Bringing Librarianship to Rural Canada in the 1930s: Demonstrations by Carnegie Corporation of New York

Two demonstrations of rural library services were established and operated in Canada in the 1930s by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. One demonstration service was the Fraser Valley Regional Library in the lower Fraser Valley in the province of British Columbia on the west coast of Canada; the other was Prince Edward Island Libraries in the province of Prince Edward Island on the east coast. Funding through local taxes was taken over by the communities at the conclusion of both demonstrations. The reasons for the success of these aid projects are explored in the second part of the paper. The services showed the enormous book hunger in rural areas, and the administrative arrangements of a regional or province-wide library service that could deliver adequate services. The reading interests of adults are examined as well as the fears of cultural imperialism because of the American content of the collections and the contribution the libraries made to adult education.