The Perfect Job: Working at the Edmonton Public Library in 1948, by Pat Hewitt

Pat Morton Hewitt fondly remembers her part time job at the Edmonton Public Library in 1948.

September 1948 I decided to go back to Victoria High School and take another half year to obtain more credits for my diploma.


I was looking around for a part time job. I am not sure how I got the interview with the Edmonton Public Library Main Branch Librarian Mr Hugh Gourlay. This was in the ‘old’ Library overlooking MacDonald Drive. I was absolutely thrilled to obtain a position there as I had spent many hours and years going back and forth to borrow my favourite books and loved the children’s librarian Miss Grace MacDonald. I am an only child so reading was an entertainment. I was hired immediately to work in the afternoon. Amazingly I have kept my pay stubs from that time. One month dated November was for $35.63.


I was to work with a very nice single lady Miss Annie Joyce, Scottish lady with a strong accent. Miss Joyce was the head of the Catalogue Department, very nice to work for, I enjoyed being there and of course getting to see the books first hand before they were catalogued. I believe she started out marking the Dewey Decimal system number on the pocket and the book was then handed to me to glue on the pocket and stamp the top of the book and also on the 23 page with the Library name. I then used “white” ink to mark the number on the bottom of the binding. There was a special way to make “4” “9” and “6” which I had to learn.


The Library Director was Mr Hugh Gourlay whom I liked very much. One day after I was there for about three months he called me into his office. Now what! I was totally surprised to find out that he was giving me a raise from 30c per hour to 35c which was quite surprising.


The library staff were very friendly. I still keep in touch with my friend Eileen whom I met there. There were other staff more my age who worked upstairs in the main access. They were Pages who refilled the books brought back by the patrons. Some were high school students who worked on the week end.


I was working in the basement room with Miss Joyce most of the time but occasionally they had me work at the desk where we took phone calls (and marked down all the calls and the nature of the calls). Of course there were the itinerant men who used to come in to get out of the cold or rain and have a sleep on the tables. They were eventually told to move out. One man used to come in – a very big stout man with a rumpled suit – he would go around and take out Chicklets from his dirty pocket and deposit one on each person’s desk – “One for you, one for you, one for you”. Once in a while we decided we would like to chew these Chicklets so we went to the water fountain and washed them off. One of the older ladies was absolutely horrified by this but we assured her we washed them well.


Below the first floor there were steps down into a large room but I don’t remember just what was kept there – however behind the stairs in a locket cabinet with a glass front were the “Banned Books” such as Hitler’s Mein Kampf and other books the staff thought were not suitable for the general public. Not sure who you had to go to get one of these books.


My most embarrassing unforgettable incident occurred one week when I was doing my pasting of the pockets – I usually looked through the books and if there were any I was interested in I would write down the titles and later borrow the books after they were catalogued and returned upstairs for the patrons. This day I noticed two “sex books” and because of course in those days your mother or father didn’t tell you much I thought it would be a good idea to look at them – not in the library as it would be too embarrassing to ask Miss Joyce if I could take them. I decided to take them home that night and read them in the privacy of my bedroom and take them back before they were missed. Well – you can guess – I was ill the next day and not able to get there. I was a bit stressed out about it but thought Miss Joyce wouldn’t catch up to me. Well – you guessed it again!!! The next day I came in and started my project when Miss Joyce came over and said “Pat, I can’t find two missing books – do you know where they are?” I had to admit I had taken them and was very embarrassed and red faced and was quite worried about what she would say. She didn’t say much – only – “Don’t remove books before I get to process them.” That was the end of it and I was very relieved. Perhaps she was a bit embarrassed too. Needless to say I never did that again.


In June 1949 there was a huge book publishers strike in Toronto. I worked upstairs for some time. Finally Miss Joyce came to me and said that she expected the strike to go on for some months and perhaps I would like to look for a full time job. My perfect job was over. I reluctantly applied for a job in the office at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and that lasted for over five years. But --- that is another story.


PS Miss Joyce retired in 1954 and passed away in 1970 in Vancouver – she was involved with starting up the Bookmobile in Edmonton. Mr. Groulay resigned because of ill health in 1955 and passed away in 1971 in Williamstown, Ontario.