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.