CSCL Library
This page holds the Society’s Larmour Library in one place. First the Society’s own page for the lending library of books and patterns, with its list of books and its pattern index. Then what the newsletters record of the library: how it came about, how it circulated, the reference books held back from the cases, and the librarians who kept it. Last, the Librarian’s report of 1989 on the slide library, with the scan of that report and of the slide index beside it.
On this page: The final count · Larmour Lending Library of Books and Patterns · How the library came to be · How it worked · The Special Treasures · Who kept it · Its last home · The slide library: Librarian’s report and slide index, 1989
The final count
Each section below keeps the numbers its own source printed, as of that source’s date. These are the totals, from the three documents at the head of this page and from this page’s own roll of Librarians.
- Books: 508 titles. The Society’s list of books of April 2020 numbers 508 titles, one to a line. The Society told members in the summer of 2015 that the listing then ran to “over 400 books” (Summer 2015, page 4).
- Patterns: 240 entries. The Pattern Index lists 240 patterns over its 80 pages. The same notice counted “80 Pages of Patterns” in 2015 (Summer 2015, page 4).
- Slides: 764 entries. The Librarian’s slide index of 1989 catalogues 764 numbered entries in five series (L1, L3, L4, L5 and L6). Of those entries, 19 record a slide withdrawn rather than held, and 8 stand for a run of numbers rather than a single slide.
- Librarians: three named. Who kept it names Jean Hunter, Marg Hunter and René Hackstetter; the post is entered there only where an issue prints the name. The Librarian who reported to the Society’s last Annual General Meeting in 2025 is named in Its last home.
Larmour Lending Library of Books and Patterns
Thank you for visiting our CSCL Library. Below are links to both our CSCL Patterns and our CSCL Library. For more information on our Library items, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Mrs. Reta Larmour preparing for the travelling Leather Exhibitions in the 1950’s.
Dr. and Mrs. Larmour were Charter Members of CSCL who attended the very first meeting of CSCL that was held June 8th, 1950. Dr. Ralph Larmour became CSCL’s 2nd President in 1954. Mrs Larmour was a Lawyer and wrote the first Constitution for CSCL.
Throughout the early years of our Guild, Reta Larmour organized travelling exhibitions of Canadian Leather craft. She and her husband collected patterns and books that became the genesis of the Larmour Lending Library.
CSCL is very fortunate to have this incredible lending library that is available to Members. There are books, instructional guides, patterns, and DVD’s pertaining to leather crafting as well as design, colour, and the arts. Some of the items are literally irreplaceable, the library contains books that are out of print and many that would be very difficult to find. Many of the patterns for wallet backs, purses, book covers, often from noted known leather crafters, are unique and creative. There is an abundance of “Doodle Pages” teaching skills and providing tips that you could use for inspiration.
Paul Kitchener and Kim Winchester have been the driving forces in organizing the many boxes of the Library. Kim spent countless hours scanning the contents and listing everything. Paul has provided memory sticks listing the contents to each Branch President and to our Website.
How the library came to be
Fred W. Brown, F.C.S.C.L., Toronto Branch, writing a history of the Society for the Winter 1987 issue Winter 1987–88 · Volume 36, No. 2
Dr. Ralph Larmour and Reta Larmour were founding members of the Society, and in Fred Brown's words “their support, hard work and devotion were in a great way responsible for its success over many years.”
When Ralph died, and Reta — a highly skilled craftsman and designer — could no longer practise her craft because of crippling arthritis, she had to leave their home in Grimsby and move to Vancouver. She gave the Society their complete art and craft library, which was very extensive, along with all her tools, leather and fittings.
Two auctions were held, open to Fellow and Associate members. The proceeds came to $1,084.00, and that sum together with the collection itself established the Larmour Memorial Library. Books were added afterwards from the library fund and from members' donations.
A closer, contemporary account survives in the Society's own committee reports. The committee was “first set up in May of 1971, when the tools and books owned by Ralph and Reta Larmour were donated to C.S.C.L.” — the tools and leather sold not at two auctions but three, “to Fellows and Associates,” raising $1,080.00, a few dollars short of the $1,084 the 1987 retrospective remembers. Each book was stamped “property of C.S.C.L.” and “Larmour Memorial Library,” and a library code and circulating boxes were bought, under the chairmanship of Fred Brown. Library Committee Report, read at the 25th Annual Meeting, 1975; the 1975 Annual Meeting booklet, p.9
How it worked
Setting the library up was, Brown wrote, “a monumental task”. Once running it circulated by the case: each branch was issued a case of books, kept it for a set period, then returned it to the Librarian to be checked and passed on to the next branch. Within a branch the case was in the care of that branch's own Librarian, who lent from it to the members. Winter 1987–88 · Volume 36, No. 2
Members-at-large, who had no branch and so no case, were the difficulty the system never solved. At the 1985 Annual the members discussing the library asked that a list of the books be sent to members-at-large directly, and that each branch have one member review a book at every meeting and send the review to Canadian Leathercraft so that those at a distance could at least read about what was on the shelf. Summer 1985 · Volume 33, No. 4
The Special Treasures
A shelf of out-of-print reference books was held back from the circulating cases and lent one at a time, for a maximum of two months, shipped separately and only to fully paid-up members — “they cannot generally be replaced in the Society Library, being out-of-print.” The list as the Librarian printed it in the Autumn 1980 issue: Autumn 1980 · Volume 29, No. 1
| Title | Author | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Love of a Glove | C. Cody Collins | Fairchild Publishing Co. |
| How to Make Gloves | Eunice Close | Charles Brantford Co., Boston, 1950 |
| Glove Making | Isabel Edwards | Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, London |
| Glovemaking | Mary Abbott | W. F. Clifford Printing Co., 1952 |
| You Can Make Your Own Gloves | Edith Hummel | Fairchild Publishing Co. |
| Leather Goods Manufacture | G. C. Moseley | Pitman, London, 1947 |
| The Mode in Footwear | H. T. Wilcox | Charles Scribner's Sons, New York and London, 1948 |
| Leather in Life, Art and Industry | John Waterer | Faber and Faber, London, 1927 |
| Black Jacks and Leather Bottells | Oliver Baker | privately printed by E. J. Burrow & Co., London, 1921 — limited edition, autographed |
The five glovemaking books at the head of that list were a gift from Clarice Packham, herself a glovemaker. In 1983 the Librarian was still lending them as a set, on one month's loan, to any branch or craftsman who asked — “since it is unlikely that these volumes could be replaced, borrowers please take care!” Summer 1983 · Volume 31, No. 4
Who kept it
The Librarian's post as the newsletters record it before 1992. The Society printed an address rather than a title, so a name here is a name the issue prints.
