July / August 2002 Vol. 34, no. 4

Gifts to the National Library of Canada

Martin Ruddy, Research and Information Services

For many years, the National Library of Canada has been the recipient of generous gifts from hundreds of people living in Canada and abroad. The National Library has also been fortunate to have Monique Dupré heading its Gifts and Exchanges Program. Monique Dupré, the speaker for the SAVOIR FAIRE seminar held in March, explained the program and provided numerous examples illustrating the breadth and value of the contributions that have enriched the collections of the National Library.

The National Library accepts as gifts all types of materials published in Canada, regardless of subject, language or format, and materials published outside Canada if the creator is Canadian, or the publication has a Canadian subject. Donors can be individuals or institutions.

Among the latter are federal and provincial government departments, universities and colleges, libraries, associations as well as other Canadian and foreign organizations. There is a particular group of institutions whose donations have contributed greatly to our collections.

The following is an abridged list of some of these institutions:

• The Library of Parliament has transferred some 35 000 books to the Library.
• In 2001, the National Library received approximately 650 labour publications from the Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) Library. This collection will by used by researchers of both HRDC and the National Library.
• The Canada Council for the Arts regularly sends hundreds of works in the field of the humanities and social sciences, and titles by Canadian authors that have been translated into foreign languages.
• Recently, the National Archives of Canada donated approximately 24 000 documents from their collection of Canadian imprints. The National Library also receives a variety of published documents on an ongoing basis from the Archives, Library and from other divisions within the Archives.
• Canadian Book Exchange Centre (CBEC) arranges for the exchange of publications deemed surplus by one library but needed by another. CBEC regularly sends hundreds of publications, mostly Canadian monographs, to the Library’s collections.

Among the individuals who have donated their research and writing to the National Library are many Friends of the National Library, Canadian and foreign authors, university professors, students, genealogists, collectors and others. These donors all have one thing in common: the desire to have their material in the care of the National Library, where it will be made available to all Canadians.

The following is a sampling of the contribution made by individual donors who have enriched our collections in a variety of subject areas:

• John Bell, a private collector of comic books and art with particular emphasis in the 1940s and 1950s, contributed a collection of rare comic books so that this important part of Canada’s cultural history could be preserved.
• Ronald I. Cohen, bibliophile and Friend of the National Library, donated over 300 books by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. The collection includes many rare and early editions and is a good representation of non-North American editions of Mongomery’s work. There are editions from Australia, Japan, Norway and Korea.
• André Marchand, an architect who had inherited approximately 3 000 works from his father, Ludovic Marchand, donated a collection comprising Quebec novels, rare books, children’s literature and periodicals.

In addition to these subject-specific donations, the National Library has received several valuable fonds  -  whole sets of records, regardless of form or medium, that were created or accumulated by a particular individual, family or corporate body in the course of that creator’s activities or functions.

• The Library’s Literary Manuscript Collection contains fonds from many well-known and innovative literary figures, including Réjean Ducharme, W.P. Kinsella, Michael Ondaatje, Gabrielle Roy, Carol Shields, Michel Tremblay and Jane Urquhart. These treasures of Canadian cultural heritage contain stimulating research materials for historians, biographers, literary critics and other researchers.
• Among our noteworthy music donations are the following fonds: Murray Adaskin, Randy Bachman, Glenn Gould, Jacques Hétu, Alfred LaLiberté, Oscar Peterson, André Provost, R. Murray Schafer, and John Weinzweig.
• The Canadian Children’s Literature Collection has also received fonds, including papers, illustrations and printed material from writers and illustrators of children’s books such as Eric Beddows (also known as Ken Nutt), Marie-Louise Gay, Ron Lightburn, Janet Lunn, Mary Meigs and children’s literature specialists such as Irene E. Aubrey.

Special guest speakers Mr. and Mrs. Louis Painchaud, dedicated donors from Sherbrooke, Quebec, spoke about some of the material they have donated over the years, including material by Alfred LaLiberté, Claude Champagne and Napoléon Bourassa (father of Henri Bourassa). When asked what inspires them to give so generously to the Library, Mrs. Painchaud said simply they have a great love of books and browsing used bookstores; the tremendous gratitude they receive from Monique Dupré in return for their gifts only adds to the enjoyment of their hobby.

If you would like to send a gift to the National Library, please send a list of titles or a description of your collection or other documents to the following address:

Gifts and Exchanges Program
National Library of Canada
395 Wellington Street, Ottawa, ON K1A 0N4
E-mail: gifts@nlc-bnc.ca

If you would like to offer a small number of items, such as a few books or some newspaper issues, please call: (819) 994-6847.

To obtain more information about the National Library’s collections development policy, our gifts policy, or to discuss the donation of a collection, please call (819) 994-6855, TTY (613) 992-6969 or visit the National Library’s Web site at www.nlc-bnc.ca/6/33/index-e.html.