Ottawa and Nepean Public Libraries in 20th Century by Phil Jenkins

The Library Book: An Overdue History of the Ottawa Public Library 1906-2001. By Phil Jenkins. Ottawa Public Library, 2002. 150 p. illus. paper. Also available as Une bibliothèque vivante: l'histoire tant attendue de la Bibliothèque publique d'Ottawa, 1906-2001.

       Popular history! What’s that? Well, here it is for librarians and the history of libraries in Ontario. Phil Jenkins, the well-known Ottawa area writer and book lover, has authored award-winning works such as Fields of Vision: a Journey to Canada’s Family Farms (1991) and An Acre of Time (1996). Now he has turned his attention to libraries.

       Jenkins’ Library Book was commissioned by the Ottawa Public Library in 2000 to highlight OPL’s history prior to amalgamation arising from Ontario’s municipal reforms in the 1990s. Not surprisingly, Jenkins has aimed at a general audience and provides his own insights along with engaging anecdotes and particulars.

       Popular history takes many forms and directions. It is not simply a matter of recognizing differences between academic jargon vs. journalist style. There are many examples of valuable popular histories – Margaret MacMillan’s Paris 1919, Pierre Berton’s Klondike, and Peter C. Newman’s Company of Adventurers. These are trustworthy, interesting histories that fill a void in the historical record. Some academics might argue that Jenkins’ approach is too biographical and lacks both analysis and argument. But Overdue History strives to engage the public reader and even attract a new audience to library history through local-regional interest. In this context, Jenkins’ work is valuable in its own right.

       Popular histories have some appealing characteristics. They are normally narrative in structure and less analytical. Historical narratives often feature interesting characters, with entire sections devoted to one or more persons to demonstrate their influence. Of course, serious writers will integrate some analysis with various important issues. Interestingly, narrative history has made a resurgence since the 1980s, even in academic circles. Another common argument vs. popular history is that it is “too political” or “too traditional.” In the current historiographic library history debates in the UK and the USA “too institutional” might be another criticism. But at the micro-local level other approaches are not always suitable or viable. Further, community groups and formal organizations like public libraries are integral parts of social history, worthy of being “central characters” to build history around. Although popular histories may lack the sweep of broader social and economic aspects that influence the development of libraries and the professional makeup of librarians, they do offer up facts and events that can be used to illustrate broader trends. Finally, a more forceful argument is that many popular histories seldom offer new or useful contributions or interpretations to our understanding of history. This is not the case with Jenkins’ Library Book because the author returns to what he considers the central mission of libraries from time to time while describing changing services and operational modes.

       Jenkins’ traces the evolution of Ottawa's public library (and eventually its branch system) in nine chapters, six which are shaped around the chief librarians — Lawrence Burpee (1905-12); William Sykes (1912-36); Frederick Jennings (1936-53); Claude Aubry (1953-79), who received in Order of Canada in 1974; Gilles Frappier (1979-95); and Barbara Clubb (1995-present). The Library Book covers many highlights prior to 2001. Only a few can be mentioned here:

-- an effort by the Council of Women in 1895-96 to establish a free public library, a campaign that was defeated decisively for a variety of reasons;

-- Andrew Carnegie’s $100,000 gift for a new library which opened in 1906 and served the city until its demolition in 1971;

-- the opening of Rideau branch by former Prime Minister Robert Borden during the depression year of 1934 (a bilingual branch declared a heritage building in 1998);

-- the implementation of the ever-popular bookmobile service in 1953 (which has survived many budget scenarios);

-- the opening of Carlingwood, a small branch in a shopping centre in 1957, an innovation that would spread to other public library systems in cities across Canada;

-- a barcoded circulation system, ULISYS, in 1980;

-- establishment of Friends of the OPL in 1981 (the library’s 75^th anniversary);

-- the creation of a writer-in-residence program in 1987;

-- the 1996 launch of library services on the internet via web browsers;

-- the amalgamation in 2001 of surrounding municipalities that expanded OPL from 8 branches to 36.

