What do you think?
Rate this book
A Book in Every Hand: Public Libraries in Saskatchewan
The challenges of establishing a system of libraries to serve the far-flung, mainly agrarian populace of Saskatchewan were large indeed. In an engaging, personal narrative style, Don Kerr utilizes public meeting accounts, official reports, interviews, and personal experience to document the struggles, the triumphs, and the challenges.
Beginning with the cpr libraries and the “Mechanics and Literary Institutes” that predated public libraries, he charts the province’s progress through travelling and “open shelf” libraries to the development of the provincial library, and then the groundbreaking interconnected regional library system.
It took strong people to make it all happen, and A Book in Every Hand notes and celebrates major players in Saskatchewan’s library history – librarians, politicians, civic leaders and bureaucrats. Names such as Angus Mowat, Marian Gilroy, Frances Morrison, Jesse Bothwell, Mary MacIssac, Alice Turner, Pat Cavill, Carlyle King, George Meadow, Ron Yeo, and numerous others.
The text is supplemented by 50 historical photographs, and also includes a special section of colour photographs featuring existing Saskatchewan heritage libraries of architectural significance.
Beginning with the cpr libraries and the “Mechanics and Literary Institutes” that predated public libraries, he charts the province’s progress through travelling and “open shelf” libraries to the development of the provincial library, and then the groundbreaking interconnected regional library system.
It took strong people to make it all happen, and A Book in Every Hand notes and celebrates major players in Saskatchewan’s library history – librarians, politicians, civic leaders and bureaucrats. Names such as Angus Mowat, Marian Gilroy, Frances Morrison, Jesse Bothwell, Mary MacIssac, Alice Turner, Pat Cavill, Carlyle King, George Meadow, Ron Yeo, and numerous others.
The text is supplemented by 50 historical photographs, and also includes a special section of colour photographs featuring existing Saskatchewan heritage libraries of architectural significance.
277 pages, Paperback
First published April 13, 2005
About the author
Don Kerr
34 books2 followersDon Kerr is the author of five books of poetry, seven plays, a short fiction collection, a teen fiction novel, and non-fiction books on politics and the history of the city of Saskatoon. He served on the Saskatoon Public Library Board for 11 years, and as chair for five of those years. He was the first chair of the Saskatoon Heritage Society and the first chair of the Saskatoon Municipal Heritage Committee. He is currently the elected Saskatchewan governor for the Heritage Canada Foundation.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 25, 2023
3.5 stars
This is a history of public libraries in Saskatchewan, with a focus on the regional library system that helped bring books and libraries to rural areas. Saskatchewan once had one of the worst library systems in the country, but it made real efforts to bring it up to one of the best (according to the author and the stats he interpreted).
It doesn’t sound like a super-exciting read, and probably for a lot of people, it may not be. It is probably more of interest to librarians and/or people from Saskatchewan who use or once used their public/regional libraries. I am both a librarian and I grew up in rural Saskatchewan and used our local branch of the Chinook Regional Library. I did find it interesting (mostly) to read about how the different regional systems were formed, the politics, etc. There were a lot of stats and economics included, as well, which all sounds not overly exciting, but it’s written in an accessible way. I did recognize a couple of names, even. Overall, I’m rating this good, but it’s likely to appeal to a pretty specialized audience.
This is a history of public libraries in Saskatchewan, with a focus on the regional library system that helped bring books and libraries to rural areas. Saskatchewan once had one of the worst library systems in the country, but it made real efforts to bring it up to one of the best (according to the author and the stats he interpreted).
It doesn’t sound like a super-exciting read, and probably for a lot of people, it may not be. It is probably more of interest to librarians and/or people from Saskatchewan who use or once used their public/regional libraries. I am both a librarian and I grew up in rural Saskatchewan and used our local branch of the Chinook Regional Library. I did find it interesting (mostly) to read about how the different regional systems were formed, the politics, etc. There were a lot of stats and economics included, as well, which all sounds not overly exciting, but it’s written in an accessible way. I did recognize a couple of names, even. Overall, I’m rating this good, but it’s likely to appeal to a pretty specialized audience.
Displaying 1 of 1 review