Directions for Change

Section 1:
What will Library and Archives Canada be?

1.2 A truly national institution

Reflecting Canadian diversity

Canada's geographic, linguistic and cultural diversity is part of our identity as a nation. LAC resources must reflect this: they must be geographically, intellectually and culturally representative, and accessible to all Canadians of all ages from wherever they are.

Canadians must be able to find their own communities' heritage and culture within our collection, or to access it in others'. They must see themselves, their past, in what we hold. This will involve some shifts in collecting emphases to ensure Aboriginal and ethnocultural communities' documentary heritage, reflecting their experience within Canadian society, becomes better represented in our collection. At times, LAC may assist a community to document its heritage, at the same time assuring that it is collected, preserved and made accessible-whether locally or as part of the LAC collection.

To accomplish this effectively, we need to reflect Canada's diversity in LAC staff.

National reach and relevance

As an institution, LAC must become widely known, used, and valued by Canadians all across the country. Our location in the national capital region must be off-set by a constant and deliberate effort to achieve a pan-national presence, both virtual and physical. We will consciously aim to increase our visibility throughout Canada.

The new institution brings together a wealth of networks and partnerships that we can build upon to deliver our mandate. Our effort to connect Canadians with their documentary heritage should extend through Canada's 3600 public library service points across the country, its 800 archives, and its strong network of academic libraries.

A range of partnerships, many at the grassroots level in communities in other parts of the country, will be needed to achieve this national presence. We will look to partner with other agencies that have a distributed presence in Canada, and with local community groups, libraries and archives. Toward increasing our physical presence outside the capital region, activities such as decentralized exhibition and cultural programming will become part of a planned outreach strategy. We will examine whether we can make better use of the network of provincial archives and urban public libraries for increasing our ability to provide access and to make known Canada's documentary heritage.

National Role

One of the challenges of being "truly national" will be to understand what is our essential role as a national institution and how best to play it in the Canadian context. The former National Library and National Archives had long recognized that some materials are more effectively acquired, made available, and used within a provincial and local setting, and have supported nationally the aggregation of access to these materials through national union catalogues (AMICUS and Archives Canada).

But there are several roles that can be more effectively played at the level of a national institution for the benefit of the whole country. Preservation research, standards development, international collaborations, and the development of national strategies are among such roles. A key role is to foster national commitment and approaches to common challenges such as long-term access to digital information.

Also, LAC must be an active and effective voice within the federal government for the contribution that the library and archival sector makes to the development of Canadian society. The network of Canadian knowledge institutions plays a vital role in Canadian government priorities relating to social cohesion, quality of life, and prosperity of Canada. Libraries and archives help ensure ubiquitous access to knowledge, integration and literacy for new Canadians, a level playing field in learning, and the use of knowledge and learning to foster innovation and economic development. Canada's library network also serves as a key channel for disseminating government information and, increasingly, providing access to government services to Canadians. LAC must be visible and present within government, ensuring that government initiatives are taking advantage of this exceptional knowledge network infrastructure.

The Library and Archives of Canada Act enables LAC to provide financial, technical and professional support to build capacity and foster innovation in the library and archival communities. LAC will renew the archival contributions program, refining its parameters to better support the development of the archival system across Canada, and strengthening its governance to meet new accountability requirements for federal programs. We will also study, and discuss with the library community, how we can best partner to support the development of Canada as a learning society.

A national knowledge institution is expected to provide leadership and focus within the broader Canadian "information ecosystem," but in a manner that strengthens the contributions of others as well. The ultimate goal is to promote conditions and infrastructure that will see the whole system work optimally for the benefit of Canadians.

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