Gerhard Richard Lomer (1882–1970)

Gerhard Lomer was born in Montreal in 1882: he was the son of Adolph and Ellen Lomer a well-to-business family. In his youth, he spent time in the United States where he made a number of contacts that would further his literary career as an editor for two major American publishing series, the  “Warner Library of the World's Best Literature” and “Chronicles Of America.” However, his main contribution came in the field of librarianship at McGill University where he introduced Canada’s first full-time one-year graduate library program in 1927 that was accredited by the American Library Association in 1931. My biography first appeared at the Ex Libris Association site in 2017. Lomer’s portrait appeared in the January 1920 issue of the Canadian Bookman.

Gerhard Richard Lomer

Born on March 6, 1882, Montreal, QC; died on January 14, 1970, Ottawa, ON

Education:
1903 BA (McGill)
1904 MA (McGill)
1910 PhD (Columbia)
1910 Doctors Diploma in Education, Columbia Teacher’s College
1936 Fellow of Library Association (UK)

Positions:
1904-1906 Instructor in English, McGill University
1907-1908 Lecturer in Education, Montreal Normal School
1909-1912 Instructor in Education, University of Wisconsin
1912-1917 Instructor in English, Columbia University School of Journalism
1918-1920 Assistant editor of two series, “Chronicles of America” and “Warner’s Library of the World’s Best Literature”
1920-1947 University Librarian, McGill
1927-1949 Director and Professor of Library Administration, McGill Library School
1959-1970 Assistant Director of Library School and Professor, University of Ottawa
 

Publications (major works):
Articles:
Lomer, G.R. (1906). “Education as university study.” McGill University Magazine 5 (May): 322-345.
Lomer, G.R. (1930). “The university library: 1920-1930.” McGill News 11 (4, September): 7–11.
Lomer, G.R. (1937). “The Quebec Library Association.” Ontario Library Review 21 (1): 10–11.
Lomer, G.R. (1942). “The Redpath Library: half a century, 1892-1942.” McGill News 24 (1, Autumn): 9–13.
Lomer, G.R. (1946). “Background of the Canadian L.[ibrary] A.[ssociation].” Library Journal 71 (September): 1107–1110.
Lomer, G.R. (1949). “Some occupational diseases of the librarian.” Canadian Library Association Bulletin 6 (1): 2–11.
Lomer, G.R. (1957). “The Quebec Library Association: the first ten years.” Canadian Library Association Bulletin 14 (3): 103-106.
Lomer, G.R. (1966). “Alice One Hundred.” Canadian Library 23 (2): 80-85.
Lomer, G.R. (1968). “1946—the prospect [for CLA].” In Librarianship in Canada, 1946-1967: essays in honour of Elizabeth Homer Morton, ed. by Bruce B. Peel, pp. 20-21. Victoria: Canadian Library Association.

Books:
Lomer, G.R. (1910). The concept of method. New York: Teacher’s College, Columbia University [Lomer’s original Ph.D dissertation].
Lomer, G.R. and Margaret E. Ashmun (1914). The study and practice of writing English. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. [2nd ed. in 1917].
Lomer, G.R. (c.1920). The Library of McGill. Montreal: McGill Centennial Endowment Campaign.
Lomer, Gerhard R. and Margaret S. MacKay (1924), eds. A catalogue of scientific periodicals in Canadian libraries. Montreal: McGill University and the Honorary Advisory Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
Lomer, G.R. (1927). Library administration: lecture and study outlines. Montreal: McGill University Library School.
Lomer, G.R. (1932). Report on a proposed three-year demonstration of library service for Prince Edward Island. Montreal: McGill University Library.
Lomer, G.R. (1954). Stephen Leacock: a check-list and index of his writings. Ottawa: National Library of Canada.

Associations/Committees:
President, Quebec Library Association, 1932-1933
Member, Canadian Library Council, Inc., 1943-1946
Membership in national and provincial library associations: charter member of Canadian Library Association and Quebec Library Association
Member of American Library Association: various committees in 1930s such as Suggested Code of Ethics Statement (1930), Carnegie Grants-in-Aid; and host city for ALA Montreal Conference, 1934. Elected as Council member and later Executive Board member, 1946-1947.

