Libraries in the Post War Period by Charles Sanderson, 1944

Libraries in the Post War Period, Being the Report of the Chief Librarian to the Toronto Public Library Board, January, 1944 by Charles R. Sanderson. Toronto: Toronto Public Library Board, 1944. 18 p.

Charles Sanderson’s Libraries in the Post War Period, published in January 1944, naturally focused on Toronto’s efforts and touched on the integration of national, provincial, and local matters. Sanderson had been recruited in England by George Locke to come to Toronto to be his assistant, and he succeeded Locke after his death in 1937. The new chief librarian had a first-hand knowledge of British library development and American service ideals that were penetrating Canadian librarianship. Beginning with Toronto, Sanderson developed a theme of library cooperation and formalized networking. In his introductory passages, he promoted five viewpoints:

■  the concept of metropolitan regions with linkages between large urban systems and smaller suburban libraries;
■  regional library systems utilizing bookmobiles;
■  a Dominion Library Commission which, as one part of its mandate, would establish a National Library that could provide an active book lending function;
■  Provincial Library Commissions would establish (or designate) Public Lending Libraries in cities, regional systems, and metropolitan areas. “All in their need would draw upon the Provincial Lending Libraries, which in their turn would draw upon the National Library.”
■ a per capita library expenditure of $1.25 would be sufficient on a national basis for such a workable national scheme.

After outlining his views on general library developments, Sanderson turned to the role of individual libraries within this network environment. He noted that libraries, especially in the United States, were undertaking many new ventures. During the war, collections were established in soldier’s camps and hospitals. Turning to his own library, Sanderson outlined some of the activities in Beaches, Gerrard, and Riverdale branches. These neighbourhood libraries were exhibiting the artists’ work, supporting an active drama league on a makeshift branch stage, hosting lectures, offering discussions and even concerts. Sanderson felt the community centre idea in the library provided an excellent opportunity to contribute to the development of cultural life. But he believed these activities were ancillary to the library’s primary purpose: providing and promoting books was the first requirement.

But the primary purpose of any public library, small or large, might be defined as “getting books read”: the creation and expansion of reading habits and the supply of books and collateral material to meet those habits, with the final purpose of making books contribute towards the well-being, material, mental, and cultural, of its community. (p.8)

He provided specific examples of this type of library service.

Citizens’ Forum at London Public Library, 1945

Citizens’ Forums: librarians should aim to make their knowledge useful in the form of suggestions for reading that could make the discussions informative and worthwhile and ensure that reading materials were available.

Lectures: Sanderson thought these much be sequential rather than different from one another. Groups such as the YMCA often provided a program of lectures that focused on a particular aspect that led to self-improvement. Assisting lecture series with requisite books could “build up” to something worthwhile in peoples’ lives.

Book talks: this form of library work was a proven staple in many urban centres. Sanderson could point to the Toronto library’s external relationships with various voluntary associations: the Workers’ Educational Association, the YWCA, adult and young people’s groups in churches, industrial-plant recreation clubs, and Home and School Councils. “Our own ‘book-talks’ are rather aimed towards reaching out to groups where reading is not yet a regular habit, that is, towards creating new readers.” These talks, library acquisitions, and lending, in general, should be less about recreational and novel reading and more about non-fiction. “Nobody pretends that all non-fiction is superior to all fiction,” but in a postwar setting, books helpful to the education and rehabilitation of veterans, focusing on training and skills, was one such subject area that demanded more attention, and consequently, an increased library budget.

In retrospect, Sanderson was comfortable with a metropolitan theme where larger urban libraries and smaller suburban areas could co-exist and enjoy their interdependence and independence. Metropolitan area jurisdictions and regional systems could meet the library needs of many without involving “any change in local autonomy beyond a co-operative agreement for public book provision.” (p. 2) From his perspective, the primary function of libraries was “getting books read” and providing the resources for individual adults and children, informal groups, national and local agencies, and different communities of interest to create and expand reading habits. Supplying aids for discussion groups, radio forums, book clubs, lectures, displays, exhibitions, and fairs would further the local library’s aim in the field of adult education. Toronto Public Library often created booklists built around the CBC’s Citizens’ Forums that started in 1943. Sanderson’s theme was grounded in local public library service ideas that most Ontario librarians could recognize and appreciate. The idea of civic art centres, community centres, libraries, auditoriums, and swimming pools serving as utilitarian war memorials was a current topic in Canadian newspapers.

