On a recent vacation to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, I wanted to visit the Library and Archives Canada (LAC). If you don’t know what LAC is. It is a Government of Canada organization that collects and preserves materials in its National Archives, that help document and interpret the country’s history.
In its National Libraries are permanent collections of information published. Besides published books, LAC also collects rare and early editions of books and related print material.
Quoted from the website: Library and Archives Canada - Who We Are
Library and Archives Canada’s (LAC) collection is the shared documentary heritage of Canadians. Our collection, assembled over the past 150 years, includes:
· over 20 million books published in various languages
· over 250 linear kilometres of government and private textual records
· over 3 million architectural drawings, plans and maps
· about 5 billion megabytes of information in electronic format
· 30 million photographic images, including prints, negatives, slides, and digital photos
· over 90,000 films
· over 550,000 hours of audio and video recordings
· over 425,000 works of art
· approximately 550,000 items constituting the largest collection of Canadian sheet music in the world
· national newspapers from across Canada, from dailies to student and community newspapers
(end quote)
I thought LAC was ‘just’ a library. I didn’t realize the depth of the resources contained within. When we stopped in, a friendly agent answered our many questions. He described the process when someone wishes to visit.
Anyone is welcome to sign in and request a collection to view. However, it could take a few days for the librarians to compile and bring the resources into the LAC, as they house archives in many locations throughout Ottawa.
A publisher must supply a couple of copies of any books (depending on LAC criteria) published in Canada to LAC for archiving. LAC distributes ISBN numbers to publishers for books set to be published in Canada. Once published, it is up to the publisher to ensure copies arrive at the LAC within a specific time from the publication date.
The agent was told about my ulterior motive for visiting. I have three books at the LAC. I figured I could waltz in, strut on up onto a certain floor and find a bank of books with my titles sitting somewhere on the shelf.
Unfortunately, because of the vast number of books, some are boxed and stored at another location.
As much as my ego wanted to see my books, I didn’t want to take the time away from a librarian who may have been helping someone doing research, like a university student or a visitor working on a pressing project.
We thanked the agent and went on our way after taking a few pictures outside. I’m grateful LAC archived my books in a safe location, and hope to add a couple more publications in the future. If memory serves me, LAC also has every issue of the Canadian Teddy Bear News magazine I published.
Who knows, maybe a hundred years into the future, someone doing a research project may waltz on up to an agent and request to see my children’s books: Little Blue Penguin and McKenzie’s Frosty Surprise, or my journal, Today I AM… an Empowering Journal Back to Self.
Wouldn’t that be something?