UBC Library History
| 1908 |
|
||||||
| 1913 | Dr. Frank Fairchild Wesbrook is appointed the first President of UBC. | ||||||
| 1914 | J. T.
Gerould, Minnesota University Librarian, where Wesbrook had been Dean
of Medicine, is appointed to buy a basic collection for the UBC Library
in Europe. He purchases around 20,000 books in England and France before
being detained three weeks in Leipzig, Germany as a British spy, spending
part of this time in prison. John Ridington, a former teacher and journalist, is appointed to catalogue the UBC Library collection. |
||||||
| 1915 |
|
||||||
| 1916 | John Ridington is appointed University Librarian. | ||||||
| 1925 | The
University moves from the Fairview Shacks to new buildings on the Point
Grey campus. The Library moves to the central portion of the present Main
Library building with shelving for 135,000 volumes and study space for
350 students. The collection totals 55,000 books, valued at $200,000.
|
||||||
| 1932 | The Great Depression affects UBC and the Library. This year, the Library's budget of $12,000 a year for books and journals is cut to $2,000 and staff is laid off. The Carnegie Corporation of New York helps with a $15,000 grant to be spread over a three-year period. | ||||||
| 1936 | The Library survives the Depression. The collection reaches 100,000 volumes. UBC Library, twenty-one years old, is Canada's sixth largest library. | ||||||
| 1942 | Part of the collection is hidden away in vaults as protection against bombing. Library windows are covered with tar paper and in compliance with blackout regulations, reading room lights are turned off each evening. | ||||||
| 1948 |
|
||||||
| 1952 | The first branch library opens. The Bio-Medical Branch Library at Vancouver General Hospital will serve the clinical departments of the Faculty of Medicine and the B.C. Medical Centre. | ||||||
| 1956 | The Friends of the Library of the University of British Columbia is founded, open to all with an interest in the Library and the University. | ||||||
| 1960 | New
divisions open, including the Science Division, the Special Collections
Division, and the College Library (later renamed the Sedgewick Library). The collection passes the half-million mark. |
||||||
| 1963 | The Curriculum Laboratory (later known as the Education Library) moves to new, permanent quarters in the Education Building. | ||||||
| 1964 | The biomedical collection moves from the Main Library to the Woodward Library, a new branch library. | ||||||
| 1965 |
|
||||||
| 1966 | The Main Library stacks are fully opened to students in first and second year. Previously, first and second year students could enter only after 6pm. They needed a special pass to enter during the day. Everyone who enters the stacks must show a Library card, however. | ||||||
| 1967 | UBC
Library is invited to join the Association of Research Libraries (ARL),
a Washington-based organization providing its members valuable opportunities
for liaison and cooperation. The 1 millionth volume is acquired. The MacMillan Library, the Mathematics Library, and the Music Library open. |
||||||
| 1968 | More library processes are automated. Serials holdings records are now maintained on a daily basis and an acquisitions systems improves efficiency in bibliographic records and accounts. | ||||||
| 1970 | An increasing
amount of bibliographic information is available in machine-readable form.
Woodward Library and the Science Division are doing subject searches in
the collection of magnetic tapes based at the National Science Library,
Ottawa. The stacks are opened to everyone. Library cards are not needed to enter. |
||||||
| 1972 |
|
||||||
| 1973 |
|
||||||
| 1975 | The Law Library opens in a new building for the Faculty of Law. | ||||||
| 1977 | Computer-assisted reference searches are now widespread. Librarians in Law, MacMillan, Social Sciences, and Humanities now also search online bibliographical databases. | ||||||
| 1978 | The Library closes its card catalogue and begins issuing the Microcatalogue, a computer-produced catalogue on microfiche, ending the need to file over 1 million catalogue cards annually. | ||||||
| 1979 | The collection grows to 2 million volumes. | ||||||
| 1981 | The Asian Centre becomes the Asian Studies Library's new home. The Asian Centre has been constructed from steel girders from the Sanyo Company's pavilion at Expo '70 in Osaka, presented in 1971 by the Consul General of Japan as a centennial gift to the people of BC. | ||||||
| 1985 |
|
||||||
| 1988 | UBCLIB,
the new online public catalogue, is introduced. Dial-up access from non-Library
locations is provided for the first time. Another new technology, CD-ROM (compact disc - read only memory), is introduced. CD-Plus MEDLINE is installed in the Woodward Library. |
||||||
| 1991 | The
collection reaches 3 million volumes. CD-ROM and online databases continue
to be added. The Library participates in the creation of the Electronic Library Network (ELN) Media Database and the ELN Union Serials Database, containing media and serials holdings of over 20 BC post-secondary libraries. |
||||||
| 1992 | A new
version of UBCLIB is introduced, providing a common search interface for
all files. It also now also links the catalogue to circulation information,
indicating whether or not an item is out on loan. The project to barcode the Library's circulating collection is completed ahead of schedule. A new circulation system is successfully implemented, featuring self-service renewals and listing of items out on loan. |
||||||
| 1993 | Internet
access begins on UBCLIB when a text-based Gopher client is added. UBC
Library users can now search library catalogues and Internet sites around
the world. David Lam Management Research Library, established by the Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration in 1985, becomes a UBC Library branch. Over 25,000 volumes from the Main Library join the 16,000 volumes already in David Lam. |
||||||
| 1994 | The
Library develops a World Wide Web site, providing a graphical interface
to resources on the Internet. The first full text database is made available. The UBC Library is the first Canadian university library and one of only four world-wide to provide networked full text access to the publications of the US Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers and the UK Institution of Electrical Engineers via IEEE/IEE Publications Ondisc (IPO). |
||||||
| 1995 | A pilot project is begun to provide full text journals online. The Library, the Dept. of English, and the Arts Computing Centre produce Early Modern Literary Studies, a refereed journal in electronic form. | ||||||
| 1997 |
|
||||||
| 2000 |
The UBC Library, now a system of 10 libraries on campus and 3 off campus, is the second largest research library in Canada. It has the largest biomedical collection in western Canada and the largest collection of Asian language materials in Canada. The collections include 3.8 million books, 24, 700 journal and series subscriptions, 13,000 electronic indexes and databases, 4.7 million microforms, and 1.5 million documents, media and other items. |
||||||
| 2001 |
A new branch opens. The UBC Library at Robson Square will support the needs of students, faculty, staff, and community researchers at UBC's new downtown campus. The collections now include 4 millions books, 26,016 journals and series subscriptions, and 4.9 million microforms. |
||||||
| 2002 | The Chapman Learning Commons opens in the Main Library | ||||||
|
|||||||
| 2005 | The UBC Okanagan Library opens. It will support the needs of faculty, staff, students and researchers at UBC's new Okanagan campus in Kelowna. | ||||||
|