However, broad plans for action across the nation required not only local or provincial revenue but also federal grants-in-aid. These grants were not forthcoming because the centres and libraries were considered to be locally administered and outside federal authority. Establishing a national library commission or national library also presented difficulties and delays. The metropolitan scheme advocated by Sanderson did not come into being in the Toronto area until 1953 and libraries were originally excluded from “metro” government arrangements. A coordinating metro library agency was not established in Toronto until 1958, two years after Charles Sanderson passed away.

 

The National Library of Canada, Its Eventual Character and Scope by the Canadian Library Association, August 1949

The National Library of Canada, Its Eventual Character and Scope; A Brief Submitted to the Chairman and Members of the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters, and Sciences by the Canadian Library Association/Association Canadienne des Bibliothèques, 1949 [For release on 18 August 1949]. [Ottawa]: the Association, 1949. 5 p. with exhibits.

On 8 April 1949, Prime Minister Louis St-Lauren asked the Governor General of Canada to approve an Order-in-Council, appointing a Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences under the chairmanship of the Right Honourable Vincent Massey. For two years, the Commissioners held public hearings across the country, received briefs, and called many witnesses to investigate the state of Canada’s arts and culture. A final report appeared in June 1951.

Naturally, the Canadian Library Association/Association Canadienne des Bibliothèques (CLA/ACB) committee on a national library, headed by Freda Waldon, prepared a brief for the Commission in summer 1949. After two previous briefs, one in 1946 and another in 1947, the Association’s did not need to consider proposals about progress towards forming the Bibliographical Centre, which had already been approved by legislators. Now was the opportunity to take a longer-range view; consequently, CLA/ACB concentrated on the acquisition of collections and a suitable building to house holdings. The new Brief was short and to the point. First, it outlined the need to build a retrospective and current collection: “The distinguishing characteristic of a Canadian National Library will be its extensive collection of Canadian material. The aim, in the opinion of the Association, should be completeness.” Then, it advocated for the planning and construction of a suitable building.

For collections, the Brief stated the need to amend the Copyright Act so that the National Library would be the legal depository of all material copyrighted, with a legal clause enforcing deposit to ensure comprehensiveness. As a result, copies of all Canadian government documents and other publishers would be in one central collection. “This would lessen the work of the government departments concerned, simplify order procedure for libraries, and ensure a constant and complete supply of documents from one distributing centre.” Further,

Whereas the National Library will give direct service to the Government of Canada, and research workers in Ottawa, it will also serve as the prime library of the nation, and will, to the best of its ability, meet the needs of any person in Canada, wherever he is situated, either by furnishing the actual material required by means of an inter-library loan, or, in the case of rare holdings, by lending, or supplying at cost, photographic reproductions or microfilm. Thus its services will extend into fields far beyond the reach of local libraries. (p. 3)

The Brief’s second line of reasoning requested that the earliest consideration be given to a site for the National Library building. It called for functional architectural features and sufficient space for future expansion. CLA/ACB’s previous brief submitted in December 1946 was appended to clarify the service roles for the new institution.

In conclusion, CLA/ACB underscored collaboration: “Operating to a large extent in cooperation with provincial and local libraries, the National Library should make its resources available to all government services, business men, workers, teachers, scholars; in short, to all the people of Canada.”

Dr. W. Kaye Lamb, c.1948

The Massey commissioners took note of the thrust of CLA/ACB’s brief and supported its ideas when it issued a final report. In a section on federal libraries, the Report stated “That a National Library be established without delay; that a librarian be appointed as soon as may be expedient.” The government received the library recommendations and pressed ahead. On Tuesday, 20 May 1952, Prime Minister St. Laurent moved that the House of Commons consider the resolution to introduce legislation to establish a national library and to appoint a national librarian. The House debated and passed Bill 245 for the establishment of a National Library on 27 May 1952. The bill received royal assent in June. CLA/ACB’s long campaign to create a National Library had concluded successfully after three major briefs to the government and intensive lobbying efforts of cabinet ministers, members of parliament, and influential officials. The National Library Act came into force on 1 January 1953 with Dr. W. Kaye Lamb as National Librarian.

Further Reading:
The 1949 CLA/ACB presentation, The National Library of Canada, is available online.

My earlier blog post discussed the National Library Act and subsequent activity to erect a building.

