University of Toronto Libraries – Central Libraries
University of Toronto Libraries – Campus Libraries
Other Toronto Area Libraries
University of Toronto Libraries – Central Libraries
John P. Robarts Research Library
(130 St. George St.)
Main University library. Circulating and reference collection. The primary focus is in the social sciences and humanities. Online catalogue and databases. Many guides issued in both paper and electronic forms, e.g., the searchable guide to microform materials. Tours of the library are given, and instruction in use of catalogues.
Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library
(120 St. George St.)
Houses the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections with approximately 700,000 books, manuscripts, and other materials; and the University of Toronto Archives, which holds the official records of the University. The collections of the Fisher Library are non-circulating. Chronologically, the range of the collections is from a 1789 B.C. Babylonian cuneiform tablet from Ur to original drafts and printed works of contemporary Canadian writers. The special collections and subject areas are Art and Architecture; Canadiana; English Literature; European Literature; History and Arts of the Book; History of Medicine; History of Science; History, Politics and Economics; Maps; Manuscripts; Philosophy; Theatre History; Theology and Religion.
University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services
(Fisher Library)
Holds the corporate records of the University and non-corporate records of faculty and organizations associated with the University. The collections include photographs of University people, buildings, and events; films, videos, and cartographic records; and tapes and transcripts of Oral History interviews.
Gerstein Science Information Centre
(7 & 9 King’s College Circle)
Circulating and reference collections in the fields of medicine and science.
OISE/UT
(252 Bloor St. W.)
Specialized subject collections (non-circulating) include the Ontario Textbook Collection, Ontario Historical Education Collection, Women’s Educational Resource Collection, Modern Language Collection, and Collection Franco-Ontarienne.
University of Toronto Libraries – Campus Libraries
Centre for 19th Century French Studies
(John M. Kelly Library, 113 St. Joseph St)
Covers 1789 to 1914. Three main collections (non circulating), largely primary sources: 1) the Joseph Sablé Collection, on French Romanticism, history and society; 2) the Emile Zola Archives, on Zola’s works (including manuscript letters), French naturalism and cultural history of the second half of the 19th century; the Claude Duchet Collection, comprised of 3,000 prefaces to 19th century French novels.
Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies
(Pratt Library)
Special collection (non-circulating) on Erasmus and Humanism, the Reformation, and history and literature of the period from 1350 to 1650.
Emmanuel College Library
(75 Queen’s Park Cres. E.)
Emphasis on theology and religion, Canadian Church history, Wesleyana, and Hymnology.
Inforum, Faculty of Information
(140 St. George St.)
The collection focuses on resources in library and information science, archives and archival science, records management, information systems and technology, printing, publishing, and related areas. Also includes material in computer science, management, education, and other social science areas.
Robertson Davies Library, Massey College
(4 Devonshire Place)
A special collection (non-circulating) focusing on the art and history of the book, it includes the Ruari McLean Collection of Victorian Book Design and Colour Printing. The Library’s Bibliography Room also supports a working collection of printing equipment and five nineteenth-century iron hand presses used for teaching and demonstrations.
Music Library
(Edward Johnson Building, 80 Queen’s Park)
The Rare Book Room (non-circulating) contains material exemplifying the history of music and music editing, performance and printing. Collections include 18th- and 19th-century opera full scores and early Canadian sheet music and tune books. Archival material documents the creative activity of composers and performers associated with the University and the city.
St. Michael’s College Library
(John M. Kelly Library, 113 St. Joseph St.)
General collections support undergraduate programmes, with particular strength in English and French literature, philosophy, classics, and Celtic studies. The theological collection emphasizes patristics, early and medieval church history, Thomist philosophy and theology, and the Bible. Special collections (non-circulating) include the Counter- Reformation Collection, John Henry Newman Collection, and Centre for 19th Century French Studies.
Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies Library (PIMS)
(John M. Kelly Library, 113 St. Joseph St)
A special collection (non-circulating) of texts, monographs, cartularies, papal and royal documents, court rolls, periodicals, and reference works covering every branch of patristic and medieval studies, including Byzantine and Slavic studies. It includes slides, microfilms and microfiches, photographs, and facsimiles, as well as original manuscripts and incunabula.
Trinity College Library
(6 Hoskin Avenue)
Collection emphasizes undergraduate humanities, international relations, and Anglican theology. Special collections (non-circulating) include the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) and the Reports of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel; books from the Library of Bishop John Strachan, the founder of King’s College (U of T) and Trinity College; and a Rare Book Collection of theological works with strength in Anglicanism. It is also the home of the library of the Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy.
Victoria College (E.J. Pratt) Library
(71 Queen’s Park Cres. E.)
Undergraduate collection with emphasis on humanities and social sciences. Special collections (non-circulating) include George Baxter, Canadiana, A.P. Coleman, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Northrop Frye, E.J. Pratt, Tennyson, and Virginia Woolf
Other Toronto Area Libraries
Archives of Ontario
(77 Grenville Street)
A non-circulating collection on the history and government of Ontario. Includes books and microfiches, audio-visual resources, and cartographic, architectural, and photographic materials. The archives also houses unpublished private papers and government records.
Art Gallery of Ontario, E. P. Taylor Research Library & Archives
(317 Dundas St. W.)
A major Canadian resource for the advanced study of art history. It incorporates an art reference library, a rare book library, an archives of Canadian art, and a multi-media resource on contemporary art.
City of Toronto Archives
(255 Spadina Road)
Maintains and provides public access to the City of Toronto’s permanent historical records, as well as records of many non-governmental agencies, including the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, the Community Folk Art Council, the Association of Women Electors of Toronto, the University Settlement House, the Children’s Aid Society, and the Social Planning Council.
McMaster University Library
(1280 Main Street West, Hamilton)
The William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections’ pre-1800 holdings include Italian Renaissance books, early periodicals and newspapers, English and European imprints (with a particular strength in the 18th century), and maps. Post-1800 collections cover such areas as literary and historical works relating to World War I, World War II, British pacifism, Anglo-Irish literature, the Hogarth Press, Canadian literature, and Canadian imprints. Archival collections of literary and historical significance, including the Bertrand Russell Archives.
Merril Collection of Science Fiction
(Lillian H. Smith Branch, Toronto Public Library, 239 College Street)
A non-circulating research collection of science fiction, fantasy and speculative fiction, as well as magic realism and experimental writing.
Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books
(Lillian H. Smith Branch, Toronto Public Library, 239 College Street)
A special collection (non-circulating) including the Osborne Collection (English children’s literature to the 20th century), the Lillian H. Smith Collection (creative books of literary and artistic merit, published in English since 1910, including picture books, fairy tales, fiction and poetry), and the Canadiana collection (19th- and 20th-century children’s books in English related to Canada or whose writers, illustrators and publishers are associated with this country).
Royal Ontario Museum Library & Information Centre
(100 Queen’s Park)
Non-circulating collection specializing in the subject areas reflected by the collections of the Royal Ontario Museum. The library’s holdings are particularly strong in the areas of museology, Greek vase-painting, Egyptology and ethnology, ornithology, and costume. The archival material includes historical documents relating to the Museum. The Library is affiliated with the campus libraries of the University of Toronto.
Toronto Reference Library
(789 Yonge Street)
Formerly the Metropolitan Toronto Library. The Special Collections Centre (non-circulating) includes the Baldwin Room (primary source material relating to the history of Canada); the Art Room (theatre, music, dance and costume; Canadian trade catalogues; and private press books and fine printing); and the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection.
York University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections
(Room 305 Scott Library, 4700 Keele St.)
University archives includes the records of the governing, administrative, academic, and student bodies of York. Private archives reflect research interests in “Canadian women, Canadian writers, the arts, social reform and the multi-cultural imagination.” The scope of Special Collections is Canadian studies, with an emphasis on post-Confederation Canadiana and a concentration on Ontario subjects.