Charles Henry Gould

Charles Henry Gould
Gould in 1900
President of the American Library Association
In office
1908–1909
Preceded byArthur Elmore Bostwick
Succeeded byNathaniel Dana Carlile Hodges
Personal details
Born(1855-12-06)December 6, 1855
DiedJuly 30, 1919 (1919-07-31) (aged 63)
NationalityCanadian
Alma materMcGill University
Occupation
  • Librarian
  • musician

Charles Henry Gould (December 6, 1855 – July 30, 1919) was a Canadian librarian and musician.

Gould attended the High School of Montreal and McGill University, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1877. He started graduate work in physics but never took a further degree. From 1880 to 1887 he was the organist of the American Presbyterian Church in Montreal. In 1892, Gould was appointed as the first university librarian at McGill University. Gould began his service as librarian by traveling through Europe and the United States to learn library administration.[1]

Gould contributed greatly to Canadian culture, scholarship, and librarianship. He hosted the American Library Association's annual meeting in Montreal in 1900 and during that meeting participated in founding the first Canadian library association which became the Ontario Library Association. Gould started the first bibliographical control system for Canadian science. In 1904 Gould started a summer school that became the McGill Library School.[2] Gould is credited with the creation of the modern system of interlibrary loan. In 1916 he chaired the committee of the ALA that produced the first policies for interlibrary loan among libraries.[3] [4]

Gould served as the first Canadian president of the American Library Association from 1908 to 1909.[5] During his tenure, he oversaw the relocation of the ALA headquarters from Boston to Chicago and the adoption of a new constitution for the Association.

Gould was president of the Bibliographical Society of America from 1912 to 1913.

  1. ^ Atherton, William Henry (1914). Montreal from 1535 to 1914. Volume 3. Clarke Publishing. p. 272. hdl:2027/mdp.39015039575025. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  2. ^ McNally, Peter F. Scholar Librarians: Gould, Lomer and Pennington. pp. 96–97. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
  3. ^ C. H. Gould, “[Report of the ALA] Committee on Co-ordination [regarding the Code of Practice for Interlibrary Loans],” Library Journal 42 (1917): 634
  4. ^ McNally, Peter F. (2001). International Dictionary of Library Histories. Routledge. pp. 436–438. ISBN 1579582443.
  5. ^ "ALA's Past Presidents". American Library Association. Retrieved February 10, 2016.