An issue I looked at the other day had both an ad for a private library and an article about Vancouver's Public Library, since the Annual Report was being presented to the Vancouver City Council.
The private lending library was at the Thomson Stationery Co., on Hastings Street.
Reading a Book
is not the only way to secure pleasure any [and?] enjoyment during the long winter evenings, but it is a most delightful and a most profitable way, and it's a very inexpensive way, too, if you'll join our
LENDING LIBRARY.
Members read the new books at a cost of 20c each only.
How many of these have stood the test of time, I wonder. Gertrude Atherton [Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton] was, I know, a popular USian author in her time. Occasionally her works were controversial. What did Vancouverites think of those? Did the libraries offer them?
I just checked Vancouver Public Library's current catalogue and three of her books are listed - two are 'electronic resources' - Resanov and The Sacrificial Altar, but VPL does have a copy of her California, An Intimate History (1914). Not to worry, many of her books, including those mentioned just above are available for free on the 'Net. [Someone should tell VPL that, eh?] There's even a Facebook page for Gertrude Atherton. Give her a 'like'.
is not the only way to secure pleasure any [and?] enjoyment during the long winter evenings, but it is a most delightful and a most profitable way, and it's a very inexpensive way, too, if you'll join our
LENDING LIBRARY.
Members read the new books at a cost of 20c each only.
New books listed:
Fuel of Fire by Ellen T. Fowler, The Aristocrats by Gertrude Atherton, Scarlet and Hyssop by E. F. Henson, Key Notes by George Egerton, The Dissemblers by Thomas Cobb, Unofficial by the Hon. Mrs. Walter Forbes, The Terror by Felix Gray, A Year of Life by W.S. Lilly, Galloping Dick by H.B.M. Wilson, The Blazed Trail by White, Sport in the Navy and Naval Yarns [no author shown] and Sir Hector by Robert Machray. Each was listed for sale at 75 cents.
Fuel of Fire by Ellen T. Fowler, The Aristocrats by Gertrude Atherton, Scarlet and Hyssop by E. F. Henson, Key Notes by George Egerton, The Dissemblers by Thomas Cobb, Unofficial by the Hon. Mrs. Walter Forbes, The Terror by Felix Gray, A Year of Life by W.S. Lilly, Galloping Dick by H.B.M. Wilson, The Blazed Trail by White, Sport in the Navy and Naval Yarns [no author shown] and Sir Hector by Robert Machray. Each was listed for sale at 75 cents.
How many of these have stood the test of time, I wonder. Gertrude Atherton [Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton] was, I know, a popular USian author in her time. Occasionally her works were controversial. What did Vancouverites think of those? Did the libraries offer them?
I just checked Vancouver Public Library's current catalogue and three of her books are listed - two are 'electronic resources' - Resanov and The Sacrificial Altar, but VPL does have a copy of her California, An Intimate History (1914). Not to worry, many of her books, including those mentioned just above are available for free on the 'Net. [Someone should tell VPL that, eh?] There's even a Facebook page for Gertrude Atherton. Give her a 'like'.
Private lending libraries could be much different than public libraries though. Much of the time, as now, the articles about public libraries concern funding, but sometimes even a civic report gives us an idea about what people were reading, as does this published piece about the Vancouver City's Annual Public Library Report for 1903.
The Library's collection is said to total over 8,000 books, and 130 daily, weekly or monthly papers and magazines are available in the reading rooms.
On average, 275 books were taken out every day, with Saturday being the biggest day for circulation. The article reported that on the previous Saturday, 400 books were returned and taken out - the staff handling thus 800 books. [And there were no computers then, remember, no self check-out machines or on-line renewals. A hand for those librarians, please!]
Of the newspapers and magazines, these were:
Dailies - Canadian, 11; American, 5; total, 16.
Weeklies - Canadian, 11; English, 30; Australian and South African, 6; American, 25; total, 54.
Monthlies - Canadian, 4; English, 30; American 25; total, 59.
Being of a pedantic mind, I think it's interesting to look at the general topics covered in the collection, given as of January 1902.
Theology - 223
Social and Political Economy - 385
History and Allied Subjects - 680
Biography - 526
Geography - 21
Voyages and Travels - 304
Astronomy, Geology, etc. - 117
Mettallurgy and Mineralogy - 121
Natural History, etc. - 301
Poetry and Drama - 198
Miscellaneous - 383 [!?]
Fiction - 3324
Fiction in paper covers - 17
Magazines - 278
Being repaired, etc. - 208
In reference library - 210
And lest you think all these materials would be in English, the article mentions books purchased since January 1902:
French misc. works - 168
French magazines - 100
German misc. works - 118
Miscellanous - 400
History and biography, I am happy to see, were a significant proportion of the collection.
And metallurgy and mineralogy - what was in that section? I remember when my father and his friend decided to start panning for gold in the 1940s, the first place Dad went was to the library. Maybe it was so in 1903 too.
From The Province, Vancouver, BC, Wednesday, 7 January 1903, page 2.
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