Short History of Ontario Library Boards and Trustees

I had an opportunity to speak at OLA's most recent Super Conference in Toronto. It was the twenty-fifth anniversary of the revamped annual OLA conference! OLA's restructuring of its various annual meetings and sub-conferences in the mid-1990s has been highly successful for the library community and its trade show, attracting attention from across Canada, not just the province of Ontario.

Anyway, I was speaking at a session designed on "governance" mostly aimed at library trustees but also of some interest to librarians and people interested in libraries as well. I am posting a PDF version of a PowerPoint that I used to talk about a "short history" of Ontario's public library movement, its trustees, legislation, the OLA itself, and some main trends that have absorbed people's attention over the past century. The history of libraries in Ontario does not usually focus on library boards or trusteeship or the OLA's impact but it is well worth examining.

You can visit the session and read through the PDF handout I used at the OLA Super Conference site for the session "The History of Public Libraries and Library Boards in Ontario." My co-presenter was Kerry Badgley, the Past-President of OLA and its President in 2018. Kerry spoke on his current research in these areas, especially the period after the First World War.

 

 

ONTARIO LIBRARY ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION, 1901

Early in the twentieth century a small group of trustees, librarians, and persons interested in libraries met in Toronto at the Ontario Education Department's Normal School located on St. James Square (present-day Ryerson University). They planned to form an association to promote public library development in Ontario, despite the their small numbers--just more than thirty attendees.

The delegates elected James Bain, Jr., chief librarian of the Toronto Public Library as President of the Ontario Library Association. He read an inspiring paper, "The Library Movement in Ontario." The new Secretary from Lindsay, Edwin A. Hardy, gave a more pragmatic paper, "An Outline Programme of the Work of the Ontario Library Association." Both men would be instrumental in the following years in which the OLA would vigorously promote public libraries and become one of the most successful library associations in North America. Other presentations focused on Canadian literature and poetry, small libraries and schools, travelling libraries, and book selection. By all newspaper accounts, the meeting boded well for the future of libraries in the province.

A draft constitution had been prepared by a small committee beforehand and was adopted with a couple of amendments as follows:

CONSTITUTION OF THE ONTARIO LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

 ADOPTED, APRIL 8, 1901

ART. 1. NAME.
This organization shall be called "The Ontario Library Association."

ART. 2. OBJECT.
Its object shall be to promote the welfare of Libraries, by stimulating public interests in founding and improving them, by securing any need of legislation, by furthering such co-operative work as shall improve results or reduce expenses, by exchanging views and making recommendations in convention or otherwise, and by advancing the common interests of Librarians, Trustees and Directors and others engaged in library and allied in education work.

ART. 3. MEMBERS.
(a) Any person engaged in Library work as Trustee, Director, Librarian, or in any other capacity, may become a member by paying the annual fee and any others after election by the Executive Committee.
(b) Librarians may join the Association in the same way as individuals, and shall be entitled to two representatives at the meetings of the Association.
(c) The annual fee shall be $1.00 for individuals, and $2.00 for Libraries.
(d) Honorary Members may be elected by Executive Committee at any meeting of the Committee.
(e) Any person may become a life member entitled during life to all rights and privileges of membership without payment of annual dues, by payment of $10.00.

ART. 4. OFFICERS.
(a) The officers of the Association shall be a President, two Vice-presidents, Secy.-Treasurer and five Councillors, to be elected by ballot at the adjournment of the meeting at which their Successors are elected.
(b) The officers, together with the President of the preceding year, shall constitute an Executive Committee of the Association, with power to act for the Association between meetings. Three members shall constitute a quorum.
(c) The Executive Committee shall appoint standing committees, and such other officers and committees as may be required to transact the business of the Association. (d) The Secretary and the Treasurer shall perform the duties usually assigned to such officers. The Treasurer shall expend not more than $5.00 in any month except on orders signed by the President of the Association.

