The importance of knowledge and education to the Manitoba Wheat Pool is made clear in the The Scoop Shovel, the official organ of the Manitoba Wheat Pool and other co-operatives in Manitoba. Established in the 1920s, The Scoop Shovel owed its existence to a decision by the directors of the Pool to set aside small percentage of income per bushel for educational purposes. R.A. Hoey began to hold meetings to discuss the idea that the Pool was about more than just marketing grain, and in 1926 a Department of Education and Publicity was organized within the Pool. It was directed by J.T. Hull and advised by R.A. Hoey; they expanded and supervised The Scoop Shovel.
They also began to accumulate the educational volumes that would become the Pool library. Hull announced in November of 1926 that the library would be open by the end of the month and reported that: "We have a good representation of works on sociology... On co-operation we have about every book that we can find published in the English language. We have also a good selection of books on economics, history, science, general literature, and rural life. In a word, we have tried to make the library one of usefulness to people whose life is on the land."
He also encouraged Pool members--who were the only ones allowed to use the library at this time--to utilize the library to educate themselves, saying “Use it, for knowledge is power”.
Once the library was open to all Pool members, Hull wrote a regular column for The Scoop Shovel called “In the Library”, in which he would review books and recommend reading in response to frequent questions from members. When the library gained new books, which was almost continually, he would list them and sometimes discuss them.
The library service was a mailing one; the main collection was kept at the Manitoba Wheat Pool central office in Winnipeg and members could request a catalogue of all the library holdings. If they wanted to borrow a book or books on a specific topic, they could write to Hull and the books would be mailed out to the member and returned by mail, all postage costs covered by the Pool Library.
During the crisis of the early 1930s, the library was saved because the Manitoba Co-operative Conference believed it was vital to the success of the Pools and the co-operative movement. The Conference took over administration of the Pool library in 1931, leasing the books and equipment from the Wheat Pool. The library was formally incorporated under a charter after it changed hands, the other charters members being the Co-operative Marketing Board and the United Farmers of Manitoba.
In 1935 the service was made available free of charge to all rural Manitobans with the financial support of the Co-op Marketing Board. By 1939, Manitoba Pool Elevators had begun to prosper again, and took back responsibility for the administration and housing of the library. The traveling library was also established around this time, and hundreds of boxes were distributed to all MPE points. The boxes were rotated and refreshed twice a year.
In 1942 Hull estimated that there were approximately 4,700 books in the Pool Library with an annual circulation of 4,000 to 5,000 books. Operating the library cost around two thousand dollars per year, although the cost was split between the members of the Manitoba Co-operative Conference, at least it was in theory. The Pool library ran as a free service to all rural Manitobans, regardless of whether they were members of the Pool, and the federal government census in 1941 indicates that over half of Manitoba’s population (56%) still lived in rural areas. In 1948, the majority of the Pool Library’s services were rendered unnecessary by an act called the “Public Libraries Act” that had been passed by the Manitoba legislature on April 22, 1948, and would go into effect July 1, 1948. The act provided for the establishing of a provincial “Public Library Advisory Board” that would be appointed by the government. Once the board had been established, the act allowed for the establishment of municipal and regional libraries that would be the administrative responsibility of the municipality or region they served and would be supported by a land tax levied on the population that would have access to the library. All employees of the central provincial library would be considered civil servants.
When the Provincial Library was being established in 1949, the Minister in charge of education--Ivan Shultz--actively sought both the advice of those who operated the Pool Library and the physical resources of the Library. In a letter to W.J. Parker, the President of Manitoba Pool Elevators, Shultz wrote that: "We find that in looking at the province as a whole that the box library service of the Manitoba Pool Elevators is the best developed and the best distributed within the province... We would feel that to a considerable extent you had pioneered in this field and we would be using your accomplishments as a springboard for a wider coverage of the province and an enlargement of the service."
He also requested that Miss E.L. Shields—the Pool Librarian--be released from Pool employment so that the Provincial Library could hire her for a year to aid in setting up the new library system.
An agreement was reached between MPE and the Provincial Library, and the bulk of the Pool Library was transferred to the province. The Pool retained the volumes it wished to keep as reference for its employees, and donated the rest of the open shelf library to the province. The traveling library service was sold at a discount to the province, with the caveat that service not be interrupted during the transfer and that the quality of service to rural Manitoba not diminish once the Library had been entirely transferred to the government. In a letter to Ivan Shultz after the agreement to sell the traveling library had been reached, W.J. Parker wrote that: "...Manitoba Pool Elevators has maintained an open shelf library for a period of some twenty years. These books have been made available to anyone in Manitoba, outside the City of Winnipeg, and the postage both ways was paid by the Pool. We feel it has served a very useful purpose, but that it is not primarily our function and if the government proposes to offer a more complete and universal service we are prepared to retire from the field and avoid what might be considered unnecessary duplication."
Scope and Content
Series contains items once held as part of the Manitoba Pool Library. It has been divided into the following four sub-series: (1) MPE E 1 Manitoba Pool Library publications; (2) MPE E 2 The Scoop Shovel; (3) MPE E 3 The Manitoba Cooperator; and (4) MPE E 4 Pamphlet collection.
