The province of Ontario has a very large and widespread library system of which full particulars are given in the annual reports of the minister of education. The library portion has been printed separately, and with its illustrations and special articles forms quite a handbook of Canadian library practice. There are now 413 public libraries described as free and not free, and of these 131 free and 234 not free reported in 1909. The free libraries possessed 775,976 vols. and issued 2,421,049 vols. The not free libraries, most of which receive legislative or municipal grants, possessed 502,879 vols. and issued 650,826 vols. This makes a grand total of 1,278,855 vols. in municipal and assisted subscription libraries without counting the university and other libraries in the province. The most important other libraries in Ontario are—Queen’s University, Kingston (1841), 40,000 vols.; Library of Parliament, Ottawa, about 250,000 vols.; university of Ottawa, 35,000 vols.; Legislative Library of Ontario, Toronto, about 100,000 vols.; university of Toronto (1856), 50,000 vols. The Public (municipal) Library of Toronto has now over 152,000 vols.
In the province of Quebec, in addition to the state-aided libraries there are several large and important libraries, among which may be mentioned the Fraser Institute, Montreal, 40,000 vols.; McGill University, Montreal (1855), 125,000 vols., comprising many important collections; the Seminary of St Sulpice, Montreal, about 80,000 vols.; Laval University, Quebec, 125,000 vols.; and the library of the Legislature (1792), about 100,000 vols. In the western provinces several large public, government and college libraries have been formed, but none of them are as old and important as those in the eastern provinces.
In Nova Scotia there are now 279 cases of books circulating among the school libraries, containing about 40,000 vols., and in addition 2800 vols. were stocked for the use of rural school libraries. The rural school libraries of Nova Scotia are regulated by a special law, and a little handbook has been printed, somewhat similar to that published by the French educational authorities for the communale libraries. The Legislative Library at Halifax contains nearly 35,000 vols., and the Dalhousie University (1868), in the same town, contains about 20,000 vols. The Legislative Library of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, containing the Dodd Library, issues books for home use. The school law of New Brunswick provides for grants being made in aid of school libraries by the Board of Education equal to one half the amount raised by a district, and a series of rules has been published. The only other British libraries in America of much consequence are those in the West Indian Islands. The Institute of Jamaica, Kingston (1879) has about 15,000 vols.; the Trinidad Public Library (1841), recently revised and catalogued, 23,000 vols.; and there are a few small legislative and college libraries in addition.
Authorities.—For the history of British libraries see H. B. Adams, Public Libraries and Popular Education (Albany, N.Y., 1900); J. D. Brown, Guide to Librarianship (1909); G. F. Chambers and H. W. Fovargue, The Law relating to Public Libraries (4th ed., 1899); J. W. Clark, The Care of Books (1909); E. Edwards, Memoirs of Libraries (1859); T. Greenwood, Edward Edwards (1901) and Public Libraries (4th ed., revised, 1891); J. J. Ogle, The Free Library (1897); Maurice Pellisson, Les Bibliothèques populaires à l’etranger et en France (Paris, 1906); R. A. Rye, The Libraries of London (1910); E. A. Savage, The Story of Libraries and Book-Collectors (1909).
For library economy consult J. D. Brown, Manual of Library Economy (1907); F. J. Burgoyne, Library Construction, &c. (1897); A. L. Champneys, Public Libraries: a Treatise on their Design (1907); J. C. Dana, A Library Primer (Chicago, 1910); Arnim Graesel, Handbuch der Bibliothekslehre (Leipzig, 1902); Albert Maire, Manuel pratique du bibliothécaire (Paris, 1896). On the subject of classification consult J. D. Brown, Manual of Library Classification (1898) and Subject Classification (1906); C. A. Cutter, Expansive Classification (1891–1893) (not yet completed); M. Dewey, Decimal Classification (6th ed., 1899), and Institut International de Bibliographie: Classification bibliographique décimale (Brussels, 1905); E. C. Richardson, Classification: Theoretical and Practical (1901).