ART. 5. MEETINGS.
(a) There shall be an annual meeting of the Association at such time and place as may be decided upon by the Executive Committee, and the Secretary shall send notice to every member of the Association, at least one month before the meeting.
(b) Special meetings may be called by the President, or in his absence by the Vice-President, on a written request of ten or more members, provided one month's notice be duly given, and that only business specified in the call be transacted.
(c) Ten members shall constitute a quorum.
(d) Any resolution approved in writing by every member of the Committee shall have the force of a vote.

ART. 6. AMENDMENTS. Amendments may be made to the constitution at any meeting of the Association, provided that notice of the proposed amendments was sent by the Secretary to each member one month before the meeting, and that the amendment has a two-thirds majority of the members present.

---

The OLA's constitution would be revised a number of times over the next one hundred years as the organization and its aims expanded but its essential thrust to promote library development would remain a constant.

TORONTO PUBLIC LIBRARY, 1842

The Institution shall be called The Toronto Public Library—and the date of its commencement is hereby declared to be the 27th of October, 1842.

So read a small pamphlet that outlined the bylaws and the constitution of yet another Canadian subscription library formed in the first part of the nineteenth century. The entry fee for a subscriber was £1, the quarterly subscription 2 shillings/6 pence, and payment to the Librarian 1 shilling. Like many of the more than fifty subscription libraries established in the Canadian colonies before 1850, the library did not enjoy a long lifespan. Until now, its formation has not attracted much attention, but a perusal through the pages of the British Colonist for the last months of 1842 provides insight into the slow development of the 'public library' concept in Upper Canada (called Canada West from 1841-66 and Ontario after 1867) early in the 1840s.

My interest in this particular library is its name--Toronto Public Library--and the rationale for its creation at a time when mechanics' institutes, newsrooms, and societies with libraries were becoming quite popular in Canadian colonial settings. The founders identified the "public library" as one that held a general collection and reference materials and was accessible to all residents of a community on a subscription basis. But it was not a constituent part of local government because it relied on voluntary payments and contributions from philanthropic persons--usually men--who were willing to pay a sum on entry and the annual membership fee. This type of library, often called a subscription or membership or social library, performed a public function but was not a state agent. Consequently, it was managed privately by a Committee of Management (COM) chosen by the subscribers. Yet it was clearly regarded as a community-based agency. It characterized the importance of nineteenth-century ideas about voluntarism, civic promotion, and public-private partnerships working in the interest of the public good. Generally, before 1850 a public library was one that a group of people shared a common interest in reading.

The proposed library took shape in the autumn of 1842 when a number of gentlemen held meetings to determine if a new library venture was possible. They enlisted the support of Toronto's mayor, Henry Sherwood, a civic-minded Tory interested in the town's progress: he agreed to the President. William B. Jarvis, also a Tory and well known for his connections with the older governing clique, the Family Compact, became a manager. Another prominent member, Thomas G. Ridout, was one of the leading managers. Ridout, a Reformer in political affairs, was interested in civic projects and later became involved with the incorporation of the Toronto Mechanics' Institute in 1847 while serving as its President, 1845-48. Another reform-minded lawyer, Joseph C. Morrison, who later became a prominent judge, agreed to be secretary for the library. John Cameron, Cashier of the Commercial Bank of the Midland District at Toronto, was Vice-President.

The British Colonist represented centrist conservative standpoints and was not given to extravagant views. In a November 2, 1842 editorial, the paper stated its firm belief in the project for a new library because "It is fitted to be productive of great good, for many from the want of a well selected library ... have not the means of storing their minds with substantial and useful knowledge." The Colonist suggested young men in stores and offices would benefit most. The utilitarian philosophy underlying the editorial was common in this period and would continue to be a salient reason for supporting libraries. Later in the month, on the 23rd, the Colonist was even more appreciative:

...now, the position which the Colony occupies, and this City in particular, increasing in numbers and wealth, demands that an effort should be made to organize, and render effective, such an important institution as a Public Library.
 
