{"id":4038,"date":"1955-11-01T01:00:00","date_gmt":"1955-11-01T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/november-1955-vol-36-no-11-the-public-library\/"},"modified":"2022-11-28T13:28:33","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T13:28:33","slug":"november-1955-vol-36-no-11-the-public-library","status":"publish","type":"rbc_letter","link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/november-1955-vol-36-no-11-the-public-library\/","title":{"rendered":"November 1955 &#8211; Vol. 36, No. 11 &#8211; The Public Library"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"layout-column-main\">\n<p class=\"boldtext\">Millions of people have discovered                     books in the past thirty years. Books have become as commonplace                     on news-stands as magazines were, and public libraries                     have expanded in number and in service. We do not approach                     books, as our grandfathers did, gingerly and only occasionally.<\/p>\n<p> That is not to say everyone in Canada has all the reading                     facilities he needs or wants. Many communities, and not only                     in rural districts, are short of local library services.<\/p>\n<p>A woman from New Brunswick told the <em>Royal Commission                     on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences                     <\/em>(the so-called &#8220;Massey Commission on Culture&#8221;): &#8220;Too                     many of us have thousand dollar kitchens and ten dollar libraries.&#8221;                     She went on to say that it was difficult to persuade municipalities                     to pay any part of the cost.<\/p>\n<p>A lack of library service has implications for business,                     industry and national material development. Students are graduating                     from our universities in science, engineering, business administration,                     medicine, and the other faculties. While taking their courses                     they had at their finger-tips great collections of books                     to answer their questions, spur investigation and stimulate                     their minds. Now, engaging in practical work, they find themselves                     remote from well-stocked shelves.<\/p>\n<p>Not all our lamentation should be for technical people,                     great as their need is. To understand what is going on the                     world today requires knowledge that can be found only in books,                     and we all wish to have the right background against which                     to judge current events. The public library gives us who are                     within reach of it a select society of all the centuries to                     which we are admitted for the asking, without the expense                     of building our own shelves of books.<\/p>\n<h3>Canada&#8217;s libraries<\/h3>\n<p>There were eighty free public libraries in urban centres                     of more than 10,000 population in 1954, and 26 regional libraries.                     The largest number in any province was that in Ontario, 42                     urban and 14 regional.<\/p>\n<p>These two classes &#8211; urban and regional libraries -represent                     the bulk of public library service in Canada, about 65 per                     cent of the total number of volumes and 83 per cent of the                     circulation. The urban libraries, serving five and a half                     million people, contained 5,466,887 volumes, of which 509,000                     were added in 1954. There were 1,230,657 registered borrowers,                     the circulation was 23,190,793 volumes, and the libraries                     were staffed by 1,454 full-time staff members of whom                     563 had degrees or equivalent diplomas in library science.                     Current expenditures amounted to $6,773,239, or $1.30 per                     capita of the population served.<\/p>\n<p>Our greatest library problem is service for rural people,                     but according to the Canadian Library Association the rural                     situation is more promising than it was a few years ago. In                     some provinces, regional library systems have made considerable                     progress. One of the first was established in the Lower Fraser                     Valley of British Columbia in 1929. By 1954 there were 26                     regional libraries, serving 1,648,000 people. Their volumes                     totalled 814,373.<\/p>\n<p>Smallness of library service is mainly a financial problem.                     It is true that books are relatively cheap, but the expenditure                     is in competition with a mass of goods and services clamouring                     for our pennies. Today&#8217;s $2.50 to $5 book is cheap when compared                     with the price paid by the Countess of Anjou in the tenth                     century for a volume of sermons by a German monk: two hundred                     sheep, one load of wheat, one load of rye, and one load of                     millet. But she did not have hundreds of advertisements importuning                     her to buy other goods.<\/p>\n<h3>Library services<\/h3>\n<p>While the principal business of a library is to make books                     available to the public by circulation or for reference within                     the library, many other services have attached themselves                     to municipal public libraries.<\/p>\n<p>In more than one locality the public library has come to                     be recognized as the centre of the community, around which                     revolve the studies and interests of the people. A meeting                     room has become an important feature of the branch library.<\/p>\n<p>Some libraries provide services that are extensions of their                     main job: movie films, film strips, phonograph records, and                     paintings or prints. They bring to their platforms speakers                     on subjects ranging from the rearing of a child to the planning                     of a municipal centre, and display lists of books for follow-up                     study.