McLennan Travelling Library

Travelling Library bookplate. Book no. 26. Date received 1901. McGill University Library. Rare Books and Special Collections.

Travelling Library bookplate. Book no. 26. Date received 1901. McGill University Library. Rare Books and Special Collections.

 

Beginning in 1899, this travelling library was supported by the McLennan family and administered by McGill University. It operated mainly in rural Quebec. In 1978 its functions were absorbed by the programme of the Bibliothèque centrale de l’Estrie.

— Summary from the description of Record Group no. 40 from Volume one of ‘A Guide to Archival Resources at McGill University’. McGill University Archives. 1985.

Want to see more vintage McGill library bookplates? We’ve put a small selection on Pinterest for easy browsing from the Philippe Masson Collection of Ex Libris digital collection.

The University Library as seen in 1922

“The library may be compared to a vast telephone exchange by means of which the mind of the student can be put in communication with other minds. The catalogue corresponds to the telephone book. The student finds in it the call number of the person with whom he wishes to be connected. The attendant at the Delivery Desk corresponds to “Central” by making the connection, and if a book is already out the line is “busy”. If the library is small, the opportunities of the student is small. The larger the number of volumes the greater is the student’s chance of getting in touch with other people who have something to say worth hearing. The Library is also like a long distance telephone system, for it enables the student to listen to thinkers and writers in practically every country of the world. The Library, however, has a great advantage over the ordinary long-distance exchange, because it can put the student in touch with great minds of other centuries as well. It is, therefore, not merely a system of communication in the present but also in the historical past.”

Dr. G. R. Lomer, University Librarian. The University Library. 1922 Old McGill Yearbook. Page 117.

The University Library by Dr. Lorme. Pg 117 of 1922 Old McGill Yearbook.

Photo in the centre is of the original Redpath library now Redpath Hall on McTavish. — The University Library by Dr. Lorme. Pg 117 of 1922 Old McGill Yearbook.