...but when we consider that in a population of seventeen thousand, there is no Library belonging to the Public, this fact does not speak much in our favour. For our character therefore as citizens, and our growing intelligence as individuals, it is expected that the scheme will meet with public favour and support. Another generation is rising amongst us, and every well-wisher of his family, and of his kind, should be desirous that full opportunities should be granted to them for improvement.
 
Accommodation for the library was arranged in Osborne's Building at the corner of King and Church in downtown Toronto. It appears two merchants, Osborne and Wyllie, made provision for this (the upper level of this building was later occupied for some time by the reading room of an otherwise unknown "Mercantile Library Association" recorded by W.H. Smith's Canada, Past Present and Future in 1851). But the efforts of its founders went for naught: apparently insufficient subscriptions were attained and eventually part of the money raised may have been turned over by the former Vice-President, John Cameron, to the newly formed Toronto Athenaeum in 1845. One of the purposes of the Toronto Athenaeum, which existed until 1855, was to establish a public popular library and museum. However, Toronto would not have a truly "public library" for another forty years. The Toronto Mechanics' Institute would serve the purpose of a general library for the public at small expense until 1883. The concept of a public library in the 1840s Canada was one that people could use if they made voluntary personal payments for membership at the time of entry and annual subscriptions. Public ownership through enabling provincial legislation, municipal ownership, and free access via residential rights lay in the future.

Nonetheless, the constitution devised by the more well-to-do Toronto "library community" at this time is interesting. The collection was to be of "general and permanent interest," suggesting a weighting toward non-fiction. New members required the recommendation of two subscribers. Women were admissible but could only vote by proxy at general meetings. Subscribers could transfer their shares according to entry money upon approval of the COM. The managers selected books based on member's suggestions and posted lists of potential purchases before acquisitions were requested. The President had a limited prerogative to purchase books of a political, local, literary, or religious nature. Penalties for overdue or damaged books were a source of revenue. Lending books to family members was a finable offense and subscribes could be fined for non-attendance at meetings. Library members were required to be conscientious and responsible and in early Victorian Toronto, one of the burdens of being a shareholder! The full text of the laws and bylaws of the proposed library are available online:

Laws of the Toronto Public Library. Toronto: British Colonist, 1842. [ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series = no. 55494]

Ontario Public Libraries, The Internet, and the Digital Library

After 1980 library mechanization in Ontario's public libraries gave way to more rapid changes in terms of automation, i.e., the systematic control of repetitive library operations by electronic equipment and programs that reduced the need for human involvement. Computers and management information software began to make possible the term “knowledge workers.” Public libraries started using computers to circulate books, track patron overdues, and provide instant information on the status of books. North York offered the New York Times in on-line format. By November 1977 the complete text of Toronto’s Globe and Mail was being published online, “Info Globe,” which also became immediately available for online searching and retrieval for library subscribers. For some time, the University of Toronto Library Automated System (UTLAS) provided libraries across Canada a computerized system with catalogue copy for books and a database of holdings that could be used for resource sharing and conversion to computer output microfilm catalogues. It was an exciting time for users and a complex one for administrators and trustees.

With the advent of automated systems, the potential of networking for cooperative projects was broadened. Over the course of two years, the Ontario government funded two important technological related library conferences. The first, a futures symposium, Libraries 2000, was held at Toronto in 1985. Speakers ranged across a wide territory to explore the society, economy, and technology that Canadians would likely experience in the years ahead. Frank Feather, who often elaborated the theme “Thinking Globally, Acting Locally,” spoke to the issue of the need to transition to an electronic environment. The American futurist, Marvin Cetron, predicted that information would become more expensive and possibly the preserve of large corporations charging fees. However, he was optimistic about the public library’s future. Two years later, in 1987, the Province planned another conference at Toronto: The Electronic Library, a deliberation on “second-generation” products for library automation. The era for upgrading or purchasing more sophisticated, expensive, integrated successors to “first-generation” equipment had arrived. Conference topics were quite technical: online catalogs, information searching, public access, and the right to information were more nuanced library issues beyond the public library sector itself. One speaker talked about the intelligent catalog of the future, one that could perform a search and offer a suggestion for the searcher to consider, “Give me more like this!”

