Janet Carnochan and the Niagara Library

On the grounds of the Niagara Historical Society and Museum in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake there is a familiar Ontario Heritage Trust plaque erected in 1984 commemorating the contributions of a respected local woman, Janet Carnochan.

Janet Carnochan, n.d.

For more than thirty years Janet Carnochan, a native of Stamford, Ontario, taught elementary and secondary school at Niagara-on-the Lake, but she made her greatest contribution to the community as a historian rather than as an educator. A distinguished historical preservationist, Carnochan founded and was first president of the Niagara Historical Society, 1895-1925, and laboured tirelessly to safeguard and promote the rich heritage of Niagara. She wrote and edited numerous historical works including the History of Niagara and successfully campaigned for the construction of Memorial Hall, the first building erected for the purpose of a museum in Ontario. In 1949, when the town's former high school was incorporated into this complex, it was renamed Janet Carnochan Hall as a tribute to her efforts and dedication. 

This provincial plaque was originally cast in 1934. It currently it resides on the property of the Niagara Historical Society Museum.

Janet Carnochan and 19th Century Historical Writing

The decades after Canadian Confederation in 1867 witnessed an increase in many retrospective works, amateur histories, as well as the development of local historical societies across Ontario which sought to preserve the records of past families and groups. Although lay historians lacked training in methodology, some demonstrated high standards when working with primary and oral sources. They specialized in specific topics and events that were often overlooked by historians focused on provincial or national issues. Janet Carnochan was representative of this trend, for she co-founded the Historical Society of Niagara in December 1895. She was the Society's first president, and with the collaboration of a small group of local residents, she conserved and promoted the town's early history.  Also, she wrote more than a dozen accounts of the development of Niagara's community organizations. She showed not only an avid interest in regional history but also a persistent loyalty to the concept of community progress.

Canadian historical writing in this era was infused with the idea of community building at the national, provincial, and local levels. These histories often depicted the march of political, social, and economic progress from the past to a satisfactory present, which is usually referred to as Whig History. As professional historical research, teaching, and publications unfolded at Canadian universities, especially the first volume of the Review of Historical Publications Relating to Canada in 1897 at the University of Toronto, higher standards of historical writing developed. History began to demand greater accuracy and extensive training. Nonetheless, the work of non-specialists such as Janet Carnochan provided much needed documentation and accessible works that provided information lacking in national or provincial studies. She was old enough to remember the early experiences of the 'Niagara frontier' and to record the people, events, and pioneer life with some perceptive observations. Such is the case with her publications on the Niagara Library, a subscription library first organized in 1800, and its successor, the Niagara Mechanics' Institute, later reorganized as a public library in 1895.

Janet Carnochan's Library Work

Janet Carnochan's contributions to library work have not been overlooked. An article in the Canadian Magazine in 1912 by Francis Drake described her as the library's "unpaid official" who had acted as its secretary for many years, prepared three catalogues, selected books, served as treasurer, and sometimes worked as librarian. A 1985 biography by John Field, Janet Carnochan, also praised her energetic efforts to promote the library. She first became involved as secretary to the Niagara Mechanics Institute in 1891. She continued in this role after Ontario legislation required the institute to change its title to 'public library' in 1895, allowing municipalities to contribute to its operation (the library eventually became a 'free library' eligible for municipal tax support in 1938). During her tenure, the library occupied a space in the old covered market at the rear of the district Court House on Queen Street. Residents in the small town of 1,500 found this location convenient, and there was gradual growth through subscriptions and small annual municipal payments of about $50 to $100. In 1900, the Niagara Library had a small membership of about 100, it spent just over $300/year, and held 5,000 volumes. Ten years later, the membership had increased to 130, the library spent $350, held 7,000 volumes, and circulated more than 8,000 items. By 1920, the library was circulating almost 16,000 books from a collection of 9,500 volumes.

