Library History Today Blog

Nos bibliothèques publiques , by Georges-Émile Marquis. Québec: Éditions du Terroir, 1925, 16 p., illus. Plaidoyer pour les bibliothèques publiques , by Georges-Émile Marquis. Montréal: L’Oeuvre des tracts, 1946, 16 p. G-É Marquis, c.1930s In 1890, the government of Quebec passed a statute, the Municipal Aid to Public Libraries (Chapter 34), authorizing municipalities to approve bylaws to “aid, in conformity with the laws governing them, the establishment and maintenance of free public libraries in their municipalities or in adjoining municipalities.” This law also stipulated similar permissive assistance for library associations and mechanics’ institutes. The city of Westmount, on the island of Montreal, was the first to create a municipal library under this statute in 1899. Yet, the vast majority of communities in Quebec continued to be served by bibliothèques paroissiales , that is, small local collections created and managed by the Catholic Church for use by parishioners sin...

The ‘Library Faith’ in Books, Reading, and Democracy A longstanding belief in the positive influence of the public library in 20th-century North American librarianship was encapsulated in the short term, ‘the library faith,’ a visionary construct best articulated in an examination of public library service commissioned by the American Library Association (ALA), the Public Library Inquiry, which published its research from 1947 to 1952. The Inquiry developed this descriptive model of prevailing beliefs guiding the evolution of public libraries to understand and interpret the past in a structured way. Modelling can be helpful in identifying central ideas, beliefs, and opinions during an era when a prevailing consensus exists within a conceptual framework. The extensive Inquiry study noted that librarians, indeed, many educators and political leaders, believed in the beneficent power of books and reading. Reading was regarded as a crucial element in personal growth and full citizenship. I...

College and university education evolved slowly in the Canadian Maritime provinces before 1900. By the time of the First World War, Dalhousie was the most prominent university in the region. Established in Halifax in 1818, it began to expand after 1911 when it relocated to the more spacious Studley campus where much-needed new buildings could be constructed. By this time, two other smaller, distinguished liberal arts universities had also gained prominence: Acadia in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, and Mount Allison in Sackville, New Brunswick. Acadia was established in 1838 and began to grow in the early 20th century. Mount Allison, founded in 1839, was noted for being the first university in the British Empire to award a bachelor’s degree to a woman as early as 1875. Collections at all three institutions were relatively small. When James Bain reviewed library progress across Canada in 1895, he reported that Dalhousie (college) held 20,000 volumes, Mount Allison held 4,500 volum...

Pour une  histoire des femmes bibliothécaires au Québec : Portraits et parcours de vies professionnelles edited by Marcel Lajeunesse, Éric Leroux and Marie D. Martel. Québec: Presses de l’Université du Québec, 2020. xviii, 178 pp., illus. This book is a welcome and unusual addition to library shelves dedicated to Canadian librarianship. For too long, the role of women in the development of Canada’s libraries was mostly overlooked. We now have a well documented history/biography of seven women who made significant contributions to the culture of Quebec and its librarianship. The three editors in charge of this collection are all associated with the École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l'information at the l'Université de Montréal. Marcel Lajeunesse is a librarian, professor, and Quebec historian who served as the director and professor at this school and has authored many articles and books on librarianship. A Wikipedia entry provides more information on his remarka...

Contested Spaces: A Critical History of Canadian Public Libraries as Neutral Places, 1960–2020 by Whitney Kemble. Sacramento, CA: Litwin Books & Library Juice Press, 2024. Whitney Kemble, a librarian at the Scarborough Campus of the University of Toronto, has contributed an important work in the growing field of ‘critical librarianship’ about the contentious issue of ‘library neutrality’ in public library event bookings from 1960 to 2020. She has identified thirty-three controversial events held in Canadian public libraries using various resources, such as contemporary newspaper articles. Although eight gatherings were cancelled, the vast majority of events took place. There are too many episodes to discuss in this review; still, readers will likely remember more recent events, such as the 2017 cancellation by Ottawa Public Library of the controversial film, Killing Europe , which examined terrorist activities, street riots, a migrant crisis, and societal polarization. Another ins...