James Bain

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the New Zealand politician see James Walker Bain (1841-1899)

James Bain (Aug. 2, 1842 - Jan 1 1908) was a Scottish-Canadian bookseller, publisher, and librarian. After managing the fledgling Canada Publishing Company, Bain was selected in 1883 Bain was selected to become the first chief librarian of the Toronto Public Library. In this position he was occupied with building both the libraries collection and new branches. He was particularly concerned with ensuring that the library's collection include “every work of any consequence” in the fields of Canadian history and literature.

He helped found the Ontario Library Association and was its president from 1901 to 1902. He was also president of the Royal Canadian Institute from 1900 to 1902.