A National Library for Canada; A Brief Presented to the Government of Canada, December 1946

A National Library for Canada; A Brief Presented to the Government of Canada submitted by the Canadian Library Association/Association Canadienne des Bibliothèques, Royal Society of Canada, Canadian Historical Association, Canadian Political Science Association, Social Science Research Council of Canada. [Ottawa: s.n.], December 1946. 16 p. with appendices.

“A National Library is, first of all, the most comprehensive Library in the world in its own country. A National Library is also a centre for services to other libraries, research workers and individuals . . . an agency responsible for the national bibliography . . . in short, the nerve centre of the whole network of libraries in the country.” This introduction to the need for a National Library, which was presented to the federal government on 27 January 1947, signalled a new approach to establishing a national library. Previous efforts had emphasized the construction of a new facility, the collection of books, and the growth of national libraries of other countries. The 1946 Joint Brief recommended a different course of action:

The main argument of this Brief is that, while a great building is probably not possible at this stage, it is not necessary to wait for a building to establish the National Library for Canada and that, in fact, the ultimate building will be more satisfactorily planned if the National Library is brought into being first.
The Brief therefore asks that a committee or board be set up now to investigate the practical possibilities of starting such services as the Brief suggests . . . . (p. 3)

The emphasis on a service role was a pragmatic decision based on a recognition that the Dominion government under Mackenzie King was not likely to fund an expensive building and pay for its upkeep and expansion in a postwar setting that prioritized jobs and a transition to a peacetime economy. Instead, temporary quarters could be utilized until conditions were more favourable. Accordingly, the Brief requested that a committee or group responsible to a cabinet minister (or a committee of ministers) study the matter and report back with recommendations for action. By this time, the Canadian Library Association had been formed in 1946, headed by its first President, Freda Waldon, the chief librarian of the Hamilton Public Library. She was concerned with prioritizing CLA’s efforts and had decided to focus on the service components of a National Library, especially its bibliographical potential.

Freda Farrell Waldon, n.d.

The other learned societies also agreed to this direction. A National Library for Canada set forth the various functions of such a library, its national benefits, and future proposals for implementation and investigation. Several documents and supporting resolutions were appended to the Joint Brief to expand various points of interest. A few essential functions were presented under three succinct heading: (1) a centre of research; (2) national services; and (3) international obligations.

As a research centre, the Library would cooperate with the Public Archives, National Art Gallery, National Museum, National Research Council and other institutions to preserve and organize the use of all records of the country. A comprehensive collection would involve deposit legislation and copyright amendments.

As a national service, the Library would perform four essential functions. To coordinate existing library resources, creating a bibliographical centre based on a union catalogue was the first step. In this way, books could be made available through lending or copying. A national bibliography could compile lists of government documents and issue a catalogue of all books published in Canada and about the country, and books authored by Canadians. Thirdly, the Library could prepare and circulate exhibitions showing the achievements of Canadians. Finally, the Library could provide technical services to libraries “in the fields of cataloguing and classification [that] would not only save time in every library in Canada but raise standards, increase efficiency and help to ensure uniformity of practice.”

As a national government agency dealing with international issues, the Library would keep abreast of international bibliography, facilitate international loans, and communicate with other national libraries.

The fundamental benefits of a National Library were presented in more succinct detail. The Library would be a centre of intellectual life in Canada: it would guarantee that the country’s history would be preserved, and signify the importance of literary endeavors and contributions by publishers to Canadian life. Its activities would energize library work across the nation.

In recommending the formation of a committee to study these issues, the Joint Brief proposed that the study committee should consider the following points (p. 14):
1. The general organization and function of the National Library;
2. The most desirable form for a permanent advisory body;
3. Necessary legislation, including amendments to the Copyright Act; and
4. The immediate services to be instituted, with estimates of costs.

The idea that a National Library could begin as an information bureau and bibliographical centre was a practical proposal that made implementation easier and less financially stressful for the federal government. Services could be introduced, “Then, step by step, as one service after another is instituted, the National Library will grow and develop and when the time comes to erect a great building the living organization will be there, ready to occupy it.”

