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.

ONTARIO'S LANDMARK PUBLIC LIBRARIES ACT, 1920

A century ago, in June 1920, the Farmer-Labour government in Ontario introduced a new public libraries act, mostly through the work of the Education Department's provincial library Inspector, William O. Carson. He had been London's chief librarian for a decade before moving to Toronto in 1916 to undertake the task of vitalizing Ontario's libraries during the difficult years of the First World War. The contemporary act he inherited dated back as far as 1882, with major revisions issued in 1895 and 1909. But, with the appearance of Carnegie buildings (125 in Ontario), better training for library assistants and librarians, and far different economic conditions facing municipalities after four decades of population growth, the provisions of the older act (which had at one time included mechanics' institutes) no longer suited a province that had suffered rural depopulation and was becoming increasingly urbanized after the 1911 census.

Carson spent his first few years in the small library office of the Education Department at Queen's Park studying the province's public libraries, the free ones with mandatory library tax rates and the association-membership ones that depended on fundraising for their operations. By early 1920, an entirely new act with revisions to older sections was ready to be introduced into the legislative process for three readings. The new law came into effect on June 4th, 1920, after a relatively easy passage through the Ontario legislature. No less than George Locke, Toronto's energetic chief librarian, pronounced that the new act was the greatest step forward in public library development on the continent. Mary J.L. Black was also enthusiastic, writing that the act "may well be considered as the most progressive and practical Library Act that has ever appeared in any statue book, the world over."

The new act was indeed praiseworthy, but not perfect; it served Ontario's public library community well until it was replaced by an entirely new act in 1966. The prominent feature of the new act was its provision for local financing of free public libraries. Previously, library boards had relied on a mandatory minimum municipal levy of one half-mill on the assessed valuation of property (real or personal) in their communities.  Of course, municipalities varied in population, local assessments differed as did tax rates, and many local councils considered the half-mill to be a maximum rather than a minimum. Consequently, Carson introduced a mandatory annual minimum fifty cents per capita levy for municipalities, police villages, and school sections where free libraries existed. The rationale: libraries served people, not property! Municipal councils were also authorized to increase the "public library rate" by majority votes (a seldom used clause as it turned out).

The new act adhered to the concept of enabling municipal based library service. Following the successful vote of eligible electors, a board could be established; these boards, usually composed of nine members in cities, were governed by appointed members and the appointing powers were divided among school and municipal authorities to ensure the semi-independence of each board. For rural library development, the province continued the long-standing tradition, dating back to 1851, of allowing the formation of association (membership) libraries that elected boards of five to ten members from its membership each year. Association libraries were not eligible for the minimum fifty cents per capita rate and had to subsist on members' fees and fundraising events for their operations. Often, Carson's departmental travelling library sections supplied associations with small boxes of books as supplemental reading for their membership.

For its role in library development, Ontario, through its Department of Education, the act authorized provisions for the minister (an office usually held by the sitting Premier) to pay grants to public libraries to a typical maximum of $250.  These provisions encouraged local growth on a "self-help" basis:

1) city branches became eligible for grants on the same basis as main libraries, a stipulation that Toronto enthusiastically endorsed;

2) legislative regulations provided for a grant of fifty percent on book purchases up to $400 and fifty percent on periodicals and newspapers not to exceed $100;

3) a grant of $10 for a reading room open a certain number of hours a week;

4) a few special grants were set aside for small libraries and reading room service.

Carson was also able to convince the government to empower the minister of education to encourage additional services in the interest of public libraries, notably authority to maintain a library school and library institutes. Carson had lengthened the time for library education and training using the Toronto Public Library as a practice facility. Library institutes were shorter workshop sessions aimed at improving the trustees' knowledge about modern library development. The minister also was given the right to pass regulations governing the qualifications of librarians and assistants. Carson, and other leading Ontario librarians, such as George Locke and Mary J.L. Black, considered the librarian and staff to be essential to the success of library service.

For many years, Ontario's library law was cited as a model for other provincial jurisdictions. The 1933 Carnegie sponsored report, Libraries in Canada, noted it was the most complete library act in Canada and could be used as a guide. However, Ontario's act had not adequately dealt with the problem of the small rural library. Union boards could be formed, but this section of the act was seldom used. The commissioners who reported in 1933 singled out Ontario's problem and pointed to the essential provisions of a "good" library act:

1) a statement of purpose for the public library;

2) a central supervising and "energizing" agency;

3) a representative and responsible local management;

4) a sure and adequate income.