Minitonas Co-operative Elevator Association Limited Organizational papers: 1926 - 1953 Minutes of the provisional Directors' meeting, 30 June 1926 Minutes of first permanent Directors' meeting, 30 June 1926 Minutes of first General Shareholders' meeting, 30 June 1926 Lease between MPEL and Minitonas CEAL, 1 August 1928 Shareholders meeting, 21 July 1931 Directors meeting, 21 July 1931 By-laws no. 12 and 13, 21 July 1931 Agreement between Minitonas CEAL, MPEL, Manitoba Wheat Pool and The King, 1 August 1931 Agreement between Minitonas CEAL and MPEL, 1 February 1933 Minutes of special meeting of the Board of Directors, 10 February 1933 Agreement between Minitonas CEAL and MPEL, 15 October 1936 Letter re above, 19 June 1944 Agreement between Minitonas CEAL and MPEL, 1 August 1951 Agreement, 1 August 1953 Directors' Resolution, 18 October 1961 Minutes of Executive Board meetings, volume 1, 6 August 1926 - volume 5, 15 November 1983 Minutes of Shareholders Annual meetings, 1928 - 1967 (7 reports) Financial records and statistics Statement of surplus, 1946 - 1947 (1 reports) Auditors' reports, 1928 - 1967 (37 reports) Correspondence, 1946 - 1967 Membership list, 1929 - 1966 Miscellaneous Speech - Hon. T.A Crerar Replies, 26 August 192(?) Directors Reports, 1962 - 1966 (3 reports) Minitonas Wheat Pool minutes, 1929 - 1931 Corporate Name: Rural Municipality of Minitonas
Manitoba Pool Elevators was a part of and associated with many other producer co-operatives in Manitoba.
See also fonds level description of RG 4 for history/bio of MPE
Scope and Content
.This sub-series consists of records from the following co-operative organizations: Canadian Poultry Pool Ltd, Canadian Poutry Sales, Manitoba Co-operative Poultry Marketing Association, Manitoba Dairy and Poultry Co-operative Ltd, The Co-operative Promotion Board, Manitoba Fish Products, Pool Co-operative Seed Association, XCAN Grain Pool
Records for the above organizations may include but do not necessarily include the following: financial records, minutes, correpondence, reports, addresses, and memoranda.
Notes
Description by Jillian Sutherland (2010)
Original order in this sub-series was rearranged by Eileen McFadden. The order established by her has been left intact.
As a co-operative company, the Manitoba Wheat Pool and later the Manitoba Pool Elevators was member controlled. In order to run the company successfully members needed to be educated and kept updated about the companies financial and organizational situation. Annual reports were one of the many ways the Pool tried to do this. See fonds level description of RG 4 for complete history/bio of MPE.
Scope and Content
Sub-series MPE B.7 consists of annual reports. There are two complete sets of annual reports, one for archival storage and one for use by researchers. Neither set contains a report for 1931. Reports from 1926 until 1928 are Manitoba Co-operative Wheat Producers, Ltd. Reports, 1929 - 1930 are Manitoba Wheat Pool Reports. All reports subsequent to 1931 are Manitoba Pool Elevators.
Archival set: (1) Bound Copies, MPE Annual Reports Vol. 1 1926 - 1949; MPE Annual Reports Vol. 2 1950 - 1959; MPE Annual Reports 1960 - 1969; (2) Individual MPE Annual Reports 1970 - 1998
Reserch set: Individual MPE Annual Reports 1926 - 1930, 1932 - 1998
This box contains special and farm supply circulars sent out by the MPE central office to the local ssociations. The records include the following:
48c. Special Circulars 1960-1969
48d. Special Circulars 1960-1969
48e. Special Circulars 1960-1969
48f. Special Circulars 1960-1969
49a. Special Circulars 1970-1976
49b. Special Circulars 1970-1976
50. Special Circulars 1973-1974
51a. Farm Supply Circulars 1963-1969
51b. Farm Supply Circulars 1963-1969
This box contains minutes generated by local MPE associations, collected by the central office. Records include the following:
63. Hargrave 1968-72; 1975-76
64. Isabella 1968-1976
65a. Jordan 1972-1976
65b. Jordan 1968-1972
66a. Lauder 1972-1976
66b. Lauder 1968-1972
67a. Lyleton 1972-1976
67b. Lyleton 1968-1972
68a. Moore Park 1974-1976
68b. Moore Park 1971-1974
68c. Moore Park 1968-1971
69a. Napinka 1972-1976
69b. Napinka 1968-1972
70. Nesbitt 1973-1976
71. Ninga 1973-1976
72. Pierson 1973-1976
73. Sperling 1973-1976
74. Tilston 1973-1976
75. Waskada 1973-1976
76a. Alexander Jan 24 1977 – June 1978
76b. Beresford April 4 1977 – Nov 27 1980
76c. Bradwardine Feb 21 1977 – Nov 18 1980
77. Beulah 1977 – 1980
78a. Cardale 1978-1980
78b. Cardale 1977-1978
This box contains bound volumes of audited financial statements for local MPE associations. The records include the following:
Local Association Financial Statements 1947-48 A-Fan; 1947-48 For-Men; 1947-48 Men-Woo; 1948-49 A-Fan; 1948-49 For-Men; 1948-49 Men-Woo; 1949-50 A-Fan
The writer's desk book : being a reference volume upon questions of punctuation, capitalization, spelling, division of words, indention, spacing, italics, abbreviations, accents, numerals, faulty diction, letter writing, postal regulations, etc., etc.
