Fonds AFC9 - Western Libraries fonds

Western University was founded in 1878 in London, Ontario, Canada. Information resources at that time were generally scarce and scattered among different colleges and faculties, with few to no centralized library services available. While the faculties of Medicine, Engineering and Law maintained their own department specific libraries and reading rooms, the University lacked a formal Main or General library until 1924.
As the university became better established and expanded its course offerings, a need for information resources in addition to more cohesive library services became increasingly apparent. One of the earliest and most notable donations of books to the University came in 1918, when John Davis Barnett initiated the process of donating his substantial private library. Barnett was resident of Stratford, Ontario and former employee of the Grand Trunk Railway. Over the course of his career he acquired a wide array of rare volumes and first editions while travelling to cities and towns across Canada. The acquisition of his collection expanded the University's library holdings from around 3000 to over 40,000. The Barnett library, as it was colloquially called, was first housed in the original Biology Building at Cheapside Street in London, Ontario. In 1924, the collection was integrated with the University's existing library holdings and moved into a more permeant space in the Arts and Administration Building (now University College).
Ten years later, on September 28, 1934 the Lawson Memorial Library was opened in the Lawson Memorial Building. The library was meant to serve as the main campus library, although its collections focused more generally on the Arts and Sciences. The opening of the Lawson library marks a concerted effort to centralize the library functions at Western University. The Lawson Library underwent two major expansions. A north wing was added in 1954, and an expanded southern wing in 1961-1962.
Postwar growth across the university resulted in a significant increase to the general library holdings. Serious planning for a larger main University library began in 1964. In 1968, tenders were issued and ground was officially broken in October of that year. What would become the D.B. Weldon Library tool over four years to complete, and would fall short of its goal to house the entirety of the university's library holdings for many more years to come. Migration of books from Lawson Library was completed in 1972. The library received its official dedication on October 29, 1971, with a date stone commemorating its opening being laid a year later on November 30, 1972. The D.B. Weldon Library has undergone a number of renovations, and continues to serve as Western University's Main library branch.
||n conjunction with the establishment of a main campus library, serval faculty and department libraries and readings rooms have been established as part of Western Libraries. The Faculty of Medicine maintained one of the university's earliest libraries. As early as 1900, a reading room for medical students was established in the Medical School at York Street and Waterloo Street in London, ON. Donations from alumni and prominent physicians helped to increase the holdings of the medical library significantly. A medical Librarian, Ethel Sullivan, was hired in 1921, to oversee the library in the new medical School on South Street. In July 1965, the Medical Library was renamed the Health Science Library and moved into the new Health Sciences Building. By 1970, the library was serving the faculties of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing.
pat2\keepi720 Lack of space in the Lawson Memorial Library initially spurred the establishment of a Science Reading Room in the former Natural Sciences Building (now the Astronomy and Physics Building), in 1947. By 1958, the reading room was moved to the Biological and Geological Sciences Building. Serval department specific reading rooms were also established, including a Physics reading room and Chemistry reading room. In 1966, the Science Library (Natural Science Library) opened in the Natural Science Centre. Many of the science readings rooms amalgamated and subject specific books were transferred from the Lawson Memorial Library to the new Science Library. By 1970 the library has a staff of 15.
Plans for the amalgamation of the Health Sciences and Natural Science Libraries began in the 1970s, and commenced in 1982. The expanded facilities, named the The Allyn & Betty Taylor Library and located in the Natural Sciences Building, opened November 22, 1991. The library serves the departments of Engineering, Science, Health Sciences and the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.
||Lack of space in the Lawson Memorial Library initially spurred the establishment of a Science Reading Room in the former Natural Sciences Building (now the Astronomy and Physics Building), in 1947. By 1958, the reading room was moved to the Biological and Geological Sciences Building. Serval department specific reading rooms were also established, including a Physics reading room and Chemistry reading room. In 1966, the Science Library (Natural Science Library) opened in the Natural Science Centre. Many of the science readings rooms amalgamated and subject specific books were transferred from the Lawson Memorial Library to the new Science Library. By 1970 the library has a staff of 15.
Plans for the amalgamation of the Health Sciences and Natural Science Libraries began in the 1970s, and commenced in 1982. The expanded facilities, named the The Allyn & Betty Taylor Library and located in the Natural Sciences Building, opened November 22, 1991. The library serves the departments of Engineering, Science, Health Sciences and the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.
Additional collegial libraries continue to operate as part of Western Libraries. The School of Business Administration established its first reading room in the Richard Ivey Building in 1957. An expanded library space was opened in 1961. The Business library, now the C.B. “Bud” Johnston Library, underwent further renovation and expansion in 2015.
The first official Law Library at Western university was established in 1959. Originally housed in the southwest wing of the Engineering building, the Law Library moved to the Josephine Spencer Niblett Faculty of Law Building in 1961. The John & Dotsa Bitove Family Law Library is currently housed on the second floor of the Faculty of Law Building.
Until 1962, the music collection at Western University was housed in the Lawson Memorial Library. The College of Music established its own reading room in 1963, with the transfer of 400 hundred music titles from the Lawson Memorial Library. In the 1970s, the Music Library was moved into its present location in Talbot College, where the faculty of Music is also based. In 1982 a special room designated for the Gustav Mahler and Alfred Rose collection was added to Talbot College.
The Althouse College of Education Library opened with the College of Education in 1966. Though the library has undergone several significant renovations it remains locate din the same distinctive “flying saucer” shaped building.
In addition to Western Libraries official libraries, the system also has a strong tradition of collecting and maintaining archival materials and preserving local history. Former Chief Librarian Fred Landon was a noted journalist and historian who encouraged the collection of historical documents within the library system. Specifically, Landon helped to established the Regional History Collection over the course of his tenure. Landon mandated that the library system collect archival materials from the 14 counties of the University's regional constituency, operating under the 1923 Act. The Regional History Collection, once housed in the Regional History Room in Lawson Memorial Library, has since been integrated into Western Archives. Western Archives are located in the Archives and Research Collections Centre (ARCC). The ARCC was opened in 2002, as an addition to the D.B. Weldon Library.
||pat2A brief summary of the Western University Chief Librarians/University Librarians:

1898-1900 Dr. J.W. Tupper
1900-1901 Dr. N. McL. Trenholme
1901-1918 Dr. Tamblyn (University Librarian)
1918-1926 Marjorie Ross (University Librarian)
1927-1947 Fred Landon (Director of Library Services 1923-1927, Chief Librarian 1927-1947)
1947-1970 Dr. James J. Talman (Chief Librarian)
1970-1989 Dr. Robert Lee (Director of Libraries)
1990-1997 Catherine Quinlan (University Librarian)
1998-2013 Joyce Garnett (University Librarian)
2013 - 2014 Robin Keirstead (Acting University Librarian)
2014 - Catherine Steeves ( Vice-Provost and Chief Librarian)

For Further information, refer to:

“Western's First Century” by John R.W. Gwynne-Timothy
“The Libraries at Western: 1970-1987” by Margaret A. Banks