After the formation of the Ontario Library Association in 1900, Miss Carnochan began to attend its sessions and regional institutes. At the association's second meeting in 1902, she presented a paper titled "The Vicissitudes of a Library during Fifty Years." According to the Toronto Globe, "she sketched the history of the Niagara library, which was founded in 1848. She mentioned that the President, Mr. [William] Kirby, had occupied that position for 25 years, and had been a member for 40 years. Miss Carnochan contended that the full grant earned by each library [from the provincial government], should be paid, without the 20 per cent reduction as last year, and that the present classification system should be rescinded." No doubt she knew some Ontario libraries, such as London and Hamilton, had adopted the Dewey Decimal Classification system because it was superior to the older system recognized by the Dept. of Education since the 1870s. The May 1902 issue of the Library Journal noted her criticism of the older scheme's faults, quoting her, "the result is misleading and dishonest, and leads to confusion in the arrangement of books." After this time, the Niagara Library adopted the Dewey system, and when a provincial study was published in 1913 by the Inspector of Public Libraries, Niagara reported that it had classed 4,821 non-fiction and 2,087 fiction literature books in this way, an achievement that put it at the forefront of association library work in Ontario.  Miss Carnochan served on the OLA nominating committee for a few years and was a Councillor in 1904, 1909, and 1910. And she continued attending meetings by contributing a short account of the formation of the first library in Ontario in an issue of the new Ontario Library Review in 1917, "First Library in Upper Canada."

The Niagara Library 

 This OLR article was the culmination of many years of speaking and writing about the original Niagara Library. When she was invited to speak to the Canadian Institute in Toronto in 1894, she gave an insightful paper that was printed in the Institute's Transactions. She recounted how she found an original manuscript recording the short history of the Niagara Library from its founding in 1800 to its demise in 1820 while browsing through the vestry of her Presbyterian church, St. Andrews. She provided a detailed description of the information contained in the manuscript as follows:
◼️ a list of proprietors through the years from 1800 to 1820
◼️ a list of payments by members and non-subscribers
◼️ a catalogue of the library with payments for books and magazines
◼️ the financial activity by year
◼️ the rules and regulations of the library
◼️ an account of annual and special meetings of directors and members
◼️ a list of books circulated with the date of return, and
◼️ an alphabetical list of subscribers with a separate page for entries for each. 

The volume records the tumultuous history of the library through the War of 1812, the town's burning in 1813, the loss of books during the war, and the difficulties of maintaining the library by private subscription. Miss Carnochan notes that prices were high for books and selections, such as the Edinburgh Review and Lady's Magazine, were careful and tasteful. She regarded this as reading of a 'high order,' noting that "It may be doubted if in this day of boasted enlightenment we are willing to pay so much for our reading. One thing at least is certain, against the proprietors of this library cannot be made the charge of light reading now brought so justly against the frequenters of modern libraries." Of the many people who led the library, the name of Andrew Heron (1762-1848) stands out among the many residents who directed it—he was a founder and acted as secretary, treasurer, and librarian for most of the library's existence. However, after the library's demise in 1820, Heron acquired some of its former books and incorporated them into a new subscription library. Unfortunately, little is known about this venture or its subsequent existence. Throughout her article, the author carefully depicts the library's role in fostering education and intellectual life, drawing on her primary source to explore finances, membership, and collections.

Towards the close of her account she recognized the efforts of the early Niagara pioneers to provide reading materials for the community by adding, "Judge, then, how much the people of this vicinity owe to the proprietors of the Niagara Public Library, furnishing to the young people of so many households reading of so high an order, fitting them to fight manfully the great battle of life." At the close, she lists the library's holdings of approximately 1,000 books. She finishes her narrative by recognizing the efforts of the early Niagara pioneers to provide reading materials for the community by adding, "Judge, then, how much the people of this vicinity owe to the proprietors of the Niagara Public Library, furnishing to the young people of so many households reading of so high an order, fitting them to fight manfully the great battle of life." Her efforts to focus interest on community history succeeded because she understood the local background and observed history with a critical eye.

Niagara Library interior, c.1909

 Janet Carnochan did not influence library work beyond her community; however, her dedicated efforts to improve library service in Niagara-on-the-Lake can be considered a shining example of what can be achieved in a modestly sized library by force of character and earnest determination. Walter R. Nursey, the Ontario Inspector of Public Libraries, recognized her and wrote in his 1909 report that "It would be a great thing for the library workers in Canada if more of the fraternity were animated with the same degree of energy and zeal as Miss Carnochan." Indeed, her memory is a persistent presence in Niagara-on-the-Lake where a provincial plaque at Memorial Hall recognizes her work. It stands on the grounds of the local museum she helped found in 1906, which was Ontario’s first purpose-built museum.

