Canadian Library History Blog

Charles Henry Gould is a significant figure in Canadian library history. From the time of his appointment as University Librarian at McGill University in 1892 until his death in 1919, he made valuable contributions to the emerging vocation of librarianship. He was instrumental in persuading the American Library Association to convene its annual conference in Montreal in 1900, during which he invited librarians to a meeting to form a Canadian library association that eventually became the Ontario Library Association in 1901. Gould developed McGill's collection in the Redpath Library, which became Canada's largest academic library in the early 20th century. In the field of library education, he initiated a summer course for librarians in 1904 that evolved into the McGill Library School, accredited by the American Library Association in 1927, shortly after his death. While he served as ALA President from 1908–09, the organization moved its headquarters to Chicago and revised its...

Ontario library class, 1980s A New Vision for Teacher-Librarians in the 1980s The growth of elementary and secondary schools for two decades after 1960 led to the rapid development of school library facilities, improved collections, and qualified staffing on an unprecedented scale. Statistics Canada reported in 1979 that 72 percent of Canadian schools operated a centralized library (8,201) serving 85 percent of the total school population (3,698,512). However, only 47 percent of these schools had a full-time professional librarian/media professional due to the large number of rural and smaller schools. Total staffing reported as 5,171: there were 451 professional librarians, 3,390 other professionals, and 1,330 support staff. The average material expenditure per secondary school library was about three times larger than that per elementary school library. Throughout this thriving period, school librarianship had entailed the promotion of a general model program based on the role of...

On the grounds of the Niagara Historical Society and Museum in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake there is a familiar Ontario Heritage Trust plaque erected in 1984 commemorating the contributions of a respected local woman, Janet Carnochan. Janet Carnochan, n.d. For more than thirty years Janet Carnochan, a native of Stamford, Ontario, taught elementary and secondary school at Niagara-on-the Lake, but she made her greatest contribution to the community as a historian rather than as an educator. A distinguished historical preservationist, Carnochan founded and was first president of the Niagara Historical Society, 1895-1925, and laboured tirelessly to safeguard and promote the rich heritage of Niagara. She wrote and edited numerous historical works including the History of Niagara and successfully campaigned for the construction of Memorial Hall, the first building erected for the purpose of a museum in Ontario. In 1949, when the town's former high school was incorporated into this ...

In the early stage of the public library movement in Ontario after the Free Libraries Act came into force in 1882, there were no standalone public library buildings. The concept of the Canadian public library as a public building—a building type in its own right—was in its infancy. Of course, architects and librarians could refer to purpose-built American or British buildings, but these normally were in metropolitan cities supported by sufficient private philanthropy and ongoing municipal tax support. The four 'large' populated Ontario cities in the census of 1891 were Toronto (181,220), Hamilton (48,980). Ottawa (44,154). and London (31,977). Of these smaller cities, three would undertake to establish a separate building before 1895. These communities would generally follow Anglo-American ideas concerning library purpose, public access, book storage, and user needs (such as separate reading rooms) within a single structure. The proper arrangement of space for the needs and p...

Henry Pearson Gundy was a prominent scholar-librarian who made important contributions to Canadian literature, printing, and publishing as well as library services. After commencing his career in 1931 at the new campus of McMaster University in Hamilton, Gundy taught for a short time at the University of Chicago before becoming an English professor and eventually head of the English Department at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick. Then, towards the end of WW II, Gundy's career track changed after he completed a summer course in library studies at Columbia University, a prestigious library school many Canadians attended to further their careers. In 1947, he was appointed chief librarian of Queen's University, succeeding the retiring incumbent, E. C. Kyte. Under his leadership for almost two decades the Queen's library expanded its services, staffing, and collections, notably the Lorne Pierce collection of Canadiana. By the time he relinquished his office, in 1966, th...