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Introduction
Various versions of public (and semi-public) lending institutions have existed in Canada over the past 200 years, but the public library system as it looks now emerged during the period of time between the late 1930s and into the 1960s. This was a period of rapid growth, with both regional public library systems and the National Library of Canada emerging as functioning institutions. The development of regional library systems was designed to support the evolution of rural Canada. Trained staff, union library catalogues, and library networks were only a few of the services provided by the regional library systems. The National Library of Canada was established by Parliament in 1953 as a result of a report submitted by the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences, often referred to as the "Massey Commission" after the group's chair, Vincent Massey, who was at the time chancellor of the University of Toronto. The National Library essentially mirrored on a national level what the regional library systems were doing at the local level: a national system of libraries emerged, and along with it, a national union catalogue and an organization that could foster sharing among all libraries and library sectors across Canada. In a country with a large land mass and a widely distributed population, public libraries continue to provide much-needed services to all communities.
The basis for this paper was a request from the Dean of the University of Saskatchewan Library for the compilation of an overview of public libraries in Canada to inform her current research. The need for this information to be compiled in one place became evident when it was found not to exist anywhere else. This paper also developed from a personal interest in public libraries, as well as evidence-based librarianship (EBL). One of the premises of EBL is that if the information or evidence is not available to answer a particular question, then the answer should be found and disseminated in order to help develop the body of evidence in librarianship. Information was gathered by consulting the most recent versions of provincial and territorial legislation that governs public libraries in Canada, as well as by referring to various library web sites at the provincial, territorial, and national...