This building, the first in Ontario to be constructed for use solely as an historical museum, was begun in 1906 and completed the following year. Its erection was due largely to the dedicated efforts of Miss Janet Carnochan, founder, and for thirty years curator of the Niagara Historical Society. Previously the Society had used a room in the Town Hall to preserve objects of this early Loyalist region. Donations were received from the federal and provincial governments, local municipalities, British regiments once stationed in the area, and private citizens. The museum was officially opened June 4, 1907, by Sir William Mortimer Clark, Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario.

 Further information:

Janet Carnochan, “Niagara Library, 1800 to 1820.” Transactions of the Canadian Institute 4 (1892): 336–356. [at Hathi Trust]

Janet Carnochan, “First Library in Upper Canada.” Ontario Library Review 2, no. 1 (1917): 2–3. [at Internet Archive]

Janet Carnochan, "Niagara Library, 1899-1820," in her History of Niagara (in part), p. 46–55 (Toronto: William Briggs, 1914. A shorter and updated version of her original 1894 article, e.g., omitting the list of library holdings. [at Hathi Trust]

The record book of the Niagara Library from 1800 to 1820 is held by Niagra-on-the-Lake Museum at this link.

Janet Carnochan's biography is in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography is at this link. 

Three Ontario Public Library Buildings before 1900

In the early stage of the public library movement in Ontario after the Free Libraries Act came into force in 1882, there were no standalone public library buildings. The concept of the Canadian public library as a public building—a building type in its own right—was in its infancy. Of course, architects and librarians could refer to purpose-built American or British buildings, but these normally were in metropolitan cities supported by sufficient private philanthropy and ongoing municipal tax support. The four 'large' populated Ontario cities in the census of 1891 were Toronto (181,220), Hamilton (48,980). Ottawa (44,154). and London (31,977). Of these smaller cities, three would undertake to establish a separate building before 1895. These communities would generally follow Anglo-American ideas concerning library purpose, public access, book storage, and user needs (such as separate reading rooms) within a single structure.

The proper arrangement of space for the needs and purposes of library buildings was a challenging opportunity. In the 1890s, Anglo-American library architecture was entering a transitional period. Early public library structures often were divided into small rooms and shared accommodation with other local groups, a legacy of the compartmentalized space afforded by many mechanics' institutes, museums, and cultural groups that proliferated in the 19th century.  No clear-cut consensus existed on what constituted conventional library services, uniform administrative practices, public access, and proper staffing. Until the 1890s, nearly all new public libraries, for reasons of security and efficient use of space, operated on the closed access system normally based on a centrally supervised reading room with adjacent rooms often divided on gender distinctions. Book catalogues and a time saving English invention, the ‘indicator,’ permitted users to know what volumes were held and their availability.

Although numerous articles on library architecture appeared before 1900, there were few authoritative publications to aid trustees, librarians, or city officials. An English treatise by Frank J. Burgoyne, Library Construction: Architecture, Fittings and Furniture (1897), advocated assessing local space needs for basic services that he deemed to be reference and lending departments, a reading room, and a staff work area. He felt additional options might include separate rooms for women, a lecture hall, a museum, or an art gallery. On the question of free access, Burgoyne cautioned his readers that,"a large public library should have the bulk of its books shelved on the stack system."

Even so, there was growing support for the open access system in the United States where unrestricted entry to book collections was progressing in cities such as Cleveland in the 1890s. However, it was not until 1902 that Charles Soule, a Boston bookseller and library trustee, authored an introductory architectural booklet published by the American Library Association. He provided careful, practical advice for the erection of new buildings and also briefly discussed adapting older buildings, recommending that "When a library outgrows three rooms, it ought to have a building all its own." Concerning exteriors, a variety of styles were in favour, notably classical revivals, and in the United States, the Richardsonian Romanesque style in the 1880s and 1890s. It was in this general Anglo-American setting that Ontario communities began to construct independent library structures before 1900.

Toronto Free Library opened in 1884

Toronto Mechanics' Institute, n.d.