<\/p>\n<p>City libraries commonly have special collections of books                     for business men, craftsmen and industrial workers, though,                     as a bulletin issued by the Newark public library laments:                     &#8220;To the frustration of librarians, there are still some impractical                     business men who would rather be caught pilfering the poor-box                     than reading a book.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Practical people have found that a visit to the public library                     can save them money and time and effort. By searching the                     literature of their business they make sure that someone else                     hasn&#8217;t already done the same work, and they gather data to                     make their calculations and their planning easier.<\/p>\n<p>There is a true classic story about a librarian in Pennsylvania                     who was told by the chief chemist of a rolling mill about                     an experiment that had solved a problem at a cost of $10,000.                     The librarian told him: &#8220;The Germans made the same experiment                     four years ago and got the same results. We have their complete                     report.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>Service to children<\/h3>\n<p>Most libraries have children&#8217;s sections, and many libraries                     have specially-qualified librarians who rouse the children&#8217;s                     interest in books and lead them through the fascinating experiences                     that open up to the reading person. It is not enough, these                     libraries believe, to prohibit crime comics: positive action                     is needed. Good books, with interest equalling that of the                     &#8220;comics&#8221;, must be made available under the guidance of an                     understanding librarian.<\/p>\n<p>A long stride forward was taken in 1948, when children&#8217;s                     librarians and book publishers in Toronto put on a sample                     &#8220;book week&#8221;. From that experiment grew Young Canada&#8217;s Book                     Week, a national event sponsored by the Canadian Association                     of Children&#8217;s Librarians. The aim is that all our children,                     where-ever they live, whatever their circumstances, may                     have easy access to the best in children&#8217;s literature.<\/p>\n<p>Children&#8217;s librarians have been successful in getting good                     books written. They found that the supply of books to gratify                     the spontaneous interest of boys and girls was far too limited                     in variety and in quality. Progressive publishers have responded                     to appeals for new titles and for reprints of old books in                     modern format. These, and other books, are displayed in special                     sections by many libraries, arranged according to the age                     of children. Bulletin boards attract attention to new books,                     suggest reading lists for high school clubs, and so forth.<\/p>\n<h3>Making material available<\/h3>\n<p>A library is not a collection of books made after a fixed                     pattern, but an offering of reading matter suited to the bookish                     needs of its community.<\/p>\n<p>Intelligent book selection is the prime need. Books must                     offer materials of knowledge, they must be the expression                     of human life, they must stimulate individual development,                     and they must enlarge and clarify mass intelligence.<\/p>\n<p>Demand is a controlling factor in selection of books, but                     demand is greatly influenced by supply. If acquisition of                     books is based solely upon the already demonstrated popularity                     of books, the librarian is not taking his proper place in                     the van of his community&#8217;s development. The librarian who                     is just a little ahead of his patrons&#8217; demands is playing                     a constructive role. Says H. E. Haines in <em>Living with Books<\/em>:                     &#8220;Let the basis of selection be positive, not negative. If                     the best that can be said for a book is that it will do no                     harm, there is no valid reason for its selection; every book                     should be of actual service to somebody, in inspiration or                     information or recreation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Having collected books, how is the librarian to make them                     available to the public? There are some who say that, having                     placed books on the library shelves, the librarian has discharged                     his responsibility, but this is not the prevailing view. Up-to-date                     librarianship calls upon display, advertising and publicity                     to make the public aware of what the shelves hold, and upon                     methods of listing that make books easy to find.<\/p>\n<p>Libraries have, in addition to books, what they call &#8220;vertical                     files&#8221;, in which are deposited leaflets, booklets, mimeographed                     reports, and so forth, that may, in the opinion of the librarian,                     be of use to patrons. This <em>Monthly Letter<\/em>, for example,                     is sent to every public library in Canada, and at the year&#8217;s                     end we supply a vertical file containing the year&#8217;s issues,                     complete with index.<\/p>\n<h3>The librarian<\/h3>\n<p>Librarians must know their books and how to care for them;                     they must know their patrons and how to serve them. They are                     classed with the minister and the school-teacher as community                     leaders and public servants.<\/p>\n<p>The librarian presides over materials that enshrine the                     wisdom of the past and furnish the understanding, knowledge                     and reason that can inform the mind and prepare the reader                     to meet the challenges of today. Says Christopher Morley&#8217;s                     endearing character, Roger Mifflin, in <em>The Haunted Bookshop<\/em>:                     &#8220;I wish there could be an international peace conference of                     booksellers, for my own conviction is that the future happiness                     of the world depends in no small measure on them and on the                     librarians.