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National Library News |
Martha Shepard, former Director, Canadian Bibliographic Centre, and former Director, Reference Branch, National Library of Canada
When the Canadian Bibliographic Centre started in May 1950, it was long before the computer would profoundly change the library world, so many of the things we did and how we did them will seem strange. Microfilm and microcards were the latest in technology and card catalogues across the country were maintained by multitudes of cataloguers and filers.
Dr. William Kaye Lamb was appointed by Prime Minister King to the dual positions of Dominion archivist and national librarian and was given the mandate to start a national library. Wisely, since the National Library had no legal existence, book collection or building in which to house it, he began the Canadian Bibliographic Centre. Located in one end of the Exhibit Room in the old Archives building on Sussex Drive, the Centre was started to do two things:
 Hélène (Alie) Beaudry microfilming the card catalogues of Ottawa-area libraries. |
Related to these objectives was the task of building up a collection of bibliographies and reference tools.
Microfilm was the obvious way to copy the card catalogues in the other libraries. Enlargements, back to the original three-by-five-inch cards, could then be made and filed in the Union Catalogue.
Having been a keen photographer for most of my life, I was involved with microphotography from the start and had helped to carry out the Canadian newspaper microfilming that had been undertaken by the Canadian Library Association. When Dr. Lamb was making his plans for the Canadian Bibliographic Centre, I had been working in the Reference Division of the Toronto Public Library for over 10 years, so I suppose I should not have been surprised when he asked Bert Hamilton, the English librarian at the Library of Parliament, who was in Toronto for a meeting, to ask me if I was interested in applying for the position of director of the Bibliographic Centre. The position would involve compiling the Union Catalogue and starting the Reference Service of the future National Library. I was surprised because I had no thought of leaving the Toronto Public Library, but I was delighted with the challenge presented. Bert reported to Dr. Lamb that I was definitely interested.
Weeks went by and I heard nothing. Then, in November 1949, Dr. Lamb wrote that he would be in Toronto and would like to meet me for lunch and a talk. I still remember how nervous I was as I travelled by streetcar to the Royal York Hotel, where we were to have lunch. Unfortunately, it was the day of the Santa Claus Parade, and we made very slow progress along Yonge Street. I was half an hour late, which did nothing to steady my nerves. We had a pleasant lunch, while Dr. Lamb outlined his plans. Halfway through, he suddenly said, "By the way, this is your official civil service examination." Thus, I was spared the ordeal of going before a civil service board, for which I was profoundly grateful because, when under pressure, I tend to forget who and what I am.
On May 1, 1950, I reported for work at the Public Archives building on Sussex Drive and was shown my "office", which was one end of the Exhibit Room. There was a desk and chair, a typewriter and an assortment of stationery supplies. There was also a set of the Library of Congress’s printed catalogue, which was still in boxes since there were no bookcases. With Dr. Lamb’s help, I began making plans for microfilming the catalogues of the many departmental libraries in Ottawa, visiting them to make friends with the librarians and to estimate how long it would take to do the necessary filming. This was the beginning of what I thought of as my missionary work – spreading the gospel of the National Library and explaining what it could do for each library.
Because the catalogue of the Reference Division of the Toronto Public Library was a well made one and also because I was at home there, it was decided that the first filming venture outside Ottawa would be in Toronto.
In the meantime, Dr. Jean Lunn, formerly of the Fraser Institute Library in Montreal, arrived to begin the Cataloguing Division of the future National Library and to compile and publish Canadiana, the Canadian national bibliography. We were also given our own typist. Now we had three people at three desks and were very visible to the visitors to the Archives. The most frequent questions we were asked were "Where is Wolfe’s chair?" and "Where is the washroom?" I grew to hate Wolfe’s chair.
Dr. Lunn was extremely busy with the development of Canadiana, and, before long, Adèle Languedoc was appointed to work with her in publicizing the need for publishers to send two copies of each book they published to the National Library. Once the legislation regarding legal deposit was passed, her task was made easier. Thus began the Acquisition Division of the National Library, and it was not long before we amassed a considerable collection of books – but we had no place to put them.
The next thing to happen was the arrival of dozens of metal filing cabinets filled with Library of Congress cards, which the University of Toronto Library was delighted to unload on us. They were accompanied by what seemed like hundreds of unopened packages of cards which awaited filing into the cabinets.
We began to hire Grade 1 clerks, mostly girls just old enough to leave school, and they undertook the task of filing the cards. Also, as the filming of the cards in Ottawa libraries progressed, they cut up and filed the enlargements of the cards into the infant Union Catalogue. Filing cards in alphabetical order all day long can be a soul destroying task, but somehow the girls made it fun and did a superb job.
Clarisse Cardin had now been appointed as a cataloguer, and she joined our triumvirate. Soon after this, we initiated a program of speaking English on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and French on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. (We worked a half day on Saturday in those prehistoric days.) This helped the English-speaking staff to overcome any embarrassment at speaking French, fractured as it might be. By the time I went to Laval University in Quebec City to microfilm their catalogue, I was able to make myself understood and could understand most of what was said to me.
Every Christmas, the staff of the Archives and the Bibliographic Centre had a Christmas party at which a draw was held. To finance this (the top prize was $50), one dollar was collected from each employee on paydays. Before our first party, I told the staff that if I won the top prize, I would buy an electric kettle so that we could have tea in the afternoons. I felt safe making this promise because I had never won anything in my life. Naturally I won the $50, and afternoon tea became a cherished part of our routine.
I had begun selecting reference books for our collection and lived with Winchell’s Guide to Reference Books for months. By the time we moved into the National Library and Archives building in 1967, we had a good collection of bibliographies, which were needed in the work we did.
With a number of library catalogues added to the Union Catalogue, our location service began. At first there were a few requests a week, but this soon swelled to several thousand a month. By 1967, we were receiving location requests by phone, mail and Telex. There was a Telex operator who did nothing but receive requests and send out the reports of our searches of the Union Catalogue. All this was far in the future when we were still on Sussex Drive.
As the Canadian Bibliographic Centre developed, the staff grew to cope with the increasing workload and services. Early pioneers were Ian Wees, Hélène (Alie) Beaudry, Ruth-Ann (McGrath) Ladas, Suzanne (Monette) Beauchamp and Edith Bracey. Soon after the Canadian Bibliographic Centre became the National Library, more staff members were hired; among those there were Pamela Hardisty (who later went to the Library of Parliament), Eleanor (Belyea) Wees, Jean-Paul Bourque and Philip Chaplin. I always felt great fondness and affection for the staff who stayed with us through the years. Our reward was the move to the new building, allowing us to become a functioning library.
A final tribute must be made to Dr. Lamb. His vision and dedication, combined with his being known and respected in high places, made it possible for him to carry out his objectives. When I was considering whether or not to leave the security of the Toronto Public Library and to take the gamble of going to the Canadian Bibliographic Centre, I went to Dr. William Wallace, then the librarian at the University of Toronto, for his advice. He told me that I would not make a mistake in going to work with Dr. Lamb, who was "a fine historian, a gentleman and a scholar". This turned out to be true.