Robert Harold Blackburn (3 February 1919 – 18 September 2019) was a Canadian academic librarian.Muller, R. H. "Master Planning For University Libraries - Ideals" He is best known for serving as the Chief Librarian at the University of Toronto from 1954 to 1981.When lady librarians always wore skirts and you didn't dare make noise - The Globe and Mail
Early life and education Blackburn was born in Vegreville, Alberta. He attended the University of Alberta, graduating in 1941 with an M.A. He earned a Bachelor of Library Science degree in 1942 from the University of Toronto.
Career Blackburn served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, then worked at the Calgary Public Library before being hired as an associate librarian at the University of Toronto in 1947. Continuing his education, he earned a M.S. degree from Columbia University in 1948.
Blackburn was promoted to chief librarian for the University of Toronto, succeeding Dr. Wallace, in 1954. At the time, the library had a budget of $170,000.
Blackburn served as the first president of CACUL, the former Canadian Association of College & University Libraries, in 1963 and 1964."Librarian receives prestigious award" University of Regina."University libraries form association". Winnipeg Free Press 1 July 1963 (subscription required) The Robert H. Blackburn Distinguished Paper Award, presented annually by the Canadian Library Association, was named in his honour."Robert H. Blackburn Distinguished Paper Award" . Canadian Library Association Blackburn's papers are preserved in the University of Toronto Archives."Robert Harold Blackburn" | papers held at the University of Toronto Archives UTARMS
Blackburn also served for a number of years as the Chair of the Streetsville Library Board.
Between 1963 and 1967, Blackburn administered the Ontario New Libraries Project under the Ontario Ministry of Education, creating the initial 35,000 book collections for each of three new Ontario universities (Trent, Brock and Guelph) and for Scarborough and Erindale colleges at the University of Toronto.
Blackburn served as a consulting editor on Canadian topics for Collier's Encyclopedia, published in 1967, and contributed to the Encyclopædia Britannica's 1961 Canadian Supplement."On the History and Histriology of a Professional Organization". Greg Linnell. In 1949, when Newfoundland became a province of Canada, he edited the Newfoundland supplement to The Encyclopedia of Canada. "Brief reviews of books about Newfoundland". RedIslandNF, 2010. Brian Hennessy.
Blackburn's 1968 study of the future financial needs of libraries for the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada was used to plan the development of academic libraries throughout Canada."Biographical Bottleneck". Scientific and Technical Information in Canada, section III, page 15. National Research Council of Canada.
Blackburn worked on the international advisory board of the Journal of Library History. He was a contributing writer in The Canadian Historical Review.Historicist: "Fighting with a feather pillow" Torontoist, December 2009.
Blackburn retired from his job as chief librarian in 1981. By that time he was overseeing a budget of about $15 million.
Publications Blackburn published several books, including: Faculty at Work: Motivation, Expectation, Satisfaction, with Janet H. Lawrence., published in 1995 by Johns Hopkins University Press.Sonnert, Gerhard. "Book reviews: Faculty at Work: Motivation, Expectation, Satisfaction. by Robert H. Blackburn and Janet H. Lawrence". The Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 67, No. 6 (Nov. - Dec., 1996), pp. 716-718. Evolution of the Heart: A History of the University of Toronto Library up to 1981. Toronto, University of Toronto Libraries, 1989. In Library Quarterly 60 (April 1990): 164–165.Orvin Lee Shiflett :: Publications :: Book Reviews. University of North Carolina at GreensboroPeter F. McNally. "Book Reviews: Evolution of the Heart: A History of the University of Toronto Library up to 1981 by Robert H. Blackburn". Libraries & Culture, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Winter, 1992), pp. 90-92Kaufman, Amy. "A Different Question of Open Access: Is There a Public Access Right to Academic Libraries in the United States and Canada?"Johnston, C. M."The Chiefs, Warriors and Cadets of Academe". Acadiensis, 1992 From barley field to Academe, University of Toronto Library, "New To Your Library: From barley field to academe" - Vegreville Centennial Library (text has been removed from the website)"From barley field to academe" at WorldCat.
Other publications include: "Interlibrary Cooperation", Research Librarianship: Essays in Honor of Robert B. Downs in 1971"Book Reviews". College and Research Libraries, May 1972. page s238-239. Various Biographical articles in The Canadian Encyclopedia"Hugh Hornby Langton" - The Canadian Encyclopedia."William Stewart Wallace" The Canadian Encyclopedia "The Ancient Alexandrian Library: Part of It May Survive!" Library History Vol. 19 No. 1 (March 2003) pp 23–34.Links and Bibliography for History of Libraries in the Western World -syllabus - Kent State University Taught by Miriam Kahn - MBK Consulting "Libraries in Canada Today", in the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Journal, Vol 36 No. 4, April 1959.
References
External links
Robert H. Blackburn archival papers held at the University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services Robert H. Blackburn biography at Ex Libris Association