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About us
On this page, you will find information about:
Our collections
Book Collection
The collection's scope covers a wide range of subjects such as foreign relations, international trade, international law, human rights, environment, international affairs, peacekeeping, commercial sectors, and trade promotion. Our collection contains over 50,000 books and is catalogued according to the Library of Congress Classification.
Reference Collection
The reference collection reflects the Department's responsibilities in foreign relations, international trade and international security. It includes the most recent editions of almanacs, encyclopaedias, phone directories, statistical publications, biographies, business sources, trade indexes, dictionaries and general country information. Reference material does not circulate.
Microforms Collection
The microforms collection contains over 200,000 entries. It includes numerous newspapers, periodicals, Canadian government publications, United Nations working papers (General Assembly, Security Council, etc.) and documents of other International Organizations (OECD, UNESCO, Official Journal of European Communities) available in microform.
Official Documents Collection
This extensive collection includes more than 550,000 documents from Canadian and foreign governments, the United Nations and many other international organizations.
Periodicals and Newspaper Collection
Our periodicals and newspaper collection holds many major Canadian and international titles. The library retains newspapers for three months and periodicals adhere to various retention schedules. Recently received issues of periodicals are shelved in the Current Periodicals reading area.
Legal Collection
The legal collection holds major works in international, trade, economic and human rights law. The collection is comprised of texts, bibliographies, case law reports, treaties, specialized CD-ROMs and Canadian legislation.
Maps, Travel Books and Atlases Collection
The maps, travel books and atlases collection offers various titles organized by international, national, regional coverage or by theme. City maps, gazetteers, road maps and travel books are also available for consultation or loan.
Jules Léger Collection
Books in the Jules Léger Collection were donated to the Department by Léger's wife, Gabrielle. The collection contains books held in Jules Léger's personal collection. Mr. Léger worked for the Department for many years before becoming Governor General of Canada in 1974. For assistance, please contact the Reference Desk.
Virtual Library
Available only to departmental staff, the Virtual Library provides desktop access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to over 100 databases of relevance to the information needs of the Department.
Databases, CD-ROMs and corporate applications are shared globally. The Virtual Library service was developed to provide universal access for DFAIT staff to the department's collection of electronic resources.
The Virtual Library currently houses over 100 databases, English and French, from statistical data to working papers of international organizations, maps, travel information, economic and political country reports, as well as providing access to up-to-the minute news sources and political analysis from commercial online service providers.
History of the Jules Léger Library
The origins of the Library can be traced back to the foundation of the Department of External Affairs itself in 1909. Sir Joseph Pope, designated Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs, strongly believed that the Department would require a sophisticated and extensive reference collection in order to conduct its affairs competently. At this time however, the library had no coherent organisation or collection, and the books were housed in several different rooms within the Department, with the largest collection being under Sir Joseph Pope's guardianship.
In 1914, the Library was given a designated area in the East Block, but it was not until 1928 that the Library truly came into being, when Pope's successor, Dr. O.D. Skelton, hired Grace Hart as a full time professional librarian. Grace Hart consolidated the library collection, and fought for more space in the Department's cramped quarters. She implemented the Library of Congress (LC) cataloguing system, started to keep circulation records, and began to develop the collection by acquiring current titles, periodicals and by clipping news articles. She also began to provide a reference and research service for the Department. With the collection's expansion, the Library took over a number of rooms in the East Block.
The Library moved to the Lester B. Pearson Building in 1973 when the building opened, and has remained in the same location on the ground floor. The Library is named the Jules Léger Library in honour of Canada's 21st Governor General and former Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs.
References
Hilliker, John. Canada's Department of External Affairs Vol. 1. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1990. Kirkwood, Kenneth R. Department of External Affairs: A History. Ottawa, Ontario: Department of External Affairs, 1958.