Toronto, Ontario's capital, was the first to open a separate building on March 6, 1884, in the former Mechanics' Institute on the corner of Church and Adelaide Streets. The architectural firm of Cumberland & Storm originally had planned and supervised construction of this handsome Renaissance-style building between 1854 and 1861. When the institute opened to the public in July 1861, the reference library and two reading rooms were located on the main ground floor.

TMI plan, 1861

A contemporary report in the Journal of the Board of Arts and Manufactures highlighted its features together with floor plans:

To the left are the Reading Rooms (B and C), each 35+24 feet and 24+15 feet, fitted up in the most comfortable and convenient manner, and well supplied with newspapers and other publications. The Library (D), 28+24 feet, contains about five thousand volumes. Both Library and Reading Rooms are expensively fitted up with oak.

The annual membership fees were relatively modest: $2.00 for men and $1.50 for ladies.

Free Library plan, 1884

By 1882, Toronto Mechanics’ Institute held 10,500 books and circulation had reached 27,000. Two city aldermen, John Hallam and John Taylor, promoted the adoption of a free library, and, after the directors of the Institute transferred its real and personal property to the city for a public library in June 1883, the entire ground floor was refitted. A new stack room was added at the back of the building to accommodate 50,000 volumes. The book stacks were closed by two counters, one for circulation and one for lending. There were separate reading rooms for periodicals and for reference. It was reported that the city council allocated $50,000 for alterations. When the renovations were completed, the Globe and Mail enthusiastically reported the results before the opening day on March 3rd:

The original promoters of the Free Library scheme had no intention of utilizing this building for the new project, but when the people assemble on Thursday next to witness the formal opening there is every probability that they will be both surprised and delighted to find the city in the possession of so beautiful, so extensive, and so convenient a public institution at withal so small an outlay.

In its first decade, the new library system, under the able direction of James Bain, proved to be popular with Toronto citizens. They increasingly used the free lending services, e.g., during 1894 the central library issued more than 350,000 volumes. In July 1884, the first of many book catalogues with a code recording each book was provided to borrowers to aid their selections. As well, the installation of a wood framed 'indicator,' a British innovation with numbered, trays in a framed board, allowed librarians to track books (each insert was coloured, e.g., red-out and blue-in, to reveal a book's status) for patrons who were not permitted to browse shelves. Later, in 1889, a subject catalogue of reference books was published.

However, the condition of the central library was not entirely satisfactory. By 1887, a new roof and enlarged reading room were in place. Still, there were ventilation problems, especially in the warmer summers when staff, six young female assistants who earned between $300–$450 per year, suffered from poor air arising from the reference room. The Toronto Daily Mail reported in July 1889 that, "Pale faces of fair young ladies look through the wire casement that shuts them off from the public whom they are waiting to supply with mental food, and appeal for the chance to breath the cool fresh air that everybody else is rushing off to the lakeside resorts to inhale." But, according to the chief librarian, "the young ladies had the easiest position of any in Toronto." Three years later, in 1892, a Toronto medical health officer reported that the ventilation in the reference room was wholly inadequate when it was crowded and suggested necessary improvements. At this time, extensive renovations took place: the newspaper reading room was moved to the old mechanics' institute music hall above the ground floor, a circulating library was created in the former reading room, and a reading space for unemployed workmen was created in the basement.

These physical alterations, in conjunction with James Bain's development of collections and dedication to improved access for users by opening branch libraries, put Toronto in the forefront of the public library movement in Canada in 1895. By this year, when the Ontario government enacted a new Public Libraries Act that permitted communities to designate older mechanics' institutes as public libraries and become eligible for public funding, there were sixteen free libraries (i.e., library boards eligible for a special maximum rate of one-half mill on the dollar of assessed property) in the province. One, Hamilton, had erected a new building in 1890, and another, London, was under construction.

In Toronto, the realization that the central library was no longer adequate to suit early 20th century library standards led to a decision to seek a Carnegie library grant. In January 1903, the library board received a promise of $275,000 for a new Reference Library. It officially opened on College Street on September 8, 1909, and the reference and circulating collections from the old central library were transferred to it. The old library continued as a branch—the Church St. branch—for two decades until it closed in 1928. Several agencies then occupied the building until it was completely demolished in 1950 to make way for planned urban development of the Church-Adelaide area.

