Mr. Nursey said in part:
It is well for us all to remember, to whatever country we owe
allegiance, we should be stirred by one purpose only, a common purpose
that recognizes neither international barriers nor impalpable lines of
latitude; our great aspiration being to increase the spread of pure
literature, the democracy of letters through the coöperation of the
public library which as an educational factor is soon destined to be
recognized as of equal importance with university, college or school.
Before submitting to you my views on the trustee's duty to the public
let me briefly recite library conditions that at present prevail in
Ontario. Ontario, practically, is the only province in the Dominion
of Canada that has an aggregation of public libraries, 434 in all,
supported in part by the local legislature, under the fostering care of
a sympathetic minister of education and a very liberal government.
The first library organized in this province, then Upper Canada, was
at Niagara-on-the-Lake in 1800. In 1835, the first legislation dealing
in any way with the library movement was passed and the same year the
first government aid was granted. In 1851 a new act was introduced
creating what was known for many years as the Mechanics' Institute,
the authorities believing that technical books for the working classes
were not less important than those for the learned professions. At this
time only $2,000 per year was appropriated and this was found utterly
insufficient for the purpose. In 1869 general literature was recognized
in Upper Canada in this connection, in addition to the acquisition
of technical books. In 1882, the first free library was organized in
Canada, at Toronto.
In 1900, following upon the good example set by your organization,
the Ontario library association was instituted, but it was not until
1909 that the present Ontario public library act was passed by the
legislature, under which all public libraries, free and association,
are now organized and controlled. Today we have 140 free libraries
and 244 association libraries in this province operating under the
provisions of this act.
In Ontario, whether the library is free or association, the financial
and domestic affairs of both are under the supervision of a board of
trustees, the only difference in these two boards being that in the
case of the free library, the governing body is called a library board
and in the case of the association library, a board of management; the
financial responsibilities are not altogether the same, for while the
trustees of the free library are custodians and paymasters of an income
derived from the special rate levied yearly for library purposes by
the municipality, the board of the association libraries have no fixed
income to disburse, being supported largely by the fluctuating fees of
the members.
The rates levied to support a free library vary, and are based
principally, as in many instances in your own country, on population,
and range from a minimum rate of one-quarter of a mill on the dollar to
a maximum of three-quarters of a mill. In the case of both of these
classes of libraries, government aid, of course, is extended in the
form of a yearly grant based upon the annual report of the expenditure
of the library upon books and paid in conformity with the libraries
act, subject to departmental regulations.
Once a library in Ontario accepts a government grant, it automatically
becomes a public library. Thenceforward it is amenable to the
provisions of the statute and failure to keep open or render an annual
report to the department of education for two consecutive years, is
the signal for dissolution. In other words, it commits suicide. The
minister may then take possession of all its books, its magazines and
periodicals and dispose of them as he may deem best. Further, if a
library fails in any year to comply with the regulations, the minister
has power to withhold the whole or a portion of the government grant
for that year.
The Ontario act, as you have seen, provides for two classes of
libraries, both of which are public libraries; the business of both
classes being administered by a board of trustees, one of whom is
elected chairman, and while the responsibilities of these boards is
greater in the case of the free libraries, both have equal, if not
similar obligations as custodians in law of the people's interests.
Before proceeding to submit my own ideas of what appears to be the most
important, if perhaps the unwritten duties of a library trustee to the
public, and which I present with extreme diffidence in the presence
of so many experts, let me briefly enumerate what are the legal
obligations of a trustee in this Province as set forth in the statute
regulating the same at the present time.
These powers are vested in the mayor, or reeve, as the case may be,
with three other members appointed by the local municipal council,
three by the local public school board or board of education and two by
the separate school board representing the Roman Catholic section of
the community; nine trustees in all who elect their chairman and retire
annually in rotation. These trustees forfeit their position if they
absent themselves from three consecutive monthly meetings without leave.
The legal duties of these trustees consist in the general management,
regulation and control of the library and reading room entailing
the securing, erecting or renting of the necessary buildings for
the purpose of the library and reading room, and the purchase of
books, newspapers, magazines, maps, etc., illustrative of the
arts and sciences for the library reading room and museum. These
responsibilities are further increased by the necessity for keeping the
building and its contents in a proper state of preservation and repair
and to provide the necessary fuel, lighting and other necessaries and
accommodations and also the appointment or dismissal at pleasure of the
officers and servants of the board.
The board is also obliged to make rules for the use of the library
reading room and museum and for the admission of the public thereto and
for the general management of the library; its reading room, museum,
evening classes and art school, and of all property under its control.
For breaches of any of its rules, it may impose penalties not exceeding
$10.
At least two out of these nine trustees, should be women; women
who have won a record for activity and good common sense in their
departments of business.
It is also the duty of the faithful trustee to encourage the public
to realize that it is the librarian, not the trustee, who is the real
pilot of the ship, and jealously uphold the hands of that important
official. Unfortunately the library has sometimes been converted into
an asylum for the village derelict whose unfitness for any ordinary
business pursuits would seem to be the highest passport possible, his
incapacity emphasizing in the minds of some trustees his apparent
suitability for the position.