The government’s initial response to the Joint Brief took some time, but after more than a year, in May 1948, the House of Commons referred the National Library proposal to the Joint Committee of the Library of Parliament. This Committee reported in short order, in June, that as a first step toward the creation of a National Library the planning of a Bibliographical Centre should proceed. In September 1948, Dr. W. Kaye Lamb was appointed Dominion Archivist with authority to prepare the way for the Library. In November, the government made appointments to a National Library Advisory Committee to assist Dr. Lamb. A year-and-a-half later, on 1 May 1950, the Canadian Bibliographic Centre came into existence on the first floor of the Public Archives building. By 1951, the Centre was publishing a bilingual national bibliography entitled Canadiana and establishing a union catalogue by photographing thousands of catalogue cards. After almost a half century of debate, incrementalism had triumphed as the key to forming a Canadian national library. When the Massey Commission studied the issue of a national library and issued its report in 1951, a number of meaningful ideas advanced in the Joint Brief were already underway.

Further Reading:
A National Library for Canada; A Brief Presented to the Government of Canada by The Canadian Library Association/Association Canadienne des Bibliotheques, The Royal Society of Canada, The Canadian Historical Association, The Canadian Political Science Association, and The Social Science research Council of Canada, December 1946, is available online at Library and Archives Canada as a submission to the Massey Commission.

 

A National Library by Elizabeth Dafoe (1944)

A National Library by Elizabeth Dafoe. [Toronto:] Canadian Adult Education Association, 1944. 5 p. [offprint from Food for Thought, v.4, no. 8, May, 1944]

After introducing her topic with a summary of major publications and earlier efforts to advocate for the establishment of a national library in Ottawa—all of which had come to nought—Elizabeth Dafoe, chief librarian at the University of Manitoba, posed the question:

Is the apathy of the public in this regard due to ignorance of the real nature of a national library, the confusion of its functions with those of a parliamentary library, lack of pride in Canada's history and cultural growth, or a general indifference to libraries and library service?

Then, she proceeded to develop a cogent statement in a strong and well-argued manner on the need and functions of a national library that would constitute an important part of a postwar plan for library development in Canada. Her report would form part of a later brief to Ottawa by the Canadian Library Association and other national organizations. At the federal level, there was support for a National Library by politicians such as Paul Martin, Sr., a prominent progressive Liberal MP from the Windsor area, and a few other Members as well.

    Dafoe’s appeal for a national library expressed her concern that libraries should be an integral part of the country’s postwar fabric. They were institutions that could preserve and make available the historical record of many ideas, events, and personages giving Canadians a national identity. Indifference, apathy, or ignorance of Canada’s past or its potential future were failings that could be surmounted if library advocates developed a concerted campaign. Dafoe admitted that library service in Canada was “disjointed and unorganized compared to such service in Great Britain.” In particular, there was no single agency responsible for preserving printed records of the country as a whole or coordinating an effort to assemble these records. But there were solutions at hand. One crucial element in a Dominion-wide plan was the establishment of a national library in Ottawa.

    Dafoe outlined some essential features such as service that would reappear in the years ahead. These ideas were not original, yet her timing when governments were assuming a greater role in society was favourable. Her primary aims for a national library were as follows:
• the primary goal is the collection of all books and pamphlets published in the country or relating to it. This activity would involve the legal deposit right to receive free copies of each book printed or copyrighted in Canada. As well, the acquisition of older or rare books and other publications relating to Canada which were published beyond its borders was an important consideration.
• the national library would be responsible for making its collection available to scholars and students of the country. This would not involve lending the latest works of fiction, but rather important works for serious study and investigation. To achieve this goal, the library would require “proper housing of the collection, adequate recording and administration of it, sufficient space for readers, and a safe and efficient system of delivery to students who are unable to visit the library in person and who cannot obtain the required publications from a library in their vicinity.”
• the creation and maintenance of a national union catalogue of holdings by major libraries. Catalogue listings/locations would be the key to sharing books in the various Ottawa governmental libraries and identifying rare, valuable books across the country. The catalogue would form a reliable system of inter-library loans and greatly assist research.
• the establishment of a photo-duplication section where “photostatic, enlarged photo-print, or microfilm copies of books or articles could be made on request and issued at cost.” As well, assistance in selecting, purchasing, and allocating materials would eliminate duplication in collection building.

    In looking at the actual mechanics of building a national collection, Dafoe turned to the Parliamentary Library, which served Canada’s members of Parliament as a legislative reference library. Its chief, Félix Desrochers, had estimated that about 350,000 books could be moved to form the nucleus of a genuine national library. Cooperation with the Public Archives was also essential. She foresaw the future in a cooperative, networking environment with Ottawa’s national institutions providing leadership for the provinces and major libraries across the country. Dafoe’s plea was not a new vision but one that was argued in a compelling way at a crucial time. Her ideas would reappear in a few years when the Canadian Library Association and four learned societies presented the federal government with a brief, A National Library for Canada, in December 1946.

