It?s Not Just About Books: The University of Toronto Library System Ranks Fourth in North America

Added: 12/13/2005

Established in 1827, the University of Toronto is the largest and most prestigious university in Canada. Among its graduates are six Nobel Prize winners, the highest number of any university in Canada. The university's endowment exceeds $1.4 billion, which is far more than that of other Canadian institutions and which provides the university with the opportunity of developing its numerous facilities, centers and institutes. Among these is the University of Toronto Library - which as we will see - concerns itself with a lot more than just books.

Today Canada University of Toronto boasts the largest library in Canada and one of the best libraries in the world. With its 15 million volumes, the University of Toronto Library System ranks fourth in North America after the library systems of Harvard, Yale and the University of California at Berkeley. The main University of Toronto library is Robarts Library, named after former Premier of Ontario John Robarts. When looked at from the south the library resembles a giant peacock, which is considered by many people a great architectural achievement.

The exquisite design of Robarts Library resulted in many nicknames, including the Bunker, Fort Book and the Turkey. The plan of the University of Toronto library was designed in 1960s by the prominent Toronto architects Haldenby and Mathers, who completed the construction of the main 14-storey University of Toronto library in 1973. Initially, Robarts Library was destined for graduate students only, but due to the massive protests on the part of students it became accessible to undergraduate students as well.

Robarts Library houses the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library, which holds a priceless collection of first editions, the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library, which comprises about 380,000 volumes of data in Japanese, Chinese and Korean, in addition to the Old English Dictionary Project. Furthering its numerous collections, Robarts Library also provides the students of Toronto University with the access to computers, scanners, printers and audiovisual equipment.

Gerstein Science Information Center houses the collections in the fields of science and medicine. With its 757,000 volumes, 92,500 microforms and 107,600 technical reports it is seen today as one of the major information storage centers of the country and the university in particular.

The E. J. Pratt Library is owned by Victoria College, one of the colleges of the University of Toronto. Constructed in 1961 at the south end of the Victoria College, the library was named after the poet and graduate of the Victoria College E.J. Pratt. During the period of 2000-2002 the library benefited from complete reconstruction, including the introduction and implementation of information technology systems. At present there are 55 computers and a larger number of laptops.

250,000 volumes of the library are dedicated mainly to humanities texts, focusing on English, Philosophy and History. The E. J. Library is designed in four levels with the main floor housing a large study hall, the reference section and the majority of computer workstations. The lower level contains the most of the library's collections.

To the east there is the Lester B. Peason Garden of Peace and International Understanding, while the west and the south sides of the library face Queen's Park. The second story also includes the Kathleen Coburn Reading Room and a periodicals section. The third storey of the library is a home to Vic's Renaissance and Reformation Studies department. Earth Sciences Library is another important University of Toronto library, which contains collections with a focus on forestry, geology and botany.

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