National Library News October 1999 Vol. 31, no. 10

Farewell from Marianne Scott

© 1999 Couvrette/Ottawa

I am very pleased to have this opportunity to say thank you and au revoir to the readers of the National Library News. It has been a great pleasure and, in fact, an honour to have been National Librarian during the past 15 years. They have been years with many highs and some lows, but throughout them all I have been buoyed by the knowledge that I could count on the interest and support of the Canadian library community.

Canada has a great library network. Perhaps we are fortunate in this country that we are small in number and spread over such a large space, because we have learned the value of cooperation. We have learned the value of networking. It never ceases to amaze me how you can call someone in any part of this country and find a responsive voice, a helpful, constructive voice. I am sure most of you know that I have truly enjoyed the opportunity to be in charge of such an extraordinary institution as the National Library of Canada. I hope you’ll forgive me if I take a moment here to recall some of the accomplishments of the past 15 years.

Over this time, the National Library has taken a leading role in applying new technologies to document, preserve and promote the Canadian experience, in collaboration with other organizations. The Library has implemented a new national bibliographic database, AMICUS, which includes a Web-based interface; and the national bibliography, Canadiana, is now available on CD-ROM. (How easily these terms now trip off the tongue — the World Wide Web and CD-ROMs were unheard of in 1984 when I commenced this tremendous adventure.) The Library has also gained international respect for its work in developing standards. Because of the digital revolution and electronic communications, we can now truly see the possibility of equitable access to information from coast to coast to coast.

Nevertheless, libraries are still chiefly about books — regardless of the formats in which they appear — and about the traditional pursuits of developing, cataloguing and preserving collections. Therefore, while I am proud of our achievements in adapting and enriching new information technologies, I am equally proud of the less glamorous goals we have accomplished — for example, in eliminating cataloguing backlogs. There is no question that all forms of library work will continue to be essential in balancing the National Library’s heritage mandate with providing an effective gateway to information for present and future generations.

For me, there have been two overarching benefits to my years as National Librarian. One has been the opportunity to work with such an excellent and dedicated staff to reach important goals. The other has been the opportunity to promote the role libraries play in all our lives.

I cannot pretend it has been easy to leave, in particular because of the strength and warmth of the relationships I am leaving behind... the institutional ties between the National Library and the Canadian library community, and especially the professional and personal ties with all of you and with the staff here at the Library. I want to thank you for making it a pleasure to come to work every day. I can only hope my successor will enjoy the same warm support.