LILLIAN HELENA SMITH WEBSITE

There are not many websites dedicated to Canadian librarians, so these web pages on Lillian H. Smith at are very welcome: just go to Lillian H. Smith to check through extensive biographic and bibliographic information, images, and may other features about her life.

There is a wealth of information available here on Smith's career, her writings, and research about her work. Smith started in Toronto Public Library in 1912 as the first trained children's librarian in Canada. She stayed for four decades before her retirement and developed the finest children's services in the county. Toronto's branch, the Lillian H. Smith Library, opened in 1995 to honour her contributions.

This terrific site created by Michael Manchester at the University of Western Ontario.

The Institute of Professional Librarians of Ontario, 1960–1976

Recently a paper on IPLO was published by Greg Linnell in the Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science: The Institute of Professional Librarians of Ontario; On the History and Historiography of a Professional Association. Greg is interested in library history and is currently at the Library Services Centre in Kitchener, ON.

Greg Linnell's descriptive analysis of the histories of the Institute of Professional Librarians of Ontario (1960–1976) reveals not only the circumstances surrounding the creation, growth, and decline of this significant expression of the professionalization of librarianship but also highlights the ways in which the historical narration of the profession must look beyond the traditional delineation of intrinsic traits in order to circumscribe librarianship more adequately. To that end, consideration is given to one important factor, the Royal Commission Inquiry into Civil Rights (1964–71). It is evident that historical recovery of this sort is crucial to the profession’s self-understanding as it negotiates its contemporary stance with respect to both librarians and the publics that they serve.

Greg has agreed to let me post this here, so please take time to read about IPLO. Itwas an important Association, espeially in the 1960s, that expressed many librarians' views about professionalism in Ontario and their efforts to create a professional organization that could speak for librarians in all types of libraries.

To download Greg's article just go to: IPLO