Hamilton Free Library opened in 1890

Hamilton library, Main St., n.d.

When the Hamilton and Gore Mechanics' Institute was forced to close in 1882 due to financial difficulties, its older building on James Street, along with its books and furnishings, were sold at a public auction. The city was without a 'public' library for several years, until January 7, 1889, when voters passed a bylaw to establish one. A library board was formed, and Richard T. Lancefield was appointed Hamilton's first chief librarian. After some controversy, a downtown site at 22 Main Street West was purchased for a new building. Officials laid the cornerstone for the Hamilton public library on October 23rd, 1889, and Lord and Lady Aberdeen opened the library on September 16, 1890. It was the first purpose-built free library to open in Canada. The architect, William Stewart, had the honour of supervising its construction at a cost of about $45,000—more than twice the original estimate that the Ontario Association of Architects had criticized for being unreasonably low.

The library interior was just over 7,000 square feet to serve a city of almost 50,000 people. Its internal plan followed North American experience: a reference room and two reading rooms (one for ladies, 24 ft. x 25 ft., one for general readers, 25 ft. x 78 ft.) flanked by a nine-foot corridor leading to a long counter for borrowing transactions with three indicators, a catalogue area, and a librarian's platform. The general reading room was 25 ft. x 78 ft. Behind the counters was a 33 ft. x 58 ft. stack room, closed to the public and fitted with shelves to hold 50,000 books. The librarian's platform allowed surveillance of the entire ground floor.

Hamilton interior, n.d.

The library's exterior architecture was somewhat eclectic, a late-Victorian Richardsonian Romanesque style, red and black brick facing, a north-west corner tower, and an impressive wheel-window, a feature Stewart often utilized. A staff workroom, storage area, washrooms, and utilities were located in the basement. A ventilation system was designed to remove contaminated air from the upper floors via of an prominent exterior shaft on the east side of the building. To complete the facility, rooms for an Art School and the Hamilton Association occupied the upper floors. The building was heated by steam utilizing radiators throughout. 

 

Reading room, c.1905

The Hamilton library's first decade was relatively positive. Richard Lancefield published a book catalogue in 1894 and began to catalogue holdings using the Dewey Decimal System, a bold, time-consuming decision for Ontario in the 1890s. The library's second decade was less satisfactory. As the collection grew, more space on the main floor was required, but other developments, such as a section for young children (Hamilton maintained an age limit of 14), adequate space for story hours, and the issue of open access to shelves made the prospect of extensive renovations and expansion moot.

 

 

Hamilton Public Library before 1925

However, the Art School was quite successful and continued to occupy the upper floors. Library trustees were reluctant to evict art school students in the two upper floors or the rental room funds the library received from small rooms in the basement. When Sir John M. Gibson, the future lieutenant governor of Ontario, wrote to the Carnegie Corporation on January 20, 1906, to inquire about the possibility of receiving a grant, he remarked, "we have a public library, which however is scarcely up to what might be expected in a growing city like Hamilton." He was rebuffed,.

But after a concerted effort in 1909, Hamilton received a Carnegie promise of $75,000 for a new building and was later granted an additional $25,000. A fine Beaux-Arts structure on Main Street West officially opened on May 5, 1913. The property and assets of the old library were transferred to the city in the fall of 1913. The building served as the home for the Hamilton Art Gallery until 1953. It was demolished in July 1955.

 

 

London Public Library opened in 1895

Sketch of London Public Library with floor plans, 1895

Although London ratepayers had approved a bylaw to establish a free library in 1884, it was repealed in 1888, leaving the indebted mechanics' institute as a major source of reading for city residents. Eventually, London city council granted funds to the Mechanics’ Institute on condition that they provide free public access to their library and reading room. After ratepayers again petitioned the city council, on January 2, 1893, London citizens approved a library bylaw by a large majority. After the idea of transferring the older Mechanics' Institute building was rejected due to its unsuitability, in April 1894, the city council issued debentures for $20,000 to build an entirely new library. A competition for building plans was conducted, and Herbert L. Matthews, a local architect, was selected in the fall of 1894. On November 26, 1895, a fine new red brick library building on the southwest corner of Queens and Wellington was opened, with Robert J. Blackwell as the first librarian.

London Public Library exterior, n.d.