    In her concluding remarks, Dafoe posted another question: “Is it too much to hope that in time we shall see in Canada a chain of libraries: provincial, regional, and municipal; public, business, university and college; and at the centre, practically and spiritually if not geographically, a great National Library?” The next quarter-century would see positive steps in Canadian library development; but Elizabeth Dafoe died in 1960 before a building housing the national archives and library opened its doors on Wellington Street, a few blocks from Parliament Hill.

Read my biography about Elizabeth Dafoe at this blog site.

Rural Canada Needs Libraries by Nora Bateson (1944)

Rural Canada Needs Libraries/Livres pour Aujourd'hui et Demain by Nora Bateson. Ottawa: Canadian Library Council, Inc., 1944. 8 pages with diagrams.

The genesis of Nora Bateson’s pamphlet on the scarcity of libraries in rural Canada was her February 1943 article “Libraries Today and Tomorrow” in the journal Food for Thought published by the Canadian Association for Adult Education. At this time, Bateson was still Director of Libraries, Regional Library Commission, Nova Scotia, and worked to assist the Canadian Legion Education Services in organizing libraries for armed forces personnel serving in the Atlantic region. Her knowledge of rural Canadian conditions stemmed from her previous library positions. She had first worked in the Carnegie financed Fraser Valley regional demonstration in British Columbia in the early 1930s. Afterwards, she established a regional library system in Prince Edward Island from 1933–36 and then prepared the way for the development of regional libraries in Nova Scotia with a series of publications and speaking engagements across the province. As a result of her considerable administrative background in library extension work, she was well-versed in delivering service in rural communities and remote settlements.

Rural Canada Needs Library graphic

    Food for Thought was an important Canadian publication which often highlighted library efforts to assist adult educationists. The solution Nora Bateson relied upon was the formation of regional library systems. This type of public library was not new by any means, but the Canadian experience had diverged from British and American versions. Typically, at the outset of the Second World War a regional library in British Columbia and Ontario was an agency serving a group of communities (called a  union library in BC), a single county (called a county association library in Ontario ), or, in Prince Edward Island, an entire province. These bodies were supported in whole or in part by public taxes from a variety of local government expenditures and were governed by provincial statues.

    Whether men or women were fighting on the battlefield or working on the home front to support democracy, Bateson emphasized the beneficial, even essential, role of reading, books, and public libraries.

Books are indeed important weapons in the double-fronted fight for freedom. But in them is to be found, too, refreshment and recreation for the mind and spirit at all times. Biographies, histories, novels, poems, plays, books of philosophy, books on art and music: such books literally open up new worlds and new channels of interest and speculation. They give also perspective and balance to the immediate urgent problems of the day.

Of course, in many urban municipalities, the library was a vital part of the distribution chain of books but not in rural Canada. Citing 1938 statistics gathered by the Canadian government, Bateson noted the striking disparities in service: 92% of city dwellers had library service, 42% in towns and villages, and only 5% in rural districts, which represented nearly half of Canada’s population. The remedy: “Small communities cannot afford such a service but several communities pooling their funds can. Today the general opinion of experts is that a minimum of 40,000 people is desirable with a minimum budget of $25,000.” She estimated 50 cents per capita would provide a basis for adequate service.

    To support the regional concept, Bateson briefly reviewed the development of county systems in the United Kingdom and the United States. She then turned to Canada, noting the formation of diverse examples of regional service across the Dominion:
Fraser Valley Union Library, BC
Okanagan Valley Union Library, BC
Vancouver Island Union Library, BC
Prince Edward Island Library
Eight county library associations in Southern Ontario
Eastern Township Library Association, headquarters in Sherbrooke, QC
Legislation in Nova Scotia to support the formation of regions through an appointed library commission.

For other types of rural service, she opined that “Travelling libraries and open shelf systems are generally a stop-gap and no substitute for full library service.” Small boxes of books sent out to small communities or the loan of a requested book(s) by mail to individual borrowers were merely supplements to a “real service.” Indeed, by the 1960s, travelling libraries and open shelves were being phased out across the country.

