Professionalization, Gender, and Librarianship in Ontario, 1920–75

Abstract

Formal professional status for librarians in Canada’s largest province, Ontario, was pursued actively in a variety of ways between 1920 and 1975. Using the concept of a ‘professional project’, that is, consistent attempts by an occupation to institutionalize legal recognition and to secure social advancement, librarian aspects of the trait theory of professionalism are examined for a half-century. Librarians emphasized some characteristics, such as advanced educational standing and self-regulation, in an effort to advance the status of librarianship. While gender-linked values were a major factor influencing librarianship, the small total number of librarians, their fluctuating leadership goals for a self-regulating organization, and the provincial government’s preference to rein in the authority of professions emerged as decisive barriers to achieving professional status. Lacking determined organizational leadership and favourable prospects for government recognition, Ontario librarians turned away from the traditional trait model by the mid-1970s. For professionalization to prevail, a new model with identifiable characteristics and advantages would need to be created.

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