|
|
|
Ontario Libraries 20th Century Yearbook |
|
OK. . . its Feb. 28 1999 and practically everyone is doing a retrospective look at the "great events," "great people," etc. of this "great century," so why not have Libraries Today look back at the century in terms of library history in Ontario. There are many people, events, and facts to recall. You probably won't agree with everything listed for each year, so there is a spot where you can comment and give your own view(s) about the best items for a particular year. You can start at 1900 or view by quarter century. 1900-24 | 1925-49 | 1950-1974| 1975-1999 Final update 12 December 1999 |
MAKE YOUR CHOICE FOR THE TOP EVENT(S) OF THE CENTURY.
UPDATES ON A "SHORT LIST" WILL APPEAR ON A REGULAR BASIS. |
|
1900 Death of John Hallam, Toronto's advocate for free libraries 1901 OLA holds its first annual meeting at Toronto with James Bain, Jr., President 1902 Ontario government reduces conditional grant for public libraries 1903 Hugh Langton, Librarian of University of Toronto (1892-1923), serves as OLA President 1904 Kitchener and Brantford Carnegie libraries open to public 1905 Melvil Dewey attends OLA annual meeting regarding his classification scheme 1906 Ottawa Carnegie Library opens with Andrew Carnegie in attendance 1907 OLA members formally advocate Dewey Decimal Classification 1908 Death of James Bain, Jr., chief librarian at Toronto Public Library 1909 Toronto Public Library reference library at College and St. George opens 1910 OLA submission to federal Royal Commission of Industrial Training and Technical Education 1911 First summer library school held in Toronto 1912 American Library Association annual meeting held at Ottawa 1913 Hamilton Carnegie library open to public 1914 William J. Sykes publishes Selected List of Fiction in English for public libraries 1915 Thorold Public Library destroyed by fire 1916 First issue of Ontario Library Review 1917 Carnegie program of grants for public libraries ceases 1918 Mary J.L. Black, chief librarian at Fort William (1909-37), first woman President of OLA 1919 First appointment of librarians to provincial Normal Schools [forerunner of teachers' colleges] to develop school library training 1920 Public Libraries Act extensively revised and per capita municipal support introduced 1921 Ontario libraries participate in first Canadian Book Week 1922 Boys & Girls House opens with Lillian H. Smith in charge of TPL children's dept. 1923 Douglas Library opens at Queen's University and Richard Crouch begins tenure as chief librarian at London (1923-62) 1924 Dorothy Carlisle appointed chief librarian at Sarnia (1924-54) 1925 Edwin A. Hardy completes quarter century as OLA's Secretary 1926 Railway-car school libraries introduced in northern Ontario on CNR and CPR 1927 American Library Association annual meeting held in Toronto 1928 University of Toronto Library School offers BLS degree in library science 1929 Death of William O. Carson, Ontario Inspector of Public Libraries (1916-29) 1930 Angus Mowat appointed chief librarian at Windsor 1931 First county library association formed in Lambton County by Dorothy Carlisle 1932 Arthur Slyfield's 1st ed. of Library Primer for secondary schools published at Oshawa 1933 Commission of Enquiry report Libraries in Canada published at Ryerson Press 1934 OLA holds conference at Montreal in conjunction with American Library Association 1935 Windsor, Walkerville, East Windsor, and Sandwich consolidated into one library system 1936 William J. Sykes, Ottawa's chief librarian (1912-36), retires 1937 Death of George Locke, TPL's chief librarian (1908-1937) 1938 University of Ottawa library science program begins directed by Fr. A. Morisset 1939 OLA joint meeting at Montreal with Quebec Library Association, Montreal Special Libraries Associaton, and Maritime Library Institute 1940 Opening of London Public Library built in Modern architectural style 1941 Canadian Library Council formed with C.R. Sanderson, Toronto's chief librarian, as chair 1942 Freda F. Waldon, chief librarian at Hamilton (1940-63), serves as OLA President 1943 W. Stewart Wallace, Librarian of University of Toronto (1923-54), OLA President 1944 B. Mabel Dunham, chief librarian at Kitchener (1908-44), retires 1945 Ontario Royal Commission on Education established to recommend improvements in schools and libraries 1946 Canadian Library Association first annual meeting held at Hamilton 1947 Ontario Regulation 256/47 provides for government certification of public librarians 1948 Popular 16mm film, Books Drive On, which depicts the activities of Huron County's