Summarizing the situation, we find the general importance of the
position of a trustee viewed from the "library act" point of view, to
be that
(1) He holds the property of the library in trust for the whole
community.
(2) That the board has the same standing as any other corporate public
body, town council, school board, board of education, etc.
(3) That the trustees alone can manage public library affairs and that
they have the exclusive authority to pay rent, to build or to sell
property, subject to the statutory provisions.
(4) That they have the power both to raise and expend money for library
purposes.
(5) That they can demand certain moneys from the municipal council,
ranging from a quarter of a mill up to three-quarters of a mill on the
dollar of the total annual assessment at the will of the ratepayers.
(6) That the trustees alone are empowered to employ or dismiss the
librarian and other members of the staff.
(7) And that they alone are responsible to the public.
Their importance, if further evidence was wanting, is established by
the development of the library movement in the Province of Ontario,
demonstrated by the fact that as individuals, they have been active in
founding and maintaining the Ontario library association. Hence it is
easy to understand that the hope for the real and lasting expansion of
library work largely depends upon the educating of the trustee up to
the sane realization of his responsibilities.
In order to have a fair understanding of the trustee's many
obligations, we must consider the duties he is called upon to perform
in connection with his own library. He should be present and assist
at the Easter meetings of the Ontario library association, and attend
the library institutes which are yearly held in each of the 14 library
districts into which the province has been carved for this purpose.
As an evidence of the material of which the ordinary trustee is made,
it is well to note that out of nine presidents who up to the present
time have filled that office in the Ontario library association,
between the years 1900 and 1912, six at one time or another have been
library trustees. Eighty trustees were active officers of these library
institutes in 1911, and of these at least 75 gave papers or addresses
during the year ending April, 1912.
Wonderful opportunities for extending the influence of clean literature
is held by every trustee in the hollow of his hand, and the literature
of the library, taken in all its bearings, forms the great line of
demarkation between the human and the animal kingdom. Hence, the
sound and intelligent coupling of morally well-balanced men and
women should be sought, not merely the professional educationist,
who, not infrequently is apt to be somewhat narrow in his vision;
"not the mere literary triflers or amateur reformers" nor the league
of superficial progressives who amuse themselves by lopping off the
branches of an evil, but rather the strong and impatient workers, the
real trail-makers who strike at the roots. Often in a rough and most
unpromising exterior we find the very elements and characteristics we
have long sought in vain.
In and out of season, first, last, and all the time in addition to
his statutory obligations the trustee should make the welfare of the
librarian his greatest concern. What the pilot is, what the sails
are, what the wheel and the propelling power are, individually and
collectively to the ship--so is the librarian to the library. It is
quite conceivable that a library could exist without a trustee, but
almost inconceivable that it could exist without a librarian.
In Ontario we are doing all we can to elevate the status of the
librarian, as well as her status in the army of intellectual workers.
We have summer schools and library institutes to encourage her in her
ambitions and to improve her knowledge. I am persuaded that on the
walls of every library might well be written in large characters, and
without any suspicion of disrespect, "God bless our Librarian." I refer
of course, to the faithful efficient librarian with a proper conception
of her own duties who should be honoured in the community by virtue of
her position entailing such profound responsibilities. Her smallest
act of official consideration, to her juvenile readers especially,
leaves a widening ripple of influence, the far-reaching effect of
which can scarcely be over-estimated. The librarian, unless it is
obviously inopportune, should also without doubt be invited to attend
every meeting of the trustees and share their undivided confidence,
and the importance of her position and her individuality should never
be dominated or overshadowed by the personality of the trustee. Her
suggestions wherever possible should be respected, deferred to and
acted upon, and every point strained to give her a living wage as
nearly commensurate as circumstances will permit, with a due and
extreme regard for the importance of her task,--at best, a somewhat
thankless one.
I am a strong advocate for Sunday opening wherever it can be
accomplished without interfering with the conscience or freedom of the
employee, and if exempt from hardship. I further believe that every
trustee should permit the purchase of books relating to any religious
belief providing that they are not of a controversial nature, and that
he should actively co-operate with the librarian in the selection of
the really best current literature, both books and periodicals, giving
fiction, say a 50% maximum at the most.
Last, but not least I maintain that it should be a man trustee's
greatest pleasure and manifest duty to secure the co-operation of
at least two capable women workers to share his responsibilities as
co-trustees.
Discussion brought out the interesting fact that the Ontario library
association included in its membership almost as many trustees as
librarians. Mr. Bowker suggested that those from the states interested
in library development should seek to follow the Canadian example
in this respect, and obtain more active participation from trustees
in the library association. Dr. C. R. Charteris, president of the
Ontario library association, gave further word on the relation of
trustees to the library organization in Canada, and Mr. T. W. Banton,
trustee of the Toronto public library, who had been present at the
Magnolia conference, spoke of his disappointment at finding so little
participation by trustees in that meeting. The officers of the section
were re-elected for another year: Chairman, W. T. Porter, trustee
Cincinnati public library; secretary, T. L. Montgomery, librarian
Pennsylvania State library.