    In her concluding remarks, Bateson addressed the issue of establishing and directing regions in the nine provinces.

What is needed in every province is a library commission keenly aware of the need for universal library service which will formulate a provincial plan and work towards its establishment. Such a commission usually consists of five (sometimes seven) members, serving say five years, one member retiring each year.

To finance libraries, Bateson recommended substantial support from provincial coffers because many municipalities could not increase expenditures due to education, infrastructure, or social welfare costs. Because there were many disparities between the economies of the Maritimes, Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies, and British Columbia, Bateson considered federal equalization grants for libraries a possible solution. Ever the optimist, she finished by saying, “When we win this war it is the common man in Canada as in all the United Nations who will be the victor and who will largely decide on the kind of peace and the sort of world which is to follow. Information and knowledge about the issues at stake need wide circulation such as can only be effectively accomplished by books.” The author’s original article was well-received; accordingly, the Canadian Library Council published it as separate pamphlet along with a French version a year later in 1944.

Over the next decade, just more than a half dozen newly formed regional systems would appear in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland. Improved legislation in Ontario reformed and strengthened the county library cooperatives. These systems served about 1,500,000 people, mostly in rural districts surrounding smaller towns, and they were circulating almost 5,000,000 volumes. This was a dramatic change from the situation described by Bateson, who lived to see these improvements before she died in 1956.

Further reading:

Sue Adams, “Our Activist Past: Nora Bateson, Champion of Regional Libraries,” Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research 4, no. 1 (2009): 1–12.

Nora Bateson, Rural Canada Needs Libraries. Ottawa: Canadian Library Council, Inc., 1944. [requires Adobe PDF viewer]

For Bateson’s other contributions in P.E.I. and Nova Scotia see my earlier blog.

Library Service for Canada Brief by the Canadian Library Council, 1944

Library Service for Canada: A Brief Prepared by the Canadian Library Council, as Forwarded August 2, 1944, to the House of Commons Special Committee on Reconstruction and Re-Establishment. 10 leaves, 2 appendices [Ottawa?]: Canadian Library Council, July 1944.

In 1942, the Canadian House of Commons appointed a Special Committee on Reconstruction and Re-establishment. James Gray Turgeon, a Liberal politician from British Columbia, served as chair. The committee’s purpose was to study and report the potential problems and ensuing responses that might arise from a postwar period of reconstruction and re-establishment following the Second World War. The committee submitted a report of its activities and associated briefs in 1944 and completed its work in 1945. A major aspect of the committee’s activities concerned the state of culture across the Dominion. A variety of arts and cultural groups made submissions which helped create a better awareness of cultural issues. These early efforts provided a basis for which later developments could occur, which saw the federal government support Canadian artists and develop national institutions in the 1950s. In terms of library service, the Canadian Library Council (CLC) assumed the responsibility for drafting a brief earlier in the summer of 1944, but final approval was delayed until July. The CLC then forwarded its report to the committee for its 2 August 1944 meeting; however, the Council did not make an oral submission and receive questions, although references to the CLC’s proposal appear in the committee’s minutes for this date.

It was well known from many reports in the 1930s that library services in schools, colleges, and municipal institutions were deficient. A 1943 survey by the Canada and Newfoundland Education Association especially lamented the poor state of school and public libraries. One of its reported recommendations concluded: “That library service be extended over the whole Dominion. Not less than $1,000,000 per annum is required for this purpose.” The CLC, formed in 1941 and incorporated in late 1943, existed to promote library service and librarianship in Canada. It included representatives from library associations in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, the Maritimes, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. By 1944, its membership was busy publishing information to raise awareness about the need for rural service, regional libraries, a national library, and improved library education. The Turgeon Committee afforded an excellent opportunity to give prominence to library matters at the federal government level.