bookmobile "Miss Huron," receives wide viewing and promotes county library work across Ontario 1949 Edgar Osborne presents his collection of 6,000 children's books to TPL 1950 Master's degree in library science introduced at University of Toronto 1951 Mills Memorial Library opens on McMaster University campus and Massey Commission recommends establishment of national library in Ottawa 1952 Lillian H. Smith retires as head of TPL children's department (1912-52) 1953 National Library in Ottawa created by Act of Parliament 1954 Robert H. Blackburn becomes Librarian at University of Toronto (1954-81) following retirement of W. Stewart Wallace 1955 Openings of McLaughlin Public Library at Oshawa [Dec. 1954], and new or renovated libraries in Etobicoke, Thornhill, Newmarket, Oakville, and Niagara Falls mark library growth in Golden Horseshoe 1956 Marshall McLuhan addresses OLA convention delegates at Oshawa on "Future of the Book" 1957 Report on Provincial Library Service by W. Stewart Wallace issued 1958 Formation of the Institute of Professional Librarians by OLA executive at Toronto 1959 Canadian Library Week held with controversy about libraries not acquiring Lolita 1960 Angus Mowat retires as director of Provincial Library Service (1937-60) 1961 CLA report Present State of Library Service in Canada issued 1962 Resources of Canadian University Libraries for Research by Edwin E. Williams appears 1963 Ontario New University Libraries Project (ONULP) to acquire and catalogue holdings for five new university libraries begins 1964 Availability of federal Centennial grants for constructing public libraries leads to mid-1960's building boom 1965 Ontario Libraries: A Province-wide Survey and Plan by Francis R. St. John consultants appears 1966 Extensive revision of Public Libraries Act formalizes regional library systems 1967 New National Library building opens at Ottawa 1968 McLaughlin Library at University of Guelph opens 1969 Circulation by Ontario's public libraries exceeds 50 million items 1970 College Bibliocentre, est. 1968, completes testing of acquisitions/accounting system and begins to expands services for community college libraries in 1970s 1971 University of Toronto Senate authorizes doctoral program in library science and University of Toronto Library Automated System (UTLAS) established 1972 D.B. Weldon Library opens at University of Western Ontario 1973 John P. Robarts Library opens at University of Toronto and Ontario Association of Library Technicians formed. 1974 New library for Canada Institute for Scientific & Technical Information (CISTI) opens in Ottawa 1975 Wintario grants from provincial government made available to public libraries 1976 Ontario Public Library: Review and Reorganization (Bowron Report) issued 1977 New Metro Toronto Central Reference Library on Yonge St. opens 1978 New expanded Kingston Public Library opens 1979 OLA selects its first executive director to administer its programs and services 1980 French Language Services in Ontario Public Libraries published by province 1981 Program Review of Metropolitan Toronto Library Board seeks to clarify its role 1982 Ontario Library Review ceases publication and Foundation for a Future consultation paper issued for public library comment 1983 Toronto Public Library celebrates its centenary 1984 Public Libraries Act revised and regional library systems become agencies of province 1985 Ministry of Citizenship and Culture organizes successful Libraries 2000 symposium 1986 Carleton Place Public Library extensively damaged by arson 1987 New North York Central Library opens to public 1988 New Nepean Library opens to public 1989 Openings of Mississauga Central Library and Arthur A. Wishart Library at Algoma University College 1990 One Place to Look: the Ontario Library Strategic Plan released for action 1991 Strike by unionized library workers at University of Toronto and National Library 1992 Ontario Legislative Library marks bicentennial of its service to Ontario Legislature 1993 Internet attracting attention of library planners 1994 Queen's University's Joseph S. Stauffer Library opens 1995 Lillian H. Smith branch library opens in Toronto 1996 School of Library and Information Science at University of Western Ontario announces merger to form part of the Faculty of Information and Media Studies 1997 Public library act revision shelved by province after year-long review 1998 OLA introduces Red Maple Reading Award for Canadian fiction in senior elementary schools 1999 Libraries prepare for Y2K bug |
|
Created February 28, 1999 |
|
|
Niagara Falls Public Library c.1910 