This page summarizes what we know about the closure of Canadian federal science libraries and the destruction of their collections. If you would like to help or have information to share, please contact me at tomduck@tomduck.ca. To-do items are listed in footnotes.1
Beginning in 2012, federal science libraries across Canada have been closed and their collections “culled” – Harper government newspeak for “thrown in the trash”. Scientists on the scene have called the closures “chaotic”, “carried out in great haste”, a “national tragedy”, and a “libricide” akin to a “book burning”. They have also pointed out the government’s spin on the situation simply “doesn’t add up”.
What we know is mostly due to some excellent investigative work by journalists and concerned MPs. In some cases hard information was exposed using access to information (ATI) requests. The facts are consistent with what scientists on the scene described.
We need to know more. Libraries are indispensable to science, and science is essential to the proper functioning of democracy. Our federal science libraries stored knowledge collected over 100 years or more. It is almost certain that information has been lost, compromising our future abilities to conduct scientific studies. We need to understand the situation fully to ensure this act of vandalism can never happen again.
Below is what we know, broken down by federal department. There may well be existing information that I have missed. Please help by emailing me.
Index
- Overview
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada
- Environment Canada
- Health Canada
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
1. Overview 2
Budget 2012 announced approximately $10 million per year of ongoing cuts to the budget of Library and Archives Canada (29 March 2012).
Three months later Liberal MP David McGuinty submitted an ATI request (19 June 2012) for the following:
“With regard to government libraries: (a) since January 1, 2012, which departments or agencies have closed, or will be closing, their departmental or agency libraries; (b) what is the rationale for each closure; (c) what evaluations, studies, or assessments were conducted and used to make the decision to close; (d) what are the dates and file numbers of those evaluations, studies, or assessments; (e) what are the plans for the disposition of the holdings of the libraries; (f) what evaluations, studies, or assessments were conducted and used to make decisions concerning the disposition of holdings; and (g) what are the dates and file numbers of those evaluations, studies, or assessments?”
The government responded in a 94-page document. The following science libraries were identified for closures:
- Parks Canada: Consolidating five libraries into one (pg. 22);
- National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy: Closing library on 31 March 2013 (pg. 23);
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada: Closing seven libraries (pg. 28); and
- Natural Resource Canada: Closing six libraries in 2012 - 2013; two in Ottawa, Ontario; one in Varennes, Quebec; one in Edmonton, Alberta; and another in Western Canada. In 2014, another Ottawa library will be closed (pg.63).
Many other federal libraries are identified in the document. Several libraries that were not identified for closures were ultimately affected:
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada: “is not closing its library” (pg. 4);
- Environment Canada: “has no plan to close its departmental library” (pg. 22); and
- Health Canada: “have not closed nor made a decision to close its libraries, to displose the holdings of libraries or conduct study or evaluation in this regard” (pg. 38).
It is not clear why anticipated closures to these libraries were not reported in the ATI response. Note also that the National Research Council library holdings were not reported.
The following sections discuss what we know about the subsequent events.
2. Fisheries and Oceans Canada 3
(Also known as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans – DFO)
This is the case we know the most about.
Seven of eleven DFO libraries were closed, according to a 27 January 2014 ATI document requested by Liberal MP Lawrence MacAuley and released by journalist Margo McDiarmid:
- St. Andrews Biological Station, St. Andrews, NB
- Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Centre (NAFC), St. John’s, NL
- Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, BC
- Pacific Region Headquarters Library, Vancouver, BC
- Eric Marshall Aquatic Research Library, Winnipeg, MB
- Maurice Lamontagne Institute Library (MLIL), Mot-Joli, QC
- Mère Juliette Library (MJL), Moncton, NB
The libraries appear to have been closed in late 2013.
The surviving libraries, according to DFO, are:
- Institute of Ocean Sciences, Sidney, BC
- Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, NS
- Canadian Coast Guard College Library, Sydney NS
- Canadian Coast Guard Technical Library, Ottawa, ON
A “Secret” DFO memo obtained by journalist Mike De Souza provided initial information on what happened to materials in the closed libraries:
“Main activities include culling materials in the closed libraries and shipping them to the two locations; and culling materials in the two locations to make room for collections from the closed locations.”
The MacAuley/McDiarmid document above provides numbers which I summarize below. Owing to incomplete accounting by the federal government, the numbers for MLIL and MJL are removed.