The success of Libraries 2000 and The Electronic Library served to highlight the concepts of “paperless systems” or “information age.” A major theme was the need for an effective system to organize information on a community basis with a view to free electronic retrieval and distribution. “Information” was becoming an ubiquitous term used interchangeably with concepts long associated with print culture, i.e., knowledge and ideas. Advocates insisted that it could empower people by supplying resources for better decision making. Pessimists believed that the global economic structure that information supported could ultimately displace individuals and communities with authoritarian structures. The capacity to strengthen both administrative centralization and decentralized production of content seemed to be taking place. New groups and audiences were in the process of creation, e.g., electronic mail groups or the MTV generation.

The Impact of the Internet in the 1990s

Towards the end of the 1980s, librarians and trustees from local municipal libraries and the Ontario Library Association (OLA) began to think in terms of devising a strategic plan for all Ontario. It was now possible to think realistically about the creation of a provincial database—an inventory of public library holdings for access and use at the local level which could be used directly by patrons with minimal assistance from staff. Thus, the concept of One Place to Look, published in 1990 by the Ontario Strategic Directions Council shortly before the Internet’s rapid development, talked about regional library clusters becoming part of a larger “information grid.” When the word-wide “network of networks,” the Information Highway, began to come into prominence in the early 1990s, it revolutionized global high-speed communications systems. The Internet included computer networks, electronic mail and data files, fiber-optic cable television systems, the World Wide Web, Gopher searching, newsgroups, bulletin board systems, relay chat, and many interactive features. One Place to Look was visionary, but perhaps arrived too early to be a catalyst for planning because the technical infrastructure funding for collaborative projects actually was a federal responsibility.

A few years later, the federal government established its Community Access Program (CAP) for rural Canadians, “Connecting Canadians,” beginning in 1994. One of the aims was to eliminate a “digital divide” in Canada by permitting rural electronic access to government services and online learning resources. Typically, during this transition, a public library would first connect to the Internet through program-sponsored computers and eventually launch its own web site. Later, in 1999, the Ontario government provided money for ten digital library projects worth $250,000 from its Library Strategic Development Fund. Toronto Public Library's “Virtual Reference Library” commenced in October 1999; it offered packaged Internet resources, such as “Science Net” for students, and e-mail service for requests beyond the Metro Toronto area.

The Internet’s impact on public libraries was far-reaching after the mid-1990s and newer technologies, such as the wireless smartphone, would continue to revolutionize that way information was distributed and formatted. The Ontario Strategic Directions Council, in its Building Value Together, published in 2002, advocated formation of a single agency, the “Ontario Public Library,” as the primary agency to lead public libraries into the future. This Library could provide province-wide licensing of electronic resources, conduct market research, plan consortia purchases, develop partnerships, and provide effective central leadership to harness the collective capacity of the public library community. Again, the concept was tied to technological ability and to increased use of digitally produced data.

Digital Libraries Emerge

From the perspective of the user, the Twenty-first century “Digital Library” is a place where resources are available without recourse to visiting a library, service is 24 by 7, staff members could offer assistance in a virtual environment, and their personal library accounts are accessible electronically. As the concept of “Library 2.0” evolved, it became evident that ideas about user-centered change, community participation, and adoption of new technologies would be the keys to future development. In 2005, the provincial government provided funding to implement a new province-wide framework, “Knowledge Ontario.” With funding of $8 million, Knowledge Ontario expanded to include “Our Ontario,” “Resource Ontario,” “Ask Ontario” and “Connect Ontario” projects. Now it was possible for public libraries to ally with schools, archives, museums, and post-secondary institutions in a virtual setting. Technical infrastructure and broadband access were important to achieving the long-term goal of equity of access via a full range of technology. Futurists conceiving ideas about “Library 3.0” or the “Third Generation Library” viewed libraries as adaptive services and flexible structures designed with a community’s involvement and delivered with the participation of library staff and community members. When Knowledge Ontario ceased operation in 2012, OurDigitalWorld carried on the work of open access to digitized historical materials.