Accomplishments:
Gerhard Lomer was already an accomplished educator, teacher, and scholar before he became McGill's University Librarian and Director of the Library School in 1920. He was a worthy successor to Charles Gould, having established a successful academic career and taught courses at the McGill summer library school. Although his career as an administrator was clouded by unrelenting financial austerity during the Great Depression and the Second World War, Lomer oversaw the steady growth of McGill’s collections. However, his main contribution to Canadian librarianship was progressive leadership in graduate library education at McGill. With the financial support of the Carnegie Corporation, which contributed $139,000 over the period 1927-40, Lomer established Canada’s first ALA accredited one-year Bachelor of Library Science program (1931) and organized summer courses in Prince Edward Island, British Columbia, and Alberta to address demand for positions. By the time of his retirement as library school director in 1949, McGill’s reputation was firmly established. In retirement, Lomer continued to contribute to library education as assistant director and teacher at the University of Ottawa.

Sources:
Burgoyne, St. George (1920). “McGill’s new librarian.” Canadian Bookman 2 (January): 11.
Brown, Jack E. (1947). “Dr. Lomer’s retirement from the Redpath Library.” Canadian Library Association Bulletin 4 (October): 23-24.
Lomer, G.R. (1960). List of publications. Ottawa: n.p. [bibliography of his writings to May 1960].
Jenkins, Kathleen (1970). “Gerhard Richard Lomer.” Canadian Library Journal 27 (1): 130.
McNally, Peter F. (1988). “Scholar librarians: Gould, Lomer and Pennington.” Fontanus 1: 95–104 [pdf dowload].

Project Progress: A Study of Canadian Public Libraries, 1981

Project Progress: A Study of Canadian Public Libraries. Prepared for the Canadian Library Association and its division the Canadian Association of Public Libraries by Urban Dimensions Group Inc. Toronto, Canada. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association, January 1981. 120 p., ill. Issued in French as: Projet progrès.

 

 My review first appeared with shorter text in Canadian Public Administration vol. 26, no. 2 (June 1983): 315-316 as follows.

. . . . .

In 1979 the Toronto-based Urban Dimensions Group Inc. was commissioned by the Canadian Library Association to study problems confronting public libraries in Canada. The group’s report, Project Progress, identifies a number of issues affecting libraries in a national context, and offers practical data as well as recommendations to respond to these challenges. Implicit in this survey is a muted call to action. Yet, in the introduction, the CLA Steering Committee members offer a guarded forecast: “the future is before us.”

There are good reasons to be wary. Consider a few results from the 1979/80 general survey of libraries presented in chapter three:

51.8 per cent of service points are open less than 20 hours a week
38.4 per cent of service points circulate less than 50,000 items per year
89.3 per cent of service points lent less than 250 books a year to other libraries
64.3 per cent of service points operate on less than $50,000 annually
77.1 per cent of libraries employ no full-time qualified public service librarians
94.6 per cent of libraries employ no full-time qualified librarians in technical services
84.0 per cent of libraries employ no administrative or “other” librarians
46.0 per cent of service points are less than 1,000 sq. ft. in size
41.3 per cent of service points hold less than 10,000 volumes
19.0 per cent of service points have no catalogue access to their collections
32.0 per cent of service points offer children’s programs/story hours

Is this progress? It is disquieting to learn that eighty years after the introduction of children’s programming in Canada less than one-third of our libraries provide story hours. Why? The members of the research team pass over this - and other alarming findings – without much discussion. Perhaps their own doubts about the potential for corrective measures are too firmly established to give palliative comments.

The bleak statistics in Project Progress lead up to a discussion of library cooperation and cost-benefit analysis at the end of chapter three. Project Progress rightfully notes that the existing volume of inter-loan traffic is low, that present national bibliographic information services are “unwieldy,” and that only “little growth or innovation” has occurred since 1972. Given some of the results of the survey above, it is doubtful whether cooperative efforts at resource-sharing will become a widespread activity outside larger urban and suburban communities.