- Transferred to other federal libraries: 132,243
- Deposited in other federal collections: 0
- Sold: 0
- Offered to libraries outside government: 83,873
- Accepted by libraries outside federal government: Mostly unknown
- Discarded: Unknown
The numbers suggest that about 39% of DFO materials from the closed libraries are lost. The fact that the numbers accepted and discarded are not known indicates that materials were not properly tracked. The document shows that of 27,177 documents offered by NAFC to other libraries, none were accepted. The number of books and reports culled at surviving libraries to make room for transferred materials is not reported.
Given the number of volumes “culled” and the speed at which the culling occurred, it seems reasonable to expect (as scientists warned) that irreplaceable assets have been lost.
A letter from Fisheries and Oceans Minister Gail Shea to NDP MPs Robert Chisholm and Kennedy Stewart (reported 7 February 2014) said:
“The total print collection in the fall of 2012 was 660,000 titles. The process of updating the library catalogue and integrating collections in Sidney, British Columbia, and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, is still underway. The estimated percentage of withdrawn items at this time is 30 percent, or 200,000 items. It is unknown how many withdrawn materials were distributed via the processes described above and how many were ultimately recycled.”
“Withdrawn” is more Harper government newspeak for “thrown in the trash”.
These numbers are broadly consistent with what can be found in the MacAuley/McDiarmid document, as is the statement that it is “unknown” what happened to withdrawn materials. Proper tracking was not performed.
Peter Wells explored the consequences of the library closures and culling in an excellent article in the peer-reviewed Marine Pollution Bulletin.
3. Environment Canada 4
In late 2013 thirteen Environment Canada (EC) libraries and reading rooms were consolidated to seven. The closed libraries were located in:
- Quebec, QC
- Edmonton, AB
- Calgary, AB
- Winnipeg, MB
- Yellowknife, NWT
- Whitehorse, YK
The following libraries remain open:
- Dartmouth, NS
- Montreal, QC
- Gatineau, QC
- Toronto, ON
- Burlington, ON
- Saskatoon, SK
- Vancouver, BC
This information was ascertained by comparing the list on EC’s current Web site with an archived version from the Wayback Machine.
An ATI request by journalist Margaret Munro revealed that 650 boxes of books were shipped from closed libraries to Saskatoon and stashed in “caged” storage areas awaiting sorting and cataloguing.
4. Health Canada 5
The main library of Health Canada (HC) was closed in 2013, with its collection moved to the National Science Library on the Ottawa campus of the National Research Council.
From an unavailable report discussed here:
“One group moved its 250 feet of published materials to an employee’s basement. When you need a book, you email ‘Fred,’ and ‘Fred’ brings the book in with him the next day,” the consultant wrote in his report.
This indicates that culled materials were still of considerable value to HC scientists.
The report also stated that in the 2008-09 fiscal year, HC Library Services had a staff of 36 and a budget of $1.75-million. In 2013-14 there was a staff of 6 and a budget of $2.67-million. Clearly, money was not saved in the consolidation.
The same report, discussed here, said:
“Managers at Health Canada admitted that changes to the department’s library services would lead to risks to the department’s credibility and its ability to produce evidence-based decisions”.
This confirms that the library closures were not a benign act.
Substantial cuts to Health Canada’s library were also made in 2006.
5. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 6
The Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) library at Lethbridge Research Centre was closed in August 2015. Photos were released by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC).
To do:
- Jeff Hutchings described his attempt to find previously used documents in Science Under Siege. An ATI for the documents is needed to see if they still exist.
To do:
- Determine status of libraries for which no additional information is available: Parks Canada, NRTEE, and NRC; and
- Carefully read the McGuinty ATI for additional information.
To do list for Fisheries and Oceans Canada:
- Get update on existing ATI with missing libraries included;
- ATI materials culled at remaining libraries;
- ATI cost before/after consolidation.
To do list for Environment Canada:
- ATI for retained/destroyed materials;
- ATI materials culled at remaining libraries;
- ATI for status of books in 650 boxes;
- ATI cost before/after consolidation.
To do list for Health Canada:
- Determine list of open/closed libraries;
- ATI materials retained/destroyed;
- ATI costs before/after consolidation;
- Get report leaked to CBC.
To do list for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada:
- Determine list of open/closed libraries;
- ATI books kept/destroyed;
- ATI materials culled at remaining libraries;
- ATI cost before/after consolidation.