York University Libraries (YUL) is the library system of

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. The four main libraries and one archives contain more than 2,500,000 volumes.

History

The first York library opened in 1961 at

Glendon College Glendon College is a public liberal arts college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Formally the federated bilingual campus of York University, it is one of the school's nine colleges and 11 faculties with 100 full-time faculty members and a student po ...

and was housed in Falconer Hall. In 1963 the library moved to its own building, named after recent Ontario premier

Leslie Frost Leslie Miscampbell Frost (September 20, 1895 – May 4, 1973) was a politician in Ontario, Canada, who served as the province's 16th premier from May 4, 1949, to November 8, 1961. Due to his lengthy tenure, he gained the nickname "Old Man O ...

. The first library on the large Keele campus was the Steacie Science Library (now the Steacie Science and Engineering Library), which opened in 1965, and was named after chemist Edgar William Richard Steacie. The large W.P. Scott Library opened in 1971. The need to build an appropriate collection in a short space of time was immediate and pressing. Accordingly, chief librarian Thomas F. O'Connell, formerly at the

Harvard Library Harvard Library is the network of libraries and services at Harvard University, a private Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Library is the oldest library system in the United States and both the largest academic librar ...

, made arrangements to purchase the entire stock of two bookstores: the Starr Book Company in Boston and Librarie Ducharme in Montreal. An early decision was also made not to duplicate research strengths at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

and soon the Libraries owned impressive collections in American history, French Canadiana, and later sociology and psychology.

Archibald Macleish Archibald MacLeish (May 7, 1892 – April 20, 1982) was an American poet and writer, who was associated with the modernist school of poetry. MacLeish studied English at Yale University and law at Harvard University. He enlisted in and saw action ...

was awarded an honorary degree at a special convocation at the official opening of the building on 30 October 1971.

Branches

The system has four branches, one containing two smaller libraries and an archives. At the main Keele Campus: * W.P. Scott Library (for humanities, social sciences and fine arts). Separate film/music and map/GIS libraries are located within. * Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections (named after York professor Clara Thomas), also inside the Scott Library; it contains the literary and personal papers of many notable Canadian cultural figures such as

Margaret Laurence Jean Margaret Laurence (née Wemyss; July 18, 1926 – January 5, 1987) was a Canadian novelist and short story writer, and is one of the major figures in Canadian literature. She was also a founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada, a non-pr ...

Rohinton Mistry Rohinton Mistry (born 1952) is an Indian-born Canadian writer. He has been the recipient of many awards including the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 2012. Each of his first three novels was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. His ...

, Av Isaacs,

Adele Wiseman Adele Wiseman (May 21, 1928 – June 1, 1992) was a Canadian author. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, she received a Bachelor of Arts in English literature and psychology from the University of Manitoba in 1949. Her parents were Russian Jews who emigr ...

, bill bissett,

Jean Augustine Jean Augustine (born September 9, 1937) is a Grenada-born Canadian politician. She was the first Black Canadian woman to serve as a federal Minister of the Crown and Member of Parliament. Prior to entering politics in 1993, Jean Augustine h ...

, and others. * Steacie Science and Engineering Library. * Peter F. Bronfman Business Library. At the

campus: * Leslie Frost Library at Glendon College, with a significant proportion of research materials in the French language. In addition to almost 150 full-time staff, approximately 40 academic librarians are responsible for faculty liaison, collection development, and research instruction across every major discipline and field taught at York. Other libraries at York, which are not branches of YUL but work closely with it, include these, both on Keele Campus: * Nellie Langford Rowell Library, affiliated with the School of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies *

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the ''Journal of Law and Social Policy'', and the ''Osgoode Hall Law Journal ...

Law Library, the largest law library in Canada The

Archives of Ontario The Archives of Ontario are the archives for the province of Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1903 as the Bureau of Archives, the archives are now under the responsibility of the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement. Th ...

is on York's Keele campus but is not affiliated with York. York Outdoor Art.jpg, An outdoor art exhibit outside of Scott Library, Keele Campus David_Partridge,_Strata_(1969).jpg, David Partridge's "Strata" (1969) (in Scott Library) SteacieLibrary6.jpg, Steacie Science and Engineering Library

Partnerships and collaboration

The Library is a member of the

Canadian Association of Research Libraries The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) was established in 1976 and brings together thirty-one research libraries. Twenty-nine members are university libraries, plus Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and the National Research Counci ...

, the

Association of Research Libraries The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 125 research library at comprehensive, research institutions in Canada and the United States. ARL member libraries make up a large portion of the academic and research li ...

and the

Ontario Council of University Libraries The Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) is an academic library consortium of Ontario's 21 university libraries located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Formed in 1967, OCUL member institutions work together to maximize the expertise and re ...

, and is a contributor to

Open Content Alliance The Open Content Alliance (OCA) was a consortium of organizations contributing to a permanent, publicly accessible archive of digitized texts. Its creation was announced in October 2005 by Yahoo!, the Internet Archive, the University of California ...

Chief librarians

* Douglas G. Lochhead: 1960–63 * Thomas F. O'Connell: 1963–76 * William Newman (acting) 1976–78 * Anne Woodsworth: 1978–83 * Ellen J. Hoffmann 1983–2001 * Cynthia Archer: 2001–14 * Catherine Davidson (interim): 2014–15 * Joy Kirchner: 2015–2023 * Andrea Kosavic (interim): 2023–2024 * Joseph Hafner: 2024– The position has been known by various titles through the years, changing from Director of Library Services to Director of Libraries to University Librarian, and then to Dean of Libraries.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

York University Libraries

YorkSpace: the institutional repository for York University, hosted by York University Libraries

York Digital Journals: the journal hosting platform maintained by York University Libraries

York University Digital Library: the preservation repository for York University, maintained by York University Libraries

Nellie Langford Rowell Library
{{Authority control Academic libraries in Canada York University Libraries in Toronto Libraries established in 1961 Library buildings completed in 1971 Archives in Ontario