Chapters four and six analyze the education, utilization, training and attitudes of library workers. Project Progress reports that the unionization of libraries is viewed by workers as having little impact. Indeed, the issue of professional status of librarians in relation to management has not been addressed adequately. Project Progress also identifies a possible weakness in library education concerning use of technology to improve services. No doubt library educators will disagree on this issue.

Two further chapters study usage of libraries by the public which incorporate some results appearing in previous surveys made by the federal government in 1975 and 1978. It is noteworthy that a full century after the introduction of free tax-based library services, the question, “Would you favour taxes being increased to cover necessary costs?’ instead of cutbacks, elicits a negative reply from 45 per cent of the respondents (2 per cent greater than those favouring tax increases). Little wonder Project Progress recommends a more explicit market orientation and effective performance measures to support budget requests! Further, it is revealed that people believe libraries are more important to the community (61.5 per cent) than they are personally (42 per cent). The irony is that most professional librarians and staff would agree that they exist to serve the needs of individual users, not communities. Thus it is no surprise that the 1981 Ontario Library Association conference theme was “Libraries Celebrate the Individual.”

Project Progress is the most important single document on public libraries to appear since Libraries in Canada; A Study of Library Conditions and Needs, the report of an inquiry chaired by John Ridington in 1933. In my view, most recommendations offer a sensible basis for further study and action. Nevertheless, there is an essential ingredient missing. Nowhere in Project Progress is there any serious analysis of the political process engulfing public libraries. Although all levels of government formulate policies, the financial realities impinging upon the majority of local municipal units limits the scope for leadership and innovation. The major policy actors – library trustees, librarians, school boards, councillors, interest groups such as library associations, and provincial civil servants – are largely concerned with administrative/internal decisions. In this milieu, political policy-making languishes. An opportunity has been missed to explore the political world of public libraries where detailed administrative expertise is the road to advancement for librarians, and where trustees (and their libraries) suffer low visibility. Because the by-word for action in the fragmented library community is unity, changes are exceedingly difficult to achieve.

Project Progress does close with the conviction that improvements can be implemented by good planning, basically through national or provincial agencies such as CLA. This is a step forward in raising political awareness. Fifty years ago the Ridington report sincerely believed that there was “nothing the national government can do” to create and maintain a national library at Ottawa. Clearly since then public libraries have come to recognize that meaningful rewards can be attained through moderate political action. But constructive changes continue to follow a sporadic course, because little is known about the political environment of libraries.

. . . . .

Postscript 2023

In the mid-1970s, the Canadian Association of Public Libraries decided to conduct a study to ascertain the public library’s effectiveness and provide future recommendations. Unfortunately, this ambitious undertaking eventually raised less than half of the original projected financial goal after five years. CAPL, a small 1,000 plus member section of the Canadian Library Association, hoped a national study would boost decision-making, serve as a basic footprint for planning, and stimulate librarians/libraries to focus on changing societal conditions (especially the importance of information provision). The first three chapters centred on a brief introduction, an explanation of the data and methods, and a description of public library activity. Urban Dimensions examined 1,178 completed library questionnaires from 2,426 service points, conducted 90 personal interviews of library workers from 51 libraries, interviewed 200 people from the general public by telephone, and met with 18 decision-makers. The report concluded with twelve general recommendations, some of which did not appear to come from the data presented in tables and graphs.

The information presented was fairly general and the findings, which blurred the distinction between a library as an organization and the totality of service points. As a result, there was some discouraging reporting on the availability of library services. The report was released at the CLA national conference in Hamilton in June 1981 with some fanfare that future discussions about its recommendations would lead to new directions. However, this prospect did not materialize. A year later, at Saskatoon in 1982, CLA’s sessions on the report made little headway because conference-goers disagreed with some findings, such as the recommendation for professional librarians to form a national body equivalent to a licensing body. Many administrators surmised that the implementation of major recommendations would necessitate local initiatives which might vary across the country. The development of national strategies in a diverse public library community required financial resources that CLA, public libraries, related firms, and foundations were unable to provide. In retrospect, Project Progress was a valiant attempt to assess current strengths and weaknesses and offer guidance for future action; however, the report relied on subsequent activity at the community level and coordinated national leadership which CLA and leading library associations were not able to undertake.