There are a few references to the CLC’s work on 21 June 1944, when a delegation representing 16 national arts groups presented the Reconstruction Committee a brief concerning the cultural aspects of Canadian postwar reconstruction. This “Artists Brief” (as it came to be known) set forth a comprehensive national program to encourage the fine and applied arts and general culture in the interest of an enriched society. It called for establishing a national  “governmental body” to administer the arts and for the founding of hundreds of community art and civic centres across the country in municipalities and rural communities, such as the one in Hamilton featured in this accompanying illustration. One component of these centres would be a municipal library in larger cities and regional or county libraries in smaller communities and rural districts. At this time there were only a few libraries operating in community centres. The Dominion government would fund these centres by setting aside $10,000,000. The brief also proposed the coordination of cultural activities by the National Film Board, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation with the building of community centres. Other proposals for government attention concerned many issues such as copyright law, creating a national library, expanding the national archives, and improved programs for federal publications and government information. In the case of library service, establishing a national library in Ottawa would provide for the “circulation of books in Canada and for the sending of the best Canadian books to public libraries in other countries to create a better understanding of Canadian life.” The Arts and Letters Club in Toronto reiterated these ideas and called for “a tremendous extension of library services in Canada.” The playwright, Herman Voaden, one of the artists delegation, said, “When you build a library you make provision for a small stage at one end and for clearing the hall for plays and concerts. You have art exhibitions on the walls.”

At the same June session, the Canadian Authors Association also weighed in on the development of libraries with two specific points:

That travelling libraries be organized and circulated in rural districts throughout Canada, including books written by Canadian authors, and dealing with Canada—these to be drawn from a central library or depot of Canadian books at Ottawa, which shall be adequately financed and staffed for that purpose—the staff to be drawn by preference from discharged Service men or women but strictly limited to competent persons. This library service would fit into the Community Centres Plan accompanying this brief, which we support. That collections of the best Canadian books available be sent to public libraries in other countries of the United Nations, to create a better understanding of Canadian Culture.

Together with other short references, library services caught the attention of Members of Parliament at the June session. In the context of all the cultural briefs, discussions at the Reconstruction Committee hearings, and general postwar planning, CLC forwarded its brief to the Reconstruction Committee in August. The CLC emphasized three critical points at the outset: (p. 5)

The Canadian Library Council believes that an effective, Dominion-wide, library service can make a valuable contribution toward the settlement of post-war problems of rehabilitation by providing books and audio-visual aids in training or re-training demobilized service and civilian personnel for new and old skills; by dispensing current information regarding new developments in the fields of agriculture, industry, business, and the professions; by supplying cultural, recreational, and citizenship reading.

London Public Library art display, March1945

The Council brief also noted the potential for library development in a national community centres program: “This would be a natural association of services. The Library is open every day to a varied group of readers and its workers are trained in community guidance. The cultural art centre with the library as nucleus (featured in this illustration on the left) has been demonstrated successfully in London, Ontario, where book, art, music, and film services are provided under one administration.” However, the Council advocated a centralized plan of development beginning with a federally appointed and financed national Library Resources Board “to guide, co-ordinate, and encourage provincial, local and special efforts.” The initial focus for the Board would be a survey of existing library resources and book collections used by the armed forces at stations that would be discontinued and any suitable buildings at present used by wartime activities. With this information and collection of provincial data, the Board, using federal funds under its control, could provide incentive grants for regional libraries and devise a system of co-operative use of library resources at provincial and local levels. A regional library would typically be “40,000 people with a budget of $25,000 a year [which is] is the minimum unit recommended in order to supply the readers with the three essentials of library service (apart from buildings accommodation), [that is] a wide range of reading on all subjects, a constant supply of new books, and trained librarians to select the books, advise readers, and manage library affairs.” (p. 8) The National Library Service would include a variety of institutions and ambitious programs:
1) a National Library in a building perhaps dedicated as a war memorial;
2) compilation of a storehouse of national literature and history;
3) development of reference collections on all subjects;
4) formation of a lending collection which other libraries might borrow from when their resources failed;
5) shared microfilm, photostat, and other copying services;
6) a union catalogue to make existing books in libraries available through an inter-library loan on a Dominion-wide basis;
7) the coordination of  book information with audio-visual aids, working in close co-operation with the National Film Board, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and other national organizations;
8) administration of collections of books about Canada for exhibition abroad;
9) publication of bibliographical works about Canada.

The Library Resources Board would also encourage adequate standards for personnel, training, salaries, etc. Finally,  the Board would provide library consultation services (e.g., legislation, book tariffs, postal rates, the National Selective Service, and functional architectural plans). The proposed national library board to direct and coordinate library work was a bold idea, but it was in keeping with the sweeping powers the federal government had assumed during wartime as well as the central idea proposed in the Artists Brief. Much of the work of the national advisory Library Resources Board could be furthered by assistance from provincial library associations and groups working in adult education or teaching. By providing leadership through the creation of library standards and advisory services, the Library Resources Board could spur library expansion. In this scheme of thinking, a National Library was necessary to implement and support many activities. The CLC’s plan did not avoid the thorny issue of financing by the federal government (p. 10).

