York University Libraries

{{Short description|Library system in Toronto, Canada}} {{primary sources|date=July 2018}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox library | name = York University Libraries | logo = | image = ScottLibraryYorkU.jpg | country = [[Canada]] | type = [[Academic library]] | established = {{start date and age|1961}} | location = [[Toronto]] | num_branches = 4 | collection_size =2,500,000 items | annual_circulation = | pop_served = 50,000 | budget = | director = Joseph Hafner | num_employees = | parent_organisation = [[York University]] | website ={{ official website }} | map_caption = Location of W.P. Scott Library }} {{refimprove|date=July 2018}}

'''York University Libraries''' (YUL) is the library system of [[York University]] in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]]. The four main libraries and one archives<ref>{{Cite web |title=Library and Archives Locations |url=https://www.library.yorku.ca/web/locations-and-spaces/library-and-archives-locations/ |access-date=2022-03-16 |website=York University Libraries |language=en-US}}</ref> contain more than 2,500,000 volumes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=phalfert |date=2017-10-27 |title=York U Libraries to digitize, archive home movies of Indigenous and visible minorities |url=https://www.yorku.ca/yfile/2017/10/27/york-u-libraries-to-digitize-archive-home-movies-of-indigenous-and-visible-minorities/ |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=YFile |language=en-CA}}</ref>

== History ==

The first York library opened in 1961 at [[Glendon College]] and was housed in Falconer Hall. In 1963 the library moved to its own building, named after recent Ontario premier [[Leslie Frost]].{{sfn|Horn|2009|p=40}}

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]].{{sfn|Horn|2009|p=66}}

The large W.P. Scott Library opened in 1971.{{sfn|Horn|2009|p=137}} 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]], 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]] and soon the Libraries owned impressive collections in American history, French Canadiana, and later sociology and psychology.{{sfn|Basbanes|2001|pp=446–448}} [[Archibald Macleish]] was awarded an honorary degree at a special convocation at the official opening of the building on 30 October 1971.{{sfn|Horn|2009|p=137}}

==Branches== [[File:ScottLibrary.jpg|thumb|Stairs of Scott Library]] 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 (academic)|Clara Thomas]]), also inside the Scott Library; it contains the literary and personal papers of many notable Canadian cultural figures such as [[Margaret Laurence]], [[Rohinton Mistry]], [[Av Isaacs]], [[Adele Wiseman]], [[bill bissett]], [[Jean Augustine]], and others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections |url=https://www.library.yorku.ca/web/archives |access-date=2022-03-16}}</ref> * Steacie Science and Engineering Library. * Peter F. Bronfman Business Library.

At the [[Glendon College]] campus: * Leslie Frost Library at Glendon College, with a significant proportion of research materials in the French language.

At the Markham Campus: * Markham Campus Library, with a reading room, gaming lab, media creation spaces and a makers space, which opened in fall 2024.

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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Subject & Liaison Librarians |url=https://www.library.yorku.ca/web/about-us/contact-us/liaison-librarians/ |access-date=2022-03-16 |website=York University Libraries |language=en-US}}</ref>

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]] Law Library, the largest law library in Canada{{sfn|Doorey|2020|p=6}}

The [[Archives of Ontario]] is on York's Keele campus but is not affiliated with York.

<gallery> York Outdoor Art.jpg|An outdoor art exhibit outside of Scott Library, Keele Campus David_Partridge,_Strata_(1969).jpg|[[David Partridge (artist)|David Partridge]]'s "Strata" (1969) (in Scott Library) SteacieLibrary6.jpg|Steacie Science and Engineering Library </gallery>

==Partnerships and collaboration==

The Library is a member of the [[Canadian Association of Research Libraries]], the [[Association of Research Libraries]] and the [[Ontario Council of University Libraries]], and is a contributor to [[Open Content Alliance]].

== 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<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-07-22 |title=Catherine Davidson appointed interim university librarian |url=https://www.library.yorku.ca/web/blog/2014/07/22/catherine-davidson-appointed-interim-university-librarian/ |access-date=2022-03-16 |website=York University Libraries |language=en-CA}}</ref> * Joy Kirchner: 2015–2023<ref>{{Cite web |title=Joy Kirchner appointed to the position of University Librarian |website = YFile |date=2015-04-20 |url=https://yfile.news.yorku.ca/2015/04/20/joy-kirchner-appointed-to-the-position-of-university-librarian/ |access-date=2022-03-17 |language=en-CA}}</ref> * Andrea Kosavic (interim): 2023–2024<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-03 |title=Announcement of interim dean, York University Libraries |url=https://yfile.news.yorku.ca/2023/03/03/announcement-of-interim-dean-york-university-libraries/ |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=YFile |language=en-US}}</ref> * Joseph Hafner: 2024–<ref>{{Cite web |last=Huls |first=Alex |date=2024-05-01 |title=Announcement of new dean of York University Libraries |url=https://yfile.news.yorku.ca/2024/05/01/announcement-of-new-dean-of-york-university-libraries/ |access-date=2024-05-29 |website=YFile |language=en-US}}</ref>

The position has been known by various titles through the years, changing from Director of Library Services to Director of Libraries to University Librarian,{{snf|Horn|2009|p=268}} and then to Dean of Libraries.

==Notes==

==References==

* {{cite book |last = Basbanes |first = Nicholas A. |title = Patience and Fortitude: A Roving Chronicle of Book People, Book Places, and Book Culture |location = New York |publisher = Harper Collins |date = 2001 |isbn = 9780060514464 |url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780060514464}} * {{cite book |last = Doorey |first = David |title = The Law of Work |edition = 2nd. |date = 2020 |location = Toronto |publisher = Emond Montgomery |isbn = 9781772556186 }} * {{cite book |last= Horn |first = Michiel |title = York University: The Way Must Be Tried |location = Montreal |publisher = McGill-Queen's University Press |date = 2009 |jstor = j.ctt80266|isbn = 9780773534162 }}

==External links==

* [https://www.library.yorku.ca/ York University Libraries] * [https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/ YorkSpace: the institutional repository for York University, hosted by York University Libraries] * [https://ydj.journals.yorku.ca York Digital Journals: the journal hosting platform maintained by York University Libraries] * [https://digital.library.yorku.ca/ York University Digital Library: the preservation repository for York University, maintained by York University Libraries] * [https://www.yorku.ca/laps/nellie-library/ Nellie Langford Rowell Library]

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[[Category:Academic libraries in Ontario]] [[Category:York University]] [[Category:Libraries in Toronto]] [[Category:Libraries established in 1961]] [[Category:Library buildings completed in 1971]] [[Category:Archives in Ontario]]