This year, the Library building celebrates its 50th anniversary, a milestone marking an opportunity to reflect back and look ahead to the next fifty years.
In 1974, the Library building opened at the corner of Gould and Victoria, becoming a new landmark for the university. The brutalist style architecture, which embraces ideals of simplicity and functionalism, complemented the egalitarian function of the library as a place to access information, while also highlighting modern ideas and new ways of thinking. The design was forward thinking, and embodied the creative, scholarly, and practical work happening at the institution and within the Library.
Join us as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Library building. Explore the past and discover what’s next!
Read Celebrating 50 years of the Library building
Exploring the past 50 years
50 Years: Toronto Metropolitan University Library Building was created by the staff of the Archives and Special Collections in collaboration with the 50th Library building celebration committee.
The website uses the geospatial software ArcGIS StoryMaps, provided by the Libraries’ Geospatial, Map & Data Centre, to tell the story of the Library building, and the innovative resources, services, and programs that have been offered throughout the decades.
Runway timeline
The time travel runway allows you to move back and forward through the decades since the Library opened. This timeline was created by the Libraries’ Immersive Technology Specialist, Michael Carter-Arlt, with content creation and archival research by the 50th Library building celebration committee.
Digital collage
This digital collage display showcases images of the Library building and innovations in library resources, services and programs. It was created by the Libraries’ Immersive Technology Specialist, Michael Carter-Arlt, and Immersive Technology Assistant, Ava Mozaffari, with images provided courtesy of the Archives and Special Collections, and Library Communications.
Visit the main floor (2nd floor of Library building) to view and experience the collage as it moves through images of the building, resources, services, spaces and programs throughout the decades.
The Library building in pillars
Come, explore each pillar!
In collaboration with the Department of Architectural Science’s Carlo Parente, Vincent Hui, graduate student Olivia Nunn and a team of undergraduate architecture students, TMU Library has installed four pillars designed to invite the community to engage with different aspects, ideas, and areas of the Library.
Separately the pillars reveal: an interactive timeline of the past 50 years of the Library building; a display case of unique items found at the Library; cards and a magnetic board that invite the community to reflect on the Library as a metaphor (…as a crossroad, as the heart of campus, as a sanctuary, a sandbox, and a coral reef); and what type of library spaces resonate with them.
When the pillars are placed together they become a replica of the TMU Library building.
Celebrating 50 years reception
The 50th anniversary celebrations of the Library building wrapped up on November 28 with a fun-filled reception that saw alumni, past employees, faculty and current staff gather to enjoy remarks and reflections, enjoy food and lively conversation. The Provost and Vice-President, Academic Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano, University of Ottawa Professor and Alumna Constance Crompton, and Architect and Alumnus Gordon Gill all spoke in-person, or by video, about the TMU Library and its role as a central hub of knowledge creation and dissemination on campus. The event also showcased four distinct pillars created by architecture students that engaged guests, asking them to reflect on different aspects, ideas and areas of the Library – from the Library as metaphor (i.e heart of campus, a sandbox, a sanctuary, a crossroad, or coral reef) to Library spaces that speak most to them. It was a wonderful evening spent looking back on the last 50 years, and ahead to the next.
Architect and Alumnus Gordon Gill video remarks:
Reception gallery:
