Library and Archives Canada (LAC)

Overview

Library and Archives Canada (LAC), or Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, is Canada's federal institution combining the country's national library and national archives functions, headquartered in Ottawa. It was one of the first countries in the world to merge these functions into a single institution.

History

LAC traces its origins to two predecessor institutions. The Dominion Archives was founded in 1872 as a division within the Department of Agriculture to acquire and transcribe documents on Canadian history; it became the autonomous Public Archives of Canada in 1912, with an expanded mandate to manage government records across all media, and was renamed the National Archives of Canada in 1987. The National Library of Canada was founded in 1953. In October 2002 the Government of Canada announced its intention to merge the two institutions, a plan that gained support from most professional associations in the field. On May 21, 2004, the Privy Council brought into force the Library and Archives of Canada Act, formally creating LAC; Ian E. Wilson became the first Librarian and Archivist of Canada that July. The main Ottawa building at 395 Wellington Street, shared by both predecessor institutions, officially opened June 20, 1967. A Preservation Centre in Gatineau, Quebec, built at a cost of CDN$107 million, officially opened June 4, 1997.

Collections, Holdings, and Publications

LAC's holdings include more than 19 million books, periodicals, newspapers, and literary manuscripts; over 21 million photographs; some 350,000 art works; and extensive film, sound, and video recordings, alongside government records, private archives, maps, and medals. Its mandate covers collection and preservation of published and unpublished documentary heritage in any medium, including legal deposit of online publications and archiving of a sampling of Canadian websites.

Access and Usage

The Ottawa headquarters at 395 Wellington Street is the main public access point, though in-person reference services have moved to an appointment-only model since April 2012 amid broader funding reductions, including a 2012 federal budget cut that led to a 20% reduction in LAC's roughly 1,100-person workforce over three years. LAC's online search tools allow researchers to search its library, archival, image, and genealogical collections.