The Intellectual Awakening of Nova Scotia

“In 1822 public subscription libraries had been opened in Yarmouth and Pictou, preceding by only twelve years those literary and scientific societies which were established in both places in 1834. In 1824, the Halifax Public Library appeared; and in 1831 the Mechanics’ Library and Institute. The first lecture in the Institute was given in January, 1832; and, during the next quarter of a century, every phase of literature and science was discussed in this institute, which might well have been called the University of Halifax. From the parent organization branches spread to Dartmouth, Upper Stewiacke and Truro.”

“Rather, it seems to have been inevitable that the Nova Scotian character should have been moulded by American and British experiences, and that the social heritage of the Nova Scotian should have been a far from uniform blend of American and British characteristics”

Harvey, D.C. “The Intellectual Awakening of Nova Scotia” Dalhousie Review, Volume 13, Number 1, 1933 https://dalspace.library.dal.ca/bitstream/handle/10222/62186/dalrev_vol13_iss1_pp1_22.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y