Library History Today Blog

Douglas Library, c. 1930 The history of Canadian university and college libraries remains an understudied subject. To be sure, the ‘golden age’ of rapid expansion of facilities and progressive professional development after 1960 has attracted attention. But, despite decades of interaction between Canada's educated elite (students, administrators, and faculty) and campus libraries and librarians, the period prior to 1960 is mostly the record of individual librarians (usually directors), iconic buildings (e.g., the Douglas Library in Queen’s University), and underdeveloped collections. In the general history of all Canadian libraries that emphasizes the public library movement, the Carnegie building program between 1900–1925, regional library growth after the 1930s, the postwar formation of the Canadian Library Association (1946) and establishment of National Library legislation (1953), and the dramatic contrast between library development in Quebec and English-speaking ...

“Building Canadian Electronic Libraries: The Experience in Ontario Public Libraries, 1960-2010” by Lorne D. Bruce. Article published in Libraries in the Early 21st Century. Volume 1, An International Perspective [pp. 92-104], edited on behalf of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions by Dr. Ravindra N. Sharma. Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter Saur, 2012.ix, 398 p.; ill.; map. Years ago, shortly after the disastrous financial depression of 2008-09, I was asked to write about the Canadian experience with electronic libraries in the last half of the 20th century. There are few such studies in Canadian library history, but it was agreed that I would contribute a paper on Ontario's public library experience with automation, electronic-virtual-digital libraries, and ‘Library 2.0.’ Of course, a provincial outline must incorporate national and international technological developments. I tried to balance my article within a chronological framework that would i...