It seems the Digital Library will continue to rely on technological developments and collaborative efforts. The integration of public libraries with other public sector heritage and information institutions—public, school, government, post-secondary, and special libraries as well as archives and museums—in formal linkages would ultimately benefit a wide-ranging clientele wishing to invest in an information rich universe. Of course, the Digital Library presents problems of its own: storage, preservation, and copyright are just a few of the challenges.  However, the potential for users to access vast ranges of information in many formats is a goal that the library has embraced because it is an institution that can help people find information and how to evaluate it.

An earlier blog post on the Information Highway given in 1995.

My more detailed article on the development of electronic public libraries in Ontario from 1960–2010 is at this link.

REGIONAL LIBRARY SYSTEMS IN ONTARIO, 1965-1985

The new 1966 Public Libraries Act formed the structure for rapid, and conflicting, developments into the mid-1980s when this act was greatly modified. This was an era of continuous change in local government at a period of time when municipal regional government replaced older county structures. Expanded provincial jurisdiction over municipalities in Ontario became common. As well, federal/provincial centennial financing--$38.7 million net cost in Ontario--became available to assist the largest construction program since the Carnegie grant era. Almost seventy public library buildings were renovated or constructed in Ontario on a cost-shared basis with municipalities. The 1966 Act modernized local board structures and funding. As well, the Act introduced quasi-independent regional library systems governed by trustees in an effort to equalize services and coordinate planning across cities, towns, older counties and districts in Ontario.

The entire philosophy and administrative apparatus of library service were in flux. Living and Learning, a 1968 report, proposed integrating school and public libraries: it was received coolly in the public library sector. In 1972, the Provincial Library Service (PLS) in Toronto was transferred from the Department of Education to the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, partly to reinforce efforts in the field of continuing education. Provincial library board grants were doubled and a report, The Learning Society, followed. However, within two years libraries were shifted to a new Ministry of Culture. These administrative changes were made without extensive studies or preparations and reinforced a sense of drift towards recreational library services.

Throughout this turbulent period, the size of the PLS remained mostly unchanged and it continued to publish communication pieces in the Ontario Library Review and also added In Review; Canadian Books for Young People in summer 1967. In Review was edited by Irma (McDonough) Milnes, who later helped create the Canadian Children's Book Centre in 1976. To signal a new beginning, provincial travelling libraries were phased out and certification for librarians ended in 1972. Gradually, the PLS mandate was shifted to coordination through fourteen regional systems rather than inspection and supervision. Although the new regional systems did not normally directly serve Ontarians (except Metro Toronto and the northern regions that provided books and services) provincial aid to these bodies increased from $67,000 in 1959 to $8,384,000 in 1981. By 1980, 99% of Ontarians had direct access to municipal tax-supported public library service.

Year    Population 000s    Population Served 000s    Circulation 000s    Volumes 000s
1965         6,788                     5,303                                  44,736               10,060
1970         7,551                     6,667                                  50,277               12,495
1975         8,172                     7,937                                  53,128               17,645
1980         8,754                     8,524                                  56,917               23,291
Table I: Public library expansion, 1965-80 (Sources: Ontario Library Review, Public Library Statistics, and Report of the Minister of Education)

After 1970, total expenditures (both municipal and provincial) rose rapidly as well, although inflation accounted for more a major portion of this increase in the following table.