Three additional important reviews:

Jean Tague and Sam D. Neill, “A Critical Review of Project Progress,” Ontario Library Review 66 no. 2 (June 1982): 84-87.

 Katherine H. Packer, compiler, “Project Progress: A Review,” Canadian Library Journal 39 no. 3 (June 1982): 129-133; with a “Reply to the Review” by the researchers, E. B. Harvey, Lorna Marsden, and Anne Woodsworth, 135-137.

S.D. Neill, “Project Progress and Professional Library Education  –  Continuing Education, Management Skills, Management Statistics,” OLA Expression 3 no. 4 (Winter 1982): 19-21.

Elizabeth Dafoe (1900–1960)

For a quarter of century, from the mid-1930s to 1960, Elizabeth Dafoe was a central figure in the development of the University of Manitoba library in Winnipeg. No less important was her influence in Manitoba and at the national level. Her efforts were noteworthy and resulted in her selection to represent western Canadian and academic interests in the wartime Canadian Library Council which led to the successful formation of the Canadian Library Association in 1946. Dafoe’s pan-Canadian interests included the formation of regional libraries, a topic she promoted in wartime publications, and  the creation of a National Library in Ottawa. She was President of the Canadian Library Association in 1948-49. From 1953-1960, she was a member of the National Library Advisory Council. The University of Manitoba Library was named in her honour in 1961.

Julia Annette Elizabeth Dafoe

Born Oct. 22, 1900, Montreal, QC; Died 25 April, 1960, Winnipeg, MB

Education:
BA 1923 (University of Manitoba)
LS diploma (New York Public Library School) 1925
1938-39 summer courses at University of Chicago Graduate Library School

Positions:
1925-26 Circulation and Reference Assistant, University of Manitoba
1926-27 Cataloguer, University of Manitoba
1928-1932 Assistant Circulation and Reference Librarian, University of Manitoba Library
1932-35 Chief Cataloguer, University of Manitoba Library
1935-1937 Chief Librarian, Junior Division, University of Manitoba Library
1937-1960 Chief Librarian, University of Manitoba Library

Publications:
Dafoe, Elizabeth (1944). “A National Library.” Food for Thought 4, no. 8: 4–8.
Dafoe, Elizabeth (1945). “Regional Library Service.” Queen’s Quarterly 52, no. 2: 195–205.
Dafoe, Elizabeth (1946). “Your Next Job–Librarian [C.B.C. Broadcast., September 4th, 1945].” Canadian Library Council Bulletin 2, no. 5: 106–7.
Dafoe, Elizabeth (1947). “The First Year: The Canadian Library Association Reports.” Food for Thought 8, no. 2: 9–10, 27.
Dafoe, Elizabeth (1948). “Librarianship as a Career.” Ontario Library Review 32, no. 3: 199–200.
Dafoe, Elizabeth, Freda F. Waldon, and Colin Gibson (1948). “A National Library for Canada.” Canadian Library Association Bulletin 5, no. 1: 14–16.
Dafoe, Elizabeth (1948). “What Is a Librarian?” Ontario Library Review 32, no. 1: 19–22.
Dafoe, Elizabeth, Freda F. Waldon, and Colin Gibson. “A National Library for Canada.” Canadian Library Association Bulletin 5, no. 1 (July 1948): 14–16.
Dafoe, Elizabeth (1949). “National Library Service.” Canadian Library Association Bulletin 6, no. 2: 54–57.
Dafoe, Elizabeth, ed. (1955). Future of bibliography and documentation. By Elizabeth Dafoe and others. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association. (Canadian Library Association. Occasional paper; no. 7)
Dafoe, Elizabeth (1955). “Research Libraries.” Canadian Library Association Bulletin 11, no. 6: 319–320.
Dafoe, Elizabeth (1958). “The Library and the Community.” In Proceedings of the Canadian Library Association 13th Annual Meeting, Quebec City, June 13–19, 1958, pp. 7–13. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association.
Dafoe, Elizabeth (1959). “A University Library [Manitoba].” Journal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada 36, no. 4: 106.

Associations/Committees:
1943-46 President, Manitoba Library Association
1948-49 President, Canadian Library Association
1949-1954 member, American Library Association Council

Honours:
Elizabeth Dafoe Library of the University of Manitoba was named in her honour.