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>One finds only a few librarians whose chief preoccupation                     is acquiring books and classifying them. It will not do to                     estimate the worth of a librarian by the number of books he                     issues or the per capita cost of circulation. His is a constructive                     profession. The true measure of his service is the extent                     to which he has made the great world of books a living, appealing,                     inspiring reality to those his library serves.<\/p>\n<p>Librarianship is not an easy profession to master, and there                     is general agreement, voiced through the Royal Commission,                     that library training facilities in Canada are inadequate.                     More library schools and more opportunities for advanced training                     are needed.<\/p>\n<p>No public library in the world could afford to buy every                     book, but selection requires caution and skill. It calls for                     competency, alertness to the needs of the community, courage,                     and willingness to assume responsibility for decisions. Much                     that tends toward implementing this high ideal has been done                     by the Canadian Library Association since its organization                     in 1946.<\/p>\n<h3>Using the library<\/h3>\n<p>Behind the library and the librarian is a philosophy, a                     feeling of purpose. Civilization, it has been said, is based                     essentially on three processes: the discovery of knowledge,                     the conservation of knowledge, and the transmission of knowledge.                     Viewed in one light, the public library is only a collection                     of books, but in the broader view it makes available the symbols                     that stand for almost anything we know about the universe.                     It is more than a stockpile: it is a communication centre                     through which the custodian transmits knowledge to his world.<\/p>\n<p>Absorbing and using what is proffered is not compulsory,                     but is a function of the reader&#8217;s will to learn. Here are                     the best books, providing an education that is not formalized                     but is of the wider sort: the culture of mind and spirit.                     What capacities we develop by use of the library; what practical                     help we obtain in our jobs and in getting to understand human                     nature; what opportunities we uncover to enrich our lives:                     these are ours to take or leave.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew Carnegie said: &#8220;I choose free libraries as the best                     agencies for improving the masses of the people, because they                     give nothing for nothing. They only help those who help themselves.                     They never pauperize.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Books instruct us without rods or formulas, without hard                     words and anger. If we approach them, we find them friendly;                     if we question them they give us the answers; even if we are                     ignorant, they do not laugh at us. In books we can find relief                     from trouble, rest after weariness, comfort in distress and                     guidance along a dimly-seen path. Books help us to see                     beyond our immediate task and to gain a sense of life as a                     whole.<\/p>\n<h3>Education<\/h3>\n<p>There is an opportunity for broadening the place of the                     library in educational programmes. It is not enough that it                     be used as a tool to supply the information a student needs                     while in school. It should do more: it should contribute toward                     producing graduates who will continue to learn, building efficiently                     and well on the experience and knowledge of the past.<\/p>\n<p>Teachers will find that their pupils benefit through the                     strengthening of a friendly alliance with the public library.                     A programme of real benefit requires that the library staff                     and the school faculty work together in determining where,                     in the various courses, the subject matter, the printed materials                     and the library facilities provide the best opportunity for                     giving the student the knowledge and experience he needs.                     Textbooks are devoted to the assertion of facts, with little                     or no invitation to question or debate. These may be supplemented                     by library reading that contains visions and stirs an explorative                     spirit.<\/p>\n<p>It is generally accepted today that education continuing                     through life is necessary to our happiness, if not, indeed,                     to our survival. Herein is a wide opportunity for public libraries.                     Where, indeed, is adult education to be obtained, if not through                     books?<\/p>\n<p>The concept of adult education was enunciated as the prime                     responsibility of the public library as early as 1850, and                     a quarter of a century later Melvil Dewey wrote: &#8220;The time                     was when a library was very like a museum, and a librarian                     was a mouser in musty books, and visitors looked with curious                     eyes at ancient tomes and manuscripts. The time is when a                     library is a school, and the librarian is in the highest sense                     a teacher.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Many a man has atoned for lack of higher education, and                     has &#8220;pulled himself up by his bootstraps&#8221; by reading. People                     who have no definite purpose like that in view find that in                     the library they can master enough of science and politics                     and psychology to enable them to understand what goes on in                     the world. They broaden their horizons, fill their minds usefully,                     and develop personality.