Various methods of cataloguing books are treated in Cataloguing Rules, author and title entries, compiled by the Committees of the American Library Association and the Library Association (1908); C. A. Cutter, Rules for a Printed Dictionary Catalogue (Washington, 1904); M. Dewey, Rules for Author and Classed Catalogues (1892); T. Hitchler, Cataloguing for Small Libraries (Boston, 1905); K. A. Linderfelt, Eclectic Card Catalog Rules (Boston, 1890); J. H. Quinn, Manual of Library Cataloguing (1899); E. A. Savage, Manual of Descriptive Annotation (1906); J. D. Stewart, The Sheaf Catalogue (1909); H. B. Wheatley, How to Catalogue a Library (1889).
United States of America.
The libraries of the United States are remarkable for their number, size, variety, liberal endowment and good administration. The total number of libraries with over 1000 vols. was 5383 in 1900, including those attached to schools and institutions, and in 1910 there were probably at least 10,000 libraries having 1000 vols. and over. It is impossible to do more than glance at the principal libraries and activities, where the field is so immense, and a brief sketch of some of the chief federal, state, university, endowed and municipal libraries will therefore be presented.
The Library of Congress was first established in 1800 at Washington, and was burned together with the Capitol by the British army in 1814. President Jefferson’s books were purchased to form the foundation of a new library, which continued to increase slowly until 1851, Federal libraries. when all but 20,000 vols. were destroyed by fire. From this time the collection has grown rapidly, and now consists of about 1,800,000 vols. In 1866 the library of the Smithsonian Institution, consisting of 40,000 vols., chiefly in natural science, was transferred to the Library of Congress. The library is specially well provided in history, jurisprudence, the political sciences and Americana. Since 1832 the law collections have been constituted into a special department. This is the national library. In 1870 the registry of copyrights was transferred to it under the charge of the librarian of Congress, and two copies of every publication which claims copyright are required to be deposited. Cards for these are now printed and copies are sold to other libraries for an annual subscription fixed according to the number taken. The building in which the library is now housed was opened in 1897. It covers 312 acres of ground, contains 10,000,000 cub. ft. of space, and has possible accommodation for over 4 million vols. Its cost was $6,500,000, or including the land, $7,000,000. It is the largest, most ornate and most costly building in the world yet erected for library purposes. Within recent years the appropriation has been largely increased, and the bibliographical department has been able to publish many valuable books on special subjects. The A.L.A. Catalog (1904) and A.L.A. Portrait Index (1906), may be mentioned as of especial value. The classification of the library is being gradually completed, and in every respect this is the most active government library in existence.
Other important federal libraries are those attached to the following departments at Washington: Bureau of Education (1868); Geological Survey (1882); House of Representatives; Patent Office (1836); Senate (1868); Surgeon General’s Office (1870), with an elaborate analytical printed catalogue of world-wide fame.
Although the state libraries of Pennsylvania and New Hampshire are known to have been established as early as 1777, it was not until some time after the revolution that any general tendency was shown to form official libraries in connexion with the state system. It is especially State libraries. within the last thirty years that the number of these libraries has so increased that now every state and territory possesses a collection of books and documents for official and public purposes. These collections depend for their increase upon annual appropriations by the several states, and upon a systematic exchange of the official publications of the general government and of the several states and territories. The largest is that of the state of New York at Albany, which contains nearly 500,000 vols., and is composed of a general and a law library. Printed and MS. card catalogues have been issued. The state libraries are libraries of reference, and only members of the official classes are allowed to borrow books, although any well-behaved person is admitted to read in the libraries.
The earliest libraries formed were in connexion with educational institutions, and the oldest is that of Harvard (1638). It was destroyed by fire in 1764, but active steps were at once taken for its restoration. From that time to the present, private donations have been the great University libraries. resource of the library. In 1840 the collection was removed to Gore Hall, erected for the purpose with a noble bequest from Christopher Gore (1758–1829), formerly governor of Massachusetts. There are also ten special libraries connected with the different departments of the university. The total numbers of vols. in all these collections is over 800,000. There is a MS. card-catalogue in two parts, by authors and subjects, which is accessible to the readers. The only condition of admission to use the books in Gore Hall is respectability; but only