Comments:
“It is our hope for Canadian libraries that they will eventually form part of a nation-wide system. It is my hope that as they develop it will be possible for them to lay less stress on information and more on knowledge, less emphasis on the book of the month and more on the book of the decade, less accentuation on momentary interests and fads and more upon infinite concerns and problems.” — Elizabeth Dafoe, Canadian Library Association conference, 1949.

“Her tireless message of the need for a ‘national library’ and her outspoken ideas helped to define the mandate of the National Library of Canada”. [extract from her biography on Library and Archives Canada. Celebrating Women's Achievements].

“Miss Dafoe was a quiet and gentle person who inspired the utmost devotion in everyone who worked with her. In her years at the university many thousands of students and instructors alike called upon her for assistance. How widely her influence thus made itself felt can never be assessed; but assuredly it was great.” — Winnipeg Free Press editorial, May 9, 1960.

Sources:

Library and Archives Canada. Celebrating Women’s Achievements. Elizabeth Dafoe. [Web page archived, accessed in January 2012].
“Miss Elizabeth Dafoe” Manitoba Library Association Bulletin 8 / 2 & 3 (Sept. 1960), 1.
W.L. Morton (1963) “Elizabeth Dafoe: lover of language, literature and libraries.” Proceedings of the Canadian Library Association, 18th Conference: 8–9.
Manitoba Historical Society. Memorable Manitobans: Julia Annette Elizabeth Dafoe (1900-1960). [accessed Feb. 14, 2016]
“Elizabeth Dafoe,” Canadian Library 17 (Nov. 1960): 171.

My biography first appeared in 2016 on the Ex Libris website. The portrait of Dafoe appeared in the Bulletin of the Canadian Library Association in September 1948.

Mary Sollace Saxe (1865–1942)

In the course of thirty years Mary Saxe raised the Westmount Public Library, situated in a park setting, into prominence in the province of Quebec and Canada. She introduced an open shelf system for users in 1917, opened a separate Children’s Room in 1911, and a Reference Room in 1914. The library was connected with a beautiful conservatory, the Palm Room, in 1927. When she retired, the library had a staff of six assistants and an annual circulation of more than 100,000 books. Saxe was active in the cultural life of Montréal through her membership in the Women’s Art Society of Montreal, the Dickens Fellowship, the Canadian Authors Association, Montreal Art Association, Business and Professional Women’s Club, and Canadian Women’s Club. She wrote a book for children, “Our Little Quebec Cousin,” and contributed columns to the Montreal Gazette. She also authored a few one-act plays, such as “All is Discovered,” “Just a Tip,” and “Rainbows” that were performed theatrically.

Mary Sollace Saxe

Born Feb. 23, 1865, St. Albans, Vermont; Died May 27, 1942, Montréal, QC

Education:
Received private education in her youth in Montréal
1899 Trained in library techniques under Charles Gould at McGill University
1929 Took courses in librarianship at New York Public Library School

Positions:
1899 Training at Redpath Library, McGill University, under Charles Gould
1900-1901 Apprentice with Charles A. Cutter at Forbes Public Library, Smith College
1901-1931 Chief Librarian, Westmount Public Library

Publications:
Saxe, Mary S. (1904). “Westmount Public Library.” Public Libraries; A Monthly Review of Library Matters and Methods 9, no. 5: 209.
Saxe, Mary S. (1910). “Popularizing the library.” Library Journal 35, no. 8: 363-66.
Saxe, Mary S. (1911). “Classification of books.” Proceedings of the Ontario Library Association Annual Meeting : 59-64.
Saxe, Mary S. (1912). “With the children in Canada.” Library Journal 37, no. 8: 433-35.
Saxe, Mary S. (1915). “The Canadian library’s opportunities to encourage the reading of Canadian authors.” Proceedings of the Ontario Library Association Annual Meeting : 48-52.
Saxe, Mary S. (1916). “One hundred years ago - relatively speaking.” American Library Association Bulletin 10, no. 4: 299-301.
Saxe, Mary S. (1917). “What seems to me an important aspect of the work of public libraries at the present time.” Proceedings of the Ontario Library Association Annual Meeting : 35-37.
Saxe, Mary S. (1919). “Books and their classification.” Canadian Bookman 1, no 3 (July): 56-58.
Saxe, Mary S. (1919). Our little Quebec cousin. Boston: L.C. Page.
Saxe, Mary S. (1920). “The Library from the inside, out!” Canadian Bookman 2, no. 2 (April): 16-17.
Saxe, Mary S. (1920). “What is the most important aspect of public library work?” Canadian Bookman 2, no. 4 (Dec.): 90-91.
Saxe, Mary S. Saxe (1927). “Libraries of east Canadian provinces.” Library Journal 52, no. 10: 525-26.