Dominion encouragement of library service will need large initial grants. The suggestion has been made that funds could be raised to initiate such projects as library undertakings, community centres, etc., by a special Victory Loan to supply the Tools of Peace. Another suggestion is for an annual per capita tax to provide funds to maintain the above enterprises.

In conjunction with other provincial briefs submitted by library associations and groups, the CLC’s postwar rebuilding vision could advance the nation’s “intelligence, character, economic advancement, and cultural life.” (p. 4) Library reconstruction plans at all government levels would confer benefits for Canada’s citizens and lead to a better, more informed society. Some of the main ideas in the brief— a national commission, a national library, and regionalization—had appeared earlier in January 1944 in Charles Sanderson’s Libraries in the Post War Period.  Sanderson had accentuated the potential programs and roles that libraries might assume in their communities and noted the importance of provincial organization. To bolster its case, the CLC appended two more specific documents: Nora Bateson’s Rural Canada Needs Libraries and Elizabeth Dafoe’s A National Library. Both publications had appeared earlier and already received distribution and promotion across Canada. [These will be the subject of future blog posts.]

Like the contemporary Artists Brief, Library Service for Canada achieved little in terms of prompting federal action or securing funding. In the immediate aftermath of WWII, the federal government’s priorities were decidedly not cultural and political support for libraries at local levels sporadic. The arts and library services were provincial and municipal responsibilities. The postwar Liberal governments under Mackenzie King and Louis St. Laurent prioritized economic recovery, jobs and housing for veterans, national defence, and immigration. And there were additional obstacles. Although both the arts and library plans proposed centralized direction and coordination, the building of multi-functional community centres depended on local initiatives and preferences in hundreds of government settings. When Leaside, an independent suburban community in Toronto, decided to build a community centre shortly after the war, the need for sporting facilities, not a library, moved to the fore. As a result, a separate $100,000 library building opened on 8 March 1950 in Millwood Park (now Trace Manes Park), two years before the community centre, which required extensive fundraising beyond original expectations, began operation. The trend to form regional libraries developed slowly. By the early 1950s, there were only two dozen regional or county systems serving about 1,500,000 people in seven provinces, mostly in Ontario. In the realm of education, new schools required increased capital and operating tax levies that made library requests challenging to fulfill. At the national level, federal government enthusiasm for the building of a National Library was episodic. Library advocates began to focus on incremental program activities, not an expensive construction project.

Nevertheless, Library Service for Canada heightened awareness of the need for libraries, especially regional library development and national-provincial planning in a country that had scarcely equated libraries with this type of development before WWII. It presented a progressive vision, parts of which would persist and eventually change Canada’s library landscape for the better.

The ten members representing various Canadian jurisdictions who endorsed the CLC brief were:
Nora Bateson, Nova Scotia Regional Libraries Commission
Alexander Calhoun, Calgary Public Library
Elizabeth Dafoe, University of Manitoba Library
Léo-Paul Desrosiers, Montréal Public Library
Hélène Grenier, Bibliothèque des Instituteurs de la Commission des Ecoles Catholiques de Montréal
Gerhard R. Lomer, McGill University Library
John M. Lothian, University of Saskatchewan Library
Edgar S. Robinson, Vancouver Public Library
Charles R. Sanderson, Toronto Public Library
Margaret S. Gill, Chairman, National Research Council Library, Ottawa

Further reading:
Canadian and Newfoundland Education Association. Report of the Survey Committee Appointed to Ascertain the Chief Educational Needs in the Dominion of Canada (Ottawa: the Association, March 30th, 1943).
Canada. Parliament. House of Commons. Special Committee on Reconstruction and Re-establishment. Minutes and Proceedings of Evidence, vol. 1. Ottawa: King’s Printer, 1944.
Nora Bateson. Rural Canada Needs Libraries. Ottawa: Canadian Library Council, 1944. [Previously, a shorter version had appeared as an article: “Libraries for Today and Tomorrow,” Food for Thought 3, no. 5 (February 1943): 12–19.]
Elizabeth Dafoe. “A National Library,” Food for Thought 4, no. 8 (May 1944): 4–8.

Library Service for Canada was republished along with accompanying provincial briefs in 1945. This book, Canada Needs Libraries, was reviewed previously in 2017.