| Years | Librarian | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| by 1980 to at least 1983 | Jean Hunter | Snelgrove, Ontario Her own Who's Who profile, printed in Summer 1981, records that she had served as Membership Chairman and on the Larmour Library Committee and “is now the chief Librarian of the C.S.C.L.” She went on to be Editor, 2nd Vice-President and Chairman of the Council of Fellows. Autumn 1980 · Volume 29, No. 1 |
| 1986–1988 | Marg Hunter | Brampton, Ontario A different member from Jean Hunter, not a misprint of her: the 1986-87 Executive Council names both in one table — Jean Hunter as 2nd Vice-President, Editor and Chairman of the Council of Fellows, Marg Hunter as Library and a Director — and the 1984 Craftsman Awards list them separately, for different pieces. Winter 1986–87 · Volume 35, No. 2 |
| 1989–1992 | René Hackstetter | Toronto Branch Spring 1989 · Volume 37, No. 3 |
Two Hunters kept this library, one after the other, and they are not the same woman. Jean Hunter of Snelgrove is Librarian in the 1980 and 1983 issues; Marg Hunter of Brampton holds the post from 1986. The 1986-87 Executive Council settles it by listing both at once, in different posts.
Its last home
To the Society's last Annual General Meeting, on 10 May 2025, the Librarian, Paul Kitchener, reported that the library's present home was at his house and grounds in Omemee, Ontario, and that visitors would be welcomed when it was set up. Minutes of the 75th Annual General Meeting, 10 May 2025
The Continuation Committee's report to the same meeting set out what would become of the library if the Society were dissolved: it “will be intrusted to Paul Kitchener for inclusion with his Leather Museum”, anything surplus to be auctioned and the proceeds added to the Society's cash reserves, and it would stay open to members. The meeting amended the report in other respects, and then voted to dissolve the Society. Minutes of the 75th Annual General Meeting, 10 May 2025
In 2026 the library was still being set up in its new home, and was not yet open to visitors.
The Society’s last newsletter, of the autumn of 2026, prints “The Lamour Library with additions is available for viewing online and in person”. Fall 2026, page 2
The slide library: Librarian’s report and slide index, 1989
1989 · René Hackstetter, Larmour Librarian · 28 pages
René Hackstetter, Larmour Librarian, reported to the Committee on 7 June 1989 on the state of the Society's slide collection, and transcribed Dr. Ralph K. Larmour's notebook of leathercraft slides so that the holdings could be searched. What follows is his report.
Report of the Committee Meeting June 7,1989.
1) Librarians Report November 24/1989 2) List of the Slide Library.
This second report is a listing of the contents of that portion of the Larmour Library in slide format. Dr.Larmour, in his foresight, saw the necessity of cataloging the work of leather artisans. This effort began in 1951-52 and continued, in a consistent manner until approximately 1964.
What has been created is a visual archive of the first foundation - the establishment of a distinct society and competition, with Annual meetings and juried Events. Standards are established and this important visual record is both an inspiration and a benchmark. The appended list is the transcribed notebook entitled: "EX LIBRTS"...R.K. Larmour. From the library of Ralph Larmour, a small four by six inch, black, handwritten record of the slides he had collected in his travels. There are fourteen pages, written on both sides and not always decipherable. In the case where the is uncertainty about the word the * marks the discrepancy. If one wishes to check spelling against the notebook, this can be done.
In typing this list we are better able to consult the holdings. It is the aim of the list to clarify and thereby make the work of study more ordered. By turning this rich soil we help it bear more fruit and through this husbandry, the Society grows.
The challenge now lies in linking this rich archive to the present requirments of the Society. There are a number of directions, one being to fill the large gaps between 1964 and the present. This was started, but requires more attention. There has been no subsequent cataloging, only fitful gathering. Secondly, the slide library serves another important function, that of Publicity. These slides demonstrate what the Society is about and should be shown often and regularly.
With this reference tool, the list we are able to scan the holdings and formulate themes from which programmes and presentations can be created, In closing I would like to thank all those who have kept the slides in good order, especially Muriel McKnight, who has patiently waited for the results, to Ruth Haig, who has diplomatically interceded on my behalf and finally to all the previous librarians for their careful work.
Respectfully submitted, René Hackstetter.
René Hackstetter is independently recorded as the Society's Librarian from 1989 to 1991, matching the year of this report. The newsletters print his name with and without its accent, and once doubled; all three forms are kept here so that a search on any of them finds him.
The two pages of the Librarian’s Report are transcribed. The twenty-six pages of the slide list itself are reproduced as scans, with a transcript of the list; the notebook's own hand is uncertain in places, and the report marks each doubtful word with an asterisk.