<\/p>\n<p>To embark with prospect of success on adult education one                     does not have to plan to read the ten or the hundred or the                     thousand &#8220;great&#8221; books. Reading is an individual thing, conditioned                     by one&#8217;s background, one&#8217;s opportunity and one&#8217;s purpose.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, it is worth considering the verdict of                     history. When a book has lived and circulated widely over                     a period of twenty, fifty, or a hundred years, there is a                     presumption that there is something worth-while in it.                     The advice of Lord Chesterfield to his son was to speak of                     modern books without contempt, and of the ancients without                     idolatry; judge them all by their merits.<\/p>\n<h3>The reader<\/h3>\n<p>The person seeking real value for the time he gives to reading                     will ask at the library for books that contribute something                     in the way of information, culture or stimulation of interests.                     Personal taste and the whim of the moment will not interfere                     greatly with such a person&#8217;s reading. He will realize that                     if he is to escape from the commonplace by gaining knowledge                     he needs to tackle new things, to savour the tang of adventure                     and discovery.<\/p>\n<p>What more personal reward can a reader hope for besides                     the gaining of knowledge and insight and inspiration? Well,                     says Hamilton Mabie in <em>My Study Fire<\/em>: &#8220;Among his books                     a man laughs at his bonds and finds an open road out of every                     form of imprisonment.&#8221; He may find escape in books, even from                     too much pleasure, as Holmes, tired of laughing at a musical                     comedy, turned to the reading of Marcus Aurelius. Intimate                     association with noble works is a splendid promoter of inward                     serenity.<\/p>\n<p>Many people have been heard to say: &#8220;I love reading, but                     never have a minute for it.&#8221; That is a matter of choice, governed                     by a sense of values. We find time for the things most vital                     to us.<\/p>\n<p>Even half an hour of daily reading will bring a rich reward.                     Looking backward, we shall see that those half hours, retrieved                     perhaps in fragments from the grasp of daily routine, count                     for more than we ever thought possible.<\/p>\n<h3>How to read<\/h3>\n<p>Whatever mode of reading a man uses, he should start receptively                     and maintain a questioning attitude. He is reading not to                     find expression of his own ideas, but to gather those of the                     author.<\/p>\n<p>It is good to vary one&#8217;s reading. Anyone who wishes to start                     a course of rewarding reading might do worse than ask his                     librarian for Wells&#8217; <em>Outline of History<\/em>, Durant&#8217;s <em>Story                     of Philosophy<\/em>, and Dr. Logan Clendenning&#8217;s <em>The Human                     Body<\/em>. These have ample references to other works, leading                     the reader along delightful paths of exploration and gratifying                     discovery.<\/p>\n<p>By making notes as you read you may transfer the wealth                     of the public library to your home. Extracts from books can                     build themselves up, after a few months, into a valuable reference                     file. Anthology construction is one of the most pleasant hobbies                     that a thinking person can possibly have.<\/p>\n<h3>Future of the library<\/h3>\n<p>Canadian libraries are on the up-grade today because                     our people have come to recognize them as key institutions                     in our cultural life. The public library is an adult school,                     a lifelong class.<\/p>\n<p>The books it contains are the true levellers in civilization.                     They give to all who use them the society of the best and                     greatest of our race. They say to peasants the same as they                     say to kings.<\/p>\n<p>The bookless man does not know his own loss. The books he                     has not read are the telescopes and reflectors and reverberators                     of our intellectual life, holding in themselves magical powers                     for giving the range of knowledge that belongs to a cultivated                     mind.<\/p>\n<p>Whereas Spinoza possessed fewer than 60 volumes, and Kant                     collected only 300, any budding philosopher in Canada today                     has at his command hundreds of thousands of books, collected                     and sorted and made available by his public library: all the                     brave books, as they are called by Christopher Morley, that                     house the hopes and skills and gentlenesses and dreams of                     men and women through the ages.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[1],"rbc_letter_theme":[],"rbc_letter_year":[35],"class_list":["post-4038","rbc_letter","type-rbc_letter","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized","rbc_letter_year-35"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>November 1955 - Vol. 36, No. 11 - The Public Library - RBC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/november-1955-vol-36-no-11-the-public-library\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"November 1955 - Vol. 36, No. 11 - The Public Library - RBC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Millions of people have discovered books in the past thirty years. Books have become as commonplace on news-stands as magazines were, and public libraries have expanded in number and in service. We do not approach books, as our grandfathers did, gingerly and only occasionally. 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Books have become as commonplace on news-stands as magazines were, and public libraries have expanded in number and in service. We do not approach books, as our grandfathers did, gingerly and only occasionally. 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