Year    Library Boards*    Population Served 000s    Expenditure** 000s    Per Capita Expenses
1960          309 (201)                  4,178                               $ 10,442                 $ 2.50
1965          311 (220)                  5,303                                  17,888                    3.37
1970          347                           6,667                                  39,172                    5.88
1975          463                           7,937                                  80,979                   10.20
1980          546                           8,524                                 139,009                  16.31

* Association libraries in brackets (abolished in 1966)
** does not include provincial library agencies, e.g. regional systems
Table II: Public library boards and expenditures, 1960-80 (Sources: Ontario Library Review, Public Library Statistics, and Report of the Minister of Education)

Regionalization of library services in the province presented opportunities to provide improved services and new ways to achieve them. But, on balance, the record of the 1970s was mixed. The 14 library regions had differing resources and financial bases to work with. They were successful in instituting better communication patterns, e.g. telex, that aided inter-library loan. Metro Toronto created a centralized metropolitan reference collection by assuming Toronto Public Library's reference collection in 1968 and eventually opening a much-heralded central reference library in 1977. Two regions, Niagara and Midwestern, developed centralized processing operations where publishers' books could be displayed, purchased, and catalogued at greater discounts but Niagara was forced to close at the end of 1979 due to debt. Three northern regions created a computer produced book catalogue of holdings for users. Across Ontario, regional film "pools" and union catalogues of audio-visual resources were created for local libraries, groups, and individuals to access programs and entertainment that proved popular.

But, by the mid-1970s, there were signs of discontent and the province funded the “Bowron Report” to investigate options. Unfortunately, consensus on its main recommendations could not be achieved and with the Niagara closure the provincial minister in charge of public libraries decided to embark on a thorough multi-year study of regional systems and public library service. Eventually, in 1984 a new Public Libraries Act was passed to take effect for 1985. It reduced the number of regions, standardized their services, and shifted their focus to networking and technological improvements without making direct major changes to local services. Rather than quasi-independent boards operating regions, the province introduced eight Ontario Library Service areas and retained control and funding for these.

The long-term review and introduction of a new Act came at a time--the late 1970s and early 1980s--when automation and telecommunications were beginning to transform the way library service was delivered to the public and the way in which books and periodicals were published. The Random House Electronic Thesaurus first appeared in 1981 and already, from 1977 on, the full-text of the Toronto Globe and Mail was available in database form when it became the first newspaper to publish electronically and in print on the same day. In libraries, computerized output was becoming a viable alternative to the traditional card catalogue. Indeed, the PLS was actively investigating computer applications and networking in Ontario through an office established at the Metro Toronto Library by the regional systems.

The potential of computer-based information technologies on library resources and library administrative functions (especially circulation, cataloguing, and communication) were studied extensively for the subsequent half-decade. This activity signaled the end of librarians’ and trustees’ preoccupation with administrative units of service and the need to extend services to unserved populations. Instead, they were obliged to reconsider the status of non-print collections as "secondary" in budgeting and planning and to prepare for an automated future. In 1980 it was quite possible to speculate on “electronic libraries,” as Henry Campbell, Toronto's chief librarian (1956-78) did, but, by 1985, when the Ministry of Citizenship and Culture sponsored a provincial symposium, "Libraries 2000," new technological possibilities were becoming practical realities. The dominance of print culture, which Marshall McLuhan had challenged in the 1960s, was in decline and electronic modes of communication on the rise. Regional telex equipment had forged links in the 1970s, but now fax and electronic networks connected by computer workstations in offices and homes were transforming ideas about the delivery of library services. Libraries could not escape this trend: both the Ontario Library Review and In Review ceased publication in 1982.

Between 1965 and 1985 there were many changes in public administration, technology, demographics, economic development, and social conventions, but the idea of improving modern library service and distribution reading and literature to the reading public, developing bibliographic systems and information, and making librarians important elements in linking citizens with information, remained constant in Ontario’s “public library community.” Progressive changes in the model of service to communities, advances in technology, the growth of the liberal “welfare state” in the public services sector, multiculturalism, and bilingualism, had provided the framework for library promoters to innovate and adapt in Ontario. Across Canada, new directions were clear by the third quarter of the twentieth century: as libraries united in cooperative efforts to share resources and to apply automation in daily operations the old relationship with printed resources were in decline and the electronic future raised many new challenges that required further study and action.

My blog on the Bowron Report, 1976

My blog on the Ontario Public Library Programme Review (1982) that formed the basis for the new public libraries act enacted in 1985.