About Libraries Today |Digital docs | Ontario history | Photo gallery | Blog

Digital Documents in Canadian Library History

Libraries Today intends to provide important documents pertaining to the history of Canadian libraries and librarians in e-text format. Already, there are a number of other sources that have provided original sources that can be used to study the development of libraries from coast to coast. A number of documents bear on public library history in Ontario, but this is not the main focus of the project. Please take time to view the documents and send comments to Libraries Today at the address below and, of course, submit your own suggestions for digitization.

Canadian Resources

Libraries Today electronic texts

New documents will be posted in various digital formats. In some cases, Adobe Acrobat images may be available, scanned documents in HTML format will be offered, and gif or jpeg images of print doucments. The following documents are available for viewing:

  • the 1851 Act to Provide Mechanics' Institutes and Library Association in the Province of Canada (Ontario and Quebec);
  • the 1866 Bill to Authorize the Formation of Free Libraries in the Province of Canada (Ontario and Quebec) designed by Alexander Morris;
  • the Free Libraries Act, 1882 passed by the Legislature of Ontario;
  • Ontario Library Association Constitution adopted in 1901;
  • "A Plea for a National Library" by Lawrence J. Burpee published by the University Magazine in February 1911;
  • British Columbia's Public Libraries Act, 1919 which introduced the concept of a library commission to Canada [PDF file requires Adobe Acrobat Reader]
  • Constitution of Canadian Library Association, adopted in 1947
  • the concluding chapter of Libraries in Canada, A Study of Library Conditions and Need, p.137-45, published in 1933 by Ryerson Press and ALA
Last modified on Wednesday, 24-Oct-2007 16:33:18 EDT


Created February 1996 | Suggestions or comments to: Libraries Today | top of this page |