Associations/Committees:
1914 Vice–president Dickens Fellowship Montréal Branch
1918-1923 American Library Association, Council member
1932-? Member, Quebec Library Association

Comments:
Mary Saxe believed education and training for all library staff was essential, stating in 1920: “But since no chain is stronger than its weakest link, so no library can give a better service all the time to its community than can be given by its poorest assistant. It is a fatal mistake to appoint one head librarian at an inflated salary and feel that any material will do for an assistant. If possible a library should have an all-star cast of assistants.” — Saxe, “What is the most important aspect of public library work?”

Sources:
George H. Locke (1931). “Retirement of Mary S. Saxe.” Public Libraries: A Monthly Review of Library Matters and Methods, 36, no. 6: 256-57.
National reference book on Canadian men and women, 5th ed., 1936.
“Miss Mary S. Saxe, Author, Dies Here.” Montreal Gazette, 28 May 1942: 4.
Elizabeth I. Hanson (1997). A Jewel in a park: Westmount Public Library, 1897-1918. Montreal: Véhicule Press.
Lajeunesse, Marcel (2020). “Mary Sollace Saxe et la Bibliothèque publique de Westmount.” In Pour une histoire des femmes bibliothécaires au Québec: portraits et parcours de vies professionnelles, pp. 27–41. Montréal: Presses de l’Université du Québec.

My biography first appeared on the Ex Libris Association website in 2015. The portrait is taken from A Jewel in the Park by Elizabeth Hanson (p 89)  [published first in the Library Journal in 1933].

Lillian Helena Smith (1887—1983)

Lillian Smith became the first Canadian children’s librarian with academic credentials when she began her career at Toronto Public Library in 1912. By the time of her retirement, TPL was providing book services at Boys and Girls House, 16 library branches, 2 settlement houses, 30 school libraries, and two hospitals. The quality of services at Boys and Girls House so much impressed Edgar Osborne, a British librarian and collector, that he donated 1,800 children’s books to TPL in 1949, the nucleus of today’s outstanding collections at the Lillian H. Smith branch on College Street. Lillian Smith made valuable contributions to the American and Ontario library associations in children’s and youth services and was instrumental in forming the Canadian Association of Children’s Librarians in 1939.

Lillian Helena Smith

Born March 17, 1887, London, ON; Died January 5, 1983, Toronto, ON

Education:
1910 BA (Victoria University, Toronto)
1910-1912 Diploma (Carnegie Training School for Children’s Librarians, Pittsburgh)
1931 BS in Library Science (Carnegie Library School, Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh)

Positions:
1911-1912 Children’s librarian and branch head, New York Public Library
1912-1952 Head of children’s services, Toronto Public Library

