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Gerhard Lomer

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Gerhard Richard Lomer (1882–1970) was a librarian, editor, and writer. He was the librarian for McGill University Library from 1920 until 1947 and established the university's graduate level library school.

Biography

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Lomer was born in Montréal[1] on 6 March 1882[2] to Adolph Henry Lomer, an insurance broker, and Ellen Adèle LaFleur. His grandfather was Gerhard Friedrich Lomer (1819–1895), a furrier in Montreal, New York and Leipzig, was president of German Society of Montreal from 1860 until 1865. Lomer was baptised at l'Oratoire French Baptist church and his godparents were Richard and Alma Lomer.

He graduated McGill with a B.A. in 1903. From 1903 until 1907 he taught English and Education at McGill. He received a Ph.D. in education from Columbia University in 1910.[2] He co-wrote a text on English composition, with Margaret Ashmun, The Study and Practice of Writing English, in 1914. [3] During this period he wrote for the Warner Library of the World's Best Literature, a reference book and digest of world literature including entries on the study of literature as well as Allen Johnson's series Chronicles of America.[4][5] He also edited books by prominent authors of his day including John Moody, the founder of Moody's.

In 1920 Lomer was appointed McGill University's Librarian, a position he remained at until his retirement in 1947.[1][6][5][7] In 1927, he established McGill's Library School as a full graduate course from what had been a summer program.[8] He was Director and Professor of Library Administration from 1927 until 1947 and also served as associate director of the University of Ottawa's Library School. He was instrumental in the founding of the university's ornithological library.[9][5]

Lomer was consulted on the rejuvenation of Prince Edward Island's library system.[10][8] He was president of the Quebec Library Association from 1932 until 1933 and became an honorary life president in 1937.

He died January 14, 1970 aged 89 in hospital in Ottawa after being ill for a short while and was buried in Beechwood Cemetery.[11]

Legacy

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Lomer has been described as "undoubtedly the single most important individual in the history of Canadian library education."[8] In addition to seeing the McGill Library through difficult financial and geopolitical times,[5] he also oversaw the expansion of the Redpath Library.[7] Lower is credited with founding the first French-language library program in Canada.[5]

Bibliography

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  • The concept of method[12]
  • Writing Of Today: Models Of Journalistic Prose with John William Cunliffe
  • Elizabethan Sea-Dogs: A Chronicle of Drake & His Companions (1918) by William Charles Henry Wood, Allen Johnson (editor), Gerhard Richard Lomer (editor)
  • The Red Man's Continent: A Chronicle of Aboriginal America (1918) by Ellsworth Huntington, Allen Johnson (editor), Gerhard Richard Lomer (editor)
  • The New South (1919) by Holland Thompson, Gerhard Richard Lomer (editor)
  • The Chronicles of America Series (1919) (co-author)
  • Stephen Leacock entry about Stephen Leacock
  • The Study and Practice of Writing English entry
  • The Masters of Capital (1919) by John Moody, Gerhard Richard Lomer (editor)
  • Correspondence with Allen Johnson, relating to the Chronicles of America Series (1907-1920) letters to various scholars including Romer regarding editorship of the Chronicles of America Series

References

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  1. ^ a b McGill University profile
  2. ^ a b Lawrence, A. (1927). Who's Who Among North American Authors Vol III 1927-1928. p. 519.
  3. ^ Trudeau, Lawrence J.; Gale Group (2011). Twentieth-century literary criticism. [electronic resource]. Internet Archive. Detroit, Mich. : Gale. ISBN 978-1-4144-7462-5.
  4. ^ "Introduction: How to Study Literature. Gerhard Richard Lomer (1882–1970). Lomer, ed. 1917. The Student's Course in Literature. The Library of the World's Best Literature". www.bartleby.com.
  5. ^ a b c d e McNally, Peter F. (1988-01-01). "Scholar Librarians: Gould, Lomer and Pennington". Fontanus. 1. doi:10.26443/fo.v1i.10. ISSN 0838-2026.
  6. ^ Leacock, Stephen (2006). The letters of Stephen Leacock. Internet Archive. Don Mills, Ont. : Oxford University Press. p. 124. ISBN 978-0-19-540869-0.
  7. ^ a b Lyons, Christopher (2023-07-05). "Casey Would! Dr Casey A. Wood, the McGill Library's Best Forgotten Benefactor". Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada. 59: 121–150. doi:10.33137/pbsc.v59i1.36674. ISSN 2562-8941.
  8. ^ a b c McNally, Peter F. (1996). Readings in Canadian library history 2. Internet Archive. Ottawa : Canadian Library Association. pp. 44, 71, 248. ISBN 978-0-88802-269-1.
  9. ^ Walkinshaw, Allan (1980). Elizabeth Gwillim : artists & naturalist ; 1763-1807 [exhibition catalogue]. Internet Archive. Oshawa, Ont. : Robert McLaughlin Gallery. p. 7.
  10. ^ Coughlin, Violet L. (1968). Larger units of public library service in Canada; with particular reference to the provinces of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Internet Archive. Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press.
  11. ^ "Obituary for G. R. LOWER". The Gazette. 15 January 1970. p. 37. Retrieved 6 May 2024. Open access icon
  12. ^ Lomer, Gerhard Richard (27 December 2018). "The Concept of Method". [New York, Ams Press – via PhilPapers.
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