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Message from the National Librarian
I would rather talk about the exciting initiatives of the National Library of Canada, which, now more than ever, is inventing ways to better serve Canadians. I would rather talk about the 87 million hits we received on our Web site last year. I would rather talk about the exciting increase in the number of AMICUS users since we removed the barrier of user fees. I would rather talk about the wonderful work of volunteers in this organization, such as the accomplishments of the Friends of the National Library of Canada. I would rather talk about all the efforts our cataloguing service has made to offer services and standards worthy of the best libraries in the world. I would rather talk about our prolific Digital Library of Canada, a hub of creation and invention. I would rather talk about our plans (soon to come to fruition) for travelling exhibitions across Canada and elsewhere. However, I recently had to address the media to explain the troubling fact that some of the documents that tell our history are in danger. It is my duty to warn Canadians. These treasures, often irreplaceable, must be removed from inadequate facilities where they are at risk, to be stored in an environment befitting a G-7 country. Do Canadians want to protect the printed documents that relate their history, describe their challenges and report how they solved their problems? If you believe that no newspaper, no book, no sound recording, no government publication stored in the National Library of Canada collection should be damaged by water from rain, storm sewers or even sewage, let your opinion be known. 
Roch Carrier, |