Publications:
Smith, Lillian H. (1913). “Boys and girls and the public library.“ Proceedings of the Ontario Library Association Annual Meeting: 67-70.
Smith, Lillian H. (1917). “The children's librarian.” Acta Victoriana 42, 2: 63-65.
Smith, Lillian H. (1917). “A list of books for boys and girls.” Ontario Library Review 2, no.1: 11-33.
Smith, Lillian H. (1923). “The problems of children’s librarians.” Library Journal 48 (no. 17) 1 October.: 805-806.
Smith, Lillian H., ed. (1927). Books for boys and girls. Toronto: Toronto Public Library.
Smith, Lillian H. (1932). “The teaching of children’s literature.” In: American Library Association Children’s Library Yearbook, vol. 4: 73-80.
Smith, Lillian H., ed. (1932). Books for boys and girls, June 1927 to June 1932, a supplement. Toronto: Toronto Public Library.
Smith, Lillian H. (1939).”The library’s responsibility to the child.” In: The library of tomorrow: a symposium, ed. Emily M. Danton. Chicago: American Library Association. p. 124-132.
Smith, Lillian H., ed. (1940). Books for boys and girls. 2nd ed. Toronto: Ryerson Press.
Smith, Lillian H. and Annie Wright (1941). “Canada: a reading guide for children and young people.” Ontario Library Review 25, 1 August: 293-300.
Smith, Lillian H. (1947). “The children’s library.” Journal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada 24, 2 February: 56-58.
Smith, Lillian H. (1953). The unreluctant years: a critical approach to children’s literature. Chicago: American Library Association.
Smith, Lillian H. (1959). “What books mean to children.” American Library Association Bulletin 53, 4 April: 289-291.
Smith, Lillian H. (1963). “News from Narnia.” Horn Book Magazine 39, October: 470-473.

Associations/Committees:
1928-1929 President, Ontario Library Association
1932-1936 Member of Executive Board, American Library Association

Honours:
Clarence Day Award, American Library Association, in 1962 for outstanding work in encouraging the love of books and reading.
Toronto Public Library established the Lillian H. Smith Collection in 1962, as a tribute to her years of work at Boys and Girls House.
The Lillian H. Smith branch of Toronto Public Library opened on 16 October 1995 in honour of the first academically trained children’s librarian in the British Empire.

Accomplishments:
        “The Unreluctant Years,” published in 1953, distills Smith’s ideas about library book selection and its potential to edify and stimulate children. Her book remains a classic statement for the rationale to apply critical standards of literary value in book selection for young readers and for her insistence on the provision and employment of ‘best books’ by children’s librarians. Smith also edited valuable editions of TPL’s “Books for Boys and Girls.”
     Storytelling and programming was another vital aspect of library work that Smith and her devoted staff actively promoted. A ‘Book Week’ for boys and girls became a regular feature before Christmas at TPL well before a national Young Canada Book Week was established in 1949. As well, from the end of WWII to the 1950s, librarians at Boys and Girls House collaborated with the CBC in a series of radio programs for children. Service to non-English speaking children was provided through Toronto settlement houses. Boys and Girls House was always noted for its experimental approaches and offerings of drama, folk dancing, puppet shows, and clubs—features that are often taken for granted in the 21st century library.

Comments:
“Miss Lillian H. Smith long envisioned a nation-wide association for the advancement of children’ s reading in Canada and, at a joint conference of the Ontario and Quebec Library Associations, held in Montreal in the year 1939, she took action to make such an organization a ‘fait accomplil.’” — Ruth Milne, “C.A.C.L. Tribute,” 1952.

“Every parent in Toronto should be grateful to Miss Smith.” — Charles Sanderson, Chief Librarian, Toronto Public Library, 1953.

“She loves and understands children; knows how they think and what interest them. Among her associates, she has had the faculty of inspiring loyalty and transmitting enthusiasm—gifts which do much to explain her success.” — Toronto Globe and Mail editorial, 1952.

Sources:
Lillian H. Smith website developed by Michael Manchester. Accessed December 2022.
Fasick, Adele. M., Margaret Johnston and Ruth Osler, eds. (1990). Lands of pleasure: essays on Lillian H. Smith and the development of children’s libraries. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press.
Canadian Association of Children’s Librarians (1952). Lillian H. Smith; a tribute from the C.A.C.L., June 10, 1952. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association.
McGrath, Leslie A. (2005). Service to children in the Toronto Public Library; a case study, 1912-1949. University of Toronto Ph.D. dissertation.
Sydell Waxman (2002). Believing in books: the story of Lillian H. Smith. Toronto: Napoleon Publishing. [biography for children]
Giles, Suzette (2013). “Libraries named after librarians.” ELAN no. 54 (Fall): 7-8.

My biography first appeared in 2015 on the Ex Libris Association website. The graduate portrait is taken from the Torontonensis yearbook of 1910 (p 102).

My blog on Michael Manchester's website on Lillian Smith is at this link.