National Library News May 2000 Vol. 32, no. 5

Some Recollections from the 1950s

Martha Shepard and Hélène (Alie) Beaudry on a break from microfilming the Toronto Public Library's catalogue.

I was looking for a transfer. The name "Bibliographic Centre" meant absolutely nothing to me, but curiosity having gotten the better of me, I decided to pay it a visit. To my great surprise, the Centre was located in the Public Archives building on Sussex Drive. It was there that I met Dr. Jean Lunn.

After a long conversation, she told me that if I accepted the position that she was offering me, I would have to join Martha Shepard, the librarian who was in charge of the Union Catalogue of Books and who, at that time, was in the process of microfilming the catalogue cards of the University of Toronto. The next day, I called to tell her that I wished to accept the position of library clerk.

The preparations completed, I left... When I arrived in Toronto, Ms. Shepard was waiting for me at the train station. We recognized each other right away. She had found an attractive place for me to stay on Sherbourne Street, not far from the bus stop.

Ruth-Ann (McGrath) Ladas and Hélène (Alie) Beaudry at the Centre's Christmas party, 1950.

The microfilming in Toronto lasted several months. Once finished, we returned to Ottawa, where, upon my arrival, I was asked to continue microfilming the cards of all the libraries in Ottawa. After the catalogue cards were microfilmed, the microfilms were developed and the cards were printed on large rolls. We received many enlargement rolls of microfilmed cards during the development of the Union Catalogue. These enlargement rolls accumulated daily. Since I was still working alone, it was time to hire new staff. Ruth-Ann (McGrath) Ladas, the second employee assigned to the Union Catalogue, joined us. Some time later, Edith Bracey and a fourth employee, Suzanne (Monette) Beauchamp (for whom it would be her first job), joined us. After the integration of the Centre into the National Library, Irene Haymann and several others joined our team.

The process of adding new library cards to the Union Catalogue was as follows. Three employees were seated at a large worktable. The first person unwound the card enlargement roll and stamped each card with the logo bearing the name of the new library. The logos contained letters representing the province, the city and the university in which each library was located. The second person, using a manual paper-cutter, cut each card one by one and arranged them in drawers, making sure to keep them in alphabetical order.

Edith Bracey, Ruth-Ann (McGrath) Ladas and Hélène (Alie) Beaudry working on the Union Catalogue.

Eventually, these new cards were incorporated into the Union Catalogue of Books, which already contained cards from the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress cards had provided the starting point for the Catalogue.

The production of the Canadiana bibliography was another of the tasks assigned to the Bibliographic Centre. When delivered from the printer, copies of the bibliography were put in large brown envelopes and sent to their recipients.

In our spare time, staff of the Bibliographic Centre organized social activities. For our first Christmas party, Edith Bracey showed Ruth-Ann (McGrath) Ladas and me how to tap dance. We made our own costumes and practised during our lunch and coffee breaks. We were ready on time; and the day of the show, everything went well!

These are a few of my recollections of the Bibliographic Centre and the early days of the National Library. I left my job in 1954 to devote myself to my family, but returned to the National Library in 1966.

Staff Members of the Canadian Bibliographic Centre Under the leadership of Dominion Archivist W. Kaye Lamb, the staff of the Canadian Bibliographic Centre, though few in number, accomplished small miracles. Their pioneer work in mounting the bibliographic services that Canada and Canadians had been waiting so long for provided the foundation for today’s National Library. Martha Shepard, Director (1950) Dr. Jean Lunn, Bibliographer (1950) Joan Beatty, Stenographer (1950, stayed only a short time) Hélène (Alie) Beaudry, Clerk (1950) Ruth-Ann (McGrath) Ladas, Typist (1950) Adèle Languedoc, Cataloguer (1951) Clarisse Cardin, Librarian (1951) Suzanne (Monette) Beauchamp, Clerk (1951) Edith Bracey, Clerk (1951) Dr. Ian Wees, Librarian (1952) Dr. Jean Lunn. Source: This article is based on research documented in The Canadian Bibliographic Centre: Preparing the Way for the National Library of Canada, prepared by Carolynn Robertson. Ottawa: National Library of Canada. August, 1999.