Further, the three Carnegie commissioners suggested a statutory Library Commission (like the existing one in British Columbia) would strengthen the hand of the Department's library inspectorate. County and regional library amendments were also necessary to ensure cooperative efforts in rural areas. A Commission, of course, had been rejected by Ontario's government as far back as 1902. County library cooperative legislation was introduced in 1947, regional co-operative could be formed after 1957, and, eventually, county libraries were authorized in 1959. These amendments were the most significant changes to the 1920 Act over the course of forty-five years.

When the new Act of 1966 came into effect, it eliminated some prominent vestiges of the past that were features of the 1920 Act: the need for local plebiscites to establish libraries, the requirement to be a British subject, the voluntary Library Association form of governance, and the minimum per capita library rate of 1920. From the perspective of a century, the 1920 Act, although hailed at the time as a modern advancement, fell short in vital areas. From the very first, a Michigan librarian familiar with Canadian and American conditions, Samuel Ranke, estimated that $1.00 per capita would be more a more suitable rate. The new act lacked provisions to permit, or encourage, cooperative services between library boards, except for the union board clause. Trustees, for the most part, need not look beyond their community. Library operations in smaller places frequently were in the hands of self-trained local appointments because there was no requirement to hire trained personnel. Boards assumed a "hands-on approach" and made decisions about book selection and finances. Reappointment of trustees, rather than an infusion of new blood, was standard practice.

In many respects, the 1920 Act consolidated previous ideas about how library service should develop within Ontario's municipal structure, which dated to 1849. But future progress in Ontario would depend on ideas and attitudes quite unlike the ones which characterized the successes of the public library movement from 1880-1920. By 1950, it was evident changes would be necessary and new library amendments began to appear with regularity. Indeed, Ontario's municipal framework began to undergo similar reviews to accommodate changing demographics and social issues.

The full text of the act is available on the Internet Archive.

ANGUS MOWAT AND ONTARIO'S RURAL LIBRARIES, 1937-40

Well, after years of research, I have published something on Angus Mowat, Ontario's irrepressible Inspector (later Director) of Public Libraries for three decades. And in the latest issue of Ontario History, a favourite regional journal for professional and local historians alike. The tweet just came out --Great news! The Spring 2014 issue of ONTARIO HISTORY has been printed and is now available!

Updated, June 2023: the entire article is now available at Érudit, an important Quebec non-profit publisher. To read about AM and rural libraries before WWII go to:
https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/onhistory/2014-v106-n1-onhistory03916/1050722ar/

"An Inspector Calls: Angus Mowat and Ontario's Rural Libraries, 1937-40" Ontario History (Spring 2014, vol. CVI, no. 1) covers a short period just before the Second World War when Angus Mowat began his lengthy career in the Ontario civil service. Mowat was an inspirational voice for public library work during the Great Depression. In 1937, after he became the Inspector of Public Libraries in the Ontario Department of Education, he helped revive spirits and raise service ambitions in smaller libraries. Building on the "modern library" concept popularized after World War I, he re-energized trustees, librarians, and library workers with hundreds of visits to promote local efforts in the immediate prewar period. His inspections encompassed the advisement of trustees on management and financial processes; the promotion of librarianship and staff training; the development of adult and children’s collections; the reorganization of functional building space; the formation of county systems; and support for new school curriculum reading reforms. Mowat’s wide-ranging inspection method not only brought renewed optimism it laid the groundwork for genuine progress in the provincial public library system after 1945.

During the waning depression era of the late 1930s, Mowat travelled to all parts of the province encouraging library development and making many friends. Unquestionably, he stimulated thought about enhanced services and helped libraries cope at a critical time. When his army duty (1940-44) ended, he resumed inspections with his usual enthusiasm; however, his term as Inspector ended when he became Director of Public Libraries in 1948. The regime of library inspections lingered into the 1950s, but Mowat’s new title signified his expanded role in advancing provincial policies, financing, and legislation for Ontario’s public library "system." By the time he retired in 1960, a colourful, personal period in Ontario’s public library organization had given way to more systematic, modern administration.

The article covers (1) Depression Era Public Library Service; (2) The Beginning of Inspections in Summer 1937; (3) Library Boards and Trusteeship; (4) Librarianship and Collections; (5) Library Accommodation and Buildings; (6) Library Cooperation; and (7) The End of Inspections in Summer 1940. Mowat’s ups and downs in rural Ontario took many turns! Mowat was a library enthusiast for sure -- an administrator with an eye to the irreverent, but always able to cast a serious judgement or offer sage advice when necessary. By the time of his retirement party in 1960 at the Park Plaza, public libraries had undergone many changes and, although he retained many older ideas about how to do things, he was not adverse to try something new.

In recognition of Mowat's efforts, a provincial award, the Angus Mowat Award of Excellence, recognizes a commitment to excellence in the delivery of Ontario public library service. The award is made annually for services that can be old, new, and ongoing