Character and Scope that I discussed in an earlier blog. Although it took several years, in 1952 the National Library Act was passed by the Canadian Parliament, becoming law in January 1953.

A biography of Freda Waldon is available on the Ex Libris Association website.

A biography of Margaret Gill is available on the Ex Libris Association website.

The Morton Years: The Canadian Library Association, 1946–1971 can be read free at the Internet Archive by creating an account.

Biography: Anne Isabel Hume (1892–1966)

For many years, Anne Hume was a dynamic force in Canadian librarianship. From 1936–57, she was the Chief Librarian of Windsor, Ontario, a city that grew to more than 120,000 population during her tenure. During this time, Ann Hume grew with the city: she was a founding member of the Windsor Art Association and the Education Council, a co-organizer of the Institute of Community Leadership, a charter member of the Nutrition Council, a charter member and director of Windsor and District Film Council, a charter member and later the President of the University Women’s Club, a charter member of the Zonta Club, and President of the Music, Literature and Art Club. She was on the executive of the Windsor Council of Women and on the Community Welfare Council, a member of Assumption University of Windsor Senate, a member of the Adult Education Commission, and served on the board of the YWCA. On a professional basis, she was President of the Ontario Library Association (1940–41) and President of the Canadian Library Association (1954–55). Anne Hume was a charming hostess at home as well as other venues and enjoyed a good game of golf. She retired to Campbellford in 1963, a town she knew as youngster, and died there in 1966.

I originally posted this biographical synopsis of Anne Hume for the Ex Libris Association in 2021. The post also continues on the current ELA website. The portrait is her graduate BA portrait that appeared in the Queen's Yearbook for the Arts, 1914.

Anne Isabel Hume

b. 5 April 1892, Seymour Twp. (near Campbellford), ON; d. 3 Jan. 1966, Campbellford, ON.

Education:

1914 BA Queen’s University
1915 Specialist Teaching Certificate in English and History Queen’s University
1919 Library certificate Ontario Library School, Toronto
1957 LL.D. Queen’s University

Positions:

1915–19 Ontario High school teacher in Beaverton, New Liskeard and Campbellford
1920 Library Assistant, Fort William Public Library (now Thunder Bay)
1920–36 Chief Librarian, Walkerville Public Library
1936–57 Chief Librarian, Windsor Public Library
Occasional lecturer, McGill and Toronto University Library Schools

Publications:

Hume, Anne (1933). “Adult education and reading lists.” Ontario Library Review 17 (3): 102–104.
Hume, Anne (1937). “City of Windsor Public Library system.” Ontario Library Review 21 (3): 133.
Hume, Anne (1938). “Pensions.” Ontario Library Review 22 (3): 193–194.
Hume, Anne (1939). “Public libraries and the schools.” Ontario Library Review 23 (2): 119–20.
Hume, Anne (1941). “Presidential address [Books in Wartime].” Ontario Library Review 25 (3): 232–234.
Hume, Anne (1944). “An experiment in community integration of the arts.” Ontario Library Review 28 (4): 478–480.
Hume, Anne (1947). “The building programme of the public library in relation to its functions.” Journal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada 24 (2): 42–45, 60.
Hume, Anne (1948). “The public library and the community [Pt. 1].” Quill and Quire 14: 19–21 & 28.
Hume, Anne (1948). “The public library and the community [Pt. 2].” Quill and Quire 14: 37–40.
Hume, Anne (1948). “The Public library and the community [Pt. 3].” Quill and Quire 14: 16–19.
Hume, Anne (1949). “The librarian in the community.” Ontario Library Review 33 (1): 41–44.
Hume, Anne (1949). “Know your Library Week [in Windsor].” Canadian Library Association Bulletin 5 (4): 136–140.
Hume, Anne (1954). “The Year Ahead, 1954-1955.” In Proceedings of the Canadian Library Association 9th Annual Conference Meeting, Halifax, 21–24 June 1954, pp. 30–33. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association.
Hume, Anne (1955). “Seminole Branch Library, Windsor, Ontario.” Ontario Library Review 39 (4): 228–232.
Hume, Anne (1955). “President’s Address.” In Proceedings of the Canadian Library Association 10th Annual Conference Meeting, Saskatoon, 20–25 June 1955, pp. 4–10. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association.

Associations:

President, Ontario Library Association, 1940–1941
President, Canadian Library Association, 1954–1955
American Library Association, councillor
Canadian Association for Adult Education, councillor
founding member of the Windsor Art Association in 1936

“Miss Hume was more than a fine librarian in the technical sense. She was a woman of firm convictions to which she held with perseverance. She was willing to fight for the library cause and had she been lacking in this characteristic she could not have achieved all that she did. Her influence was felt also in many other community organizations in which she had been so active.” — Windsor Star, January 4, 1966

Sources:

 

“Anne Hume: Librarian, Book Service Pioneer Dies,” Windsor Star, January 4, 1966
Canadian Who’s Who 1958–1961
Windsor Public Library video profile of Anne Hume to celebrate International Women’s Day [one-and-a-half minutes]