        The Library Book is illustrated with revealing portraits of people and building projects, logos, and snippets from reports and newspapers (one on Adrienne Clarkson using children’s books when she was 10). The cover cleverly displays an important chronology of OPL dates stamped on an old date due card that was library staple for many decades prior to the advent of computerized circulation systems. Jenkins offers a short account of a typical “day in the life” at the busy Main library starting at the early hour of 6:30 a.m. for the library’s staff, readers, librarians, courier services, computer terminals, and all involved in operating a complex system. The author finishes with some futuristic thoughts. In the 21^st century, computers and digital works may replace books as the most used items. Physical buildings may decline in number and size. But the library’s rationale for providing reading materials, knowledge, and personalized public service will continue. Jenkins thinks there is more work to be done! I think he’s right. OPL’s story is not over – in fact, I will also review his other library history on Nepean, completed in 2005, in the near future.

*******

Shelf Life: the short, full story of the Nepean Public Library. By Phil Jenkins. Ottawa Public Library, 2005. 76 p. illus. paper.

       Back in November, 2009, I promised a review of Phil Jenkins second book published by the OPL on Nepean Township's branches. Like The Library Book, its predecessor, Shelf Life is a readable, well-illustrated, shorter account without footnotes or a lengthy bibliography -- just the kind of book many library readers in the Ottawa area might like for a gift! (I had to get a plug in for Christmas).

       Jenkins' organization is straightforward starting with a quotation from Shakespeare's Tempest "my library was a dukedom large enough" (remember Prospero played by the late William Hutt at Stratford in 2005) then a drama in three acts/chapters: Beginning, Chronology, End with a few afterwords of remembrance by users and staff. This is history at work on a number of levels: memory, chronicle, and brief narratives.

       Like Prospero, Nepean's citizens have taken home many learned books over the years, no doubt neglecting other activities but considering their time well spent nonetheless. Jenkins deals with Nepean township's early public library history which began with Egerton Ryerson's school-based system for children and adults in 1853. This small library, like other early township libraries in Ontario, did not survive and it would not be until the 1950s that Nepean's library rose again.

       Postwar Ontario brought many changes, among them the growth of suburban townships around larger centres in Toronto, Hamilton, and Ottawa. New central libraries, branches, and bookmobiles emerged in rapidly growing townships such as North York and Etobicoke and Saltfleet. And Nepean was no exception: its systematic growth (Nepean was incorporated as a city in 1978) began again with the small police village, City View (now an Ottawa neighbourhood), voting for a library in 1955. Ruth E. Dickinson was instrumental in providing the enthusiasm and effort behind the early growth of libraries in Nepean and Jenkins highlights her determination to succeed. She would be joined by many others, notably Betty Butterill who made important contributions to the Ontario Library Association's Trustees section in the 1970s. The long-standing mayor, Ben Franklin, was a supporter as well on the political stage from the late 1970s and today a branch bears his name.

       In four decades, the Nepean library system grew from a small building at City View which counted on small donations to "add value" to its services in the 1950s to a large-scale operation that circulated more than a million books per year with a budget of five million dollars a year in the late 1990s. Its staff became unionized, it held more than 300,000 volumes for its 80,000+ registered users, and it offered a variety of programs to about 25,000 attendees each year.

       But the sets, not just the actors and actresses, change on the municipal stage of life. In the provincially sponsored civic amalgamation reviews held across Ontario of the late 1990s, Nepean became part of the greater city of Ottawa effective 1 January 2001. Nepean's library transition team worked hard to include its four branches in the new Ottawa area system and to seek a new identity. A final board meeting held on 20 December 2000 honored 45 years of service to Nepean. Ruth E. Dickinson served as honorary chair for this meeting, a fitting way to say goodbye and celebrate the past.

       Jenkins' book is a good read -- like many of the books in Nepean's libraries over the years. Shelf Life's structure is different and its chronology reliable and well-worth recounting for library history purposes. I wish my copy was inscribed!

Originally posted in 2009