The new building cost $14, 818 including furnishings. The library assumed the defunct Mechanics' Institute’s book collection. There were two moderately large reading rooms for reference and browsing on the main floor across from the closed stack area. The west room on the second storey was also used as an Art Gallery. A museum also was planned for the second floor. On June 1, 1897, Robert J. Blackwell, the librarian of the London Public Library who was a former bookseller, issued the library’s first published catalogue using the new Dewey decimal classification system. He was known to be progressive because he supported free access to non-fiction and improved services for children, although an age limit of 12 was in effect. Crowded conditions in the library soon necessitated an addition at the rear costing $5,300 and a separate ladies' reading area on the west side of the main floor, which opened in 1902. Books were moved to the new extension for an enlarged stack room with shelving 8 ft. in height.

London floor plan in 1906

When Blackwell died unexpectedly in 1906, William O. Carson became chief librarian. Under his administration, the open access system was completely implemented in 1908, improved reference space and service began in 1910, and a children's room opened in 1913 to replace the ladies' reading room. During this period, the librarian and trustees realized the library was too small for the growing city and decided to apply for a Carnegie grant. But the unfortunate death of a library representative in New York and the outbreak of the First World War intervened before London could complete its request. When Carnegie funding for new libraries ceased in 1917, there were repeated failed bylaws to fund a new library from municipal sources. The building continued in use as London's main library until 1940. Then, a handsome two-storey limestone central library opened on Queen's Avenue—the Elsie Perrin Williams Memorial Library and Art Museum. Later, in 1954, London's original library was demolished to allow for the expansion of the adjacent YMCA.

Library Building and Design

As Anglo-American library planning developed in the years before 1900, architects often concentrated on exterior styling and interior ornamentation, while librarians relied on functionality and services for purpose-built premises. Library interiors varied in size depending on finances and available locations. A reading room for newspapers and magazines and access to reference resources were popular services, but, increasingly, the lending department was assuming primacy. Many people came to the library to charge out fiction, a somewhat difficult problem that could lead to crowding in smaller areas when free access was permitted. Most libraries did not have children's sections and their presence was an afterthought until Queen's Park enacted a legislation clause in 1909 that effectively removed age restrictions, thus allowing an influx of children and making children's sections a practical necessity.

Library interiors began to be standardized for efficiency, adopting principles like locating main services on a single floor and allowing for future extension. The early adoption of the decimal classification system at Hamilton and London allowed the rearrangement of books so readers could find their own books without frequent reference to the catalogue or an indicator (after some time Toronto adopted the DDC in 1910). Essential utilities such as ventilation and heating often presented problems, with coal powered boilers for radiators and troublesome systems to control humidity and temperature. The transition of lighting from gas lighting to electricity was already underway by the 1890s. There were many challenges to surmount as disagreements  about services, functionality, ornamentation, and the need for surveillance of patrons could produce dissimilar results. By the turn of the century, there was an emergent trend in Ontario to more accessible, less restrictive interiors. The Toronto architect William A. Langton, who penned a short paper on "Library Design" in the Canadian Architect and Builder in April 1902 recognized this direction. He felt that "One is inclined to think that there is too much stress laid upon the need of making a sort of policeman of the librarian."

Despite initial enthusiasm and purposeful renovations of varying quality, both the Toronto and Hamilton central libraries were no longer adequate within two decades. Both cities sought Carnegie funding to address their problems. London also realized its smaller building needed to be replaced within fifteen years; however, it was unable to fund a new edifice until a benefactor, Elsie Perrin Wiliams, left the city a significant bequest to construct a sleek Art Deco style, air-conditioned library with an auditorium and art gallery. These three newer central libraries represented a major step forward for each locality and also pointed the way in new directions for library architecture in Canada.

Further resources:

F.J. Burgoyne's Library Construction (London: George Allen, 1897) is available at the Hathi Trust at this link. 

Charles Soule's Library Rooms and Buildings (Boston, ALA, 1902) is available at the Internet Archive at this link. 

The Toronto Library catalogue of circulating books issued in July 1884 is at this link.

The Toronto subject catalogue published in 1889 is available at this link.

My earlier blog on Victorian and Edwardian libraries in Ontario is at this link.

The Hamilton correspondence with the Carnegie Corporation is at this link.