Robarts Library

  Robarts Library under construction December 27, 1968

Some highlights about Robarts

• At the time of its construction, Robarts was the largest fixed-price construction ever let in Canada: 864,000 gross square feet
  
• Designed jointly by Warner, Burns, Toan and Lunde with Mathers & Haldenby; construction began with a budget of $41.7 million
• Named in honour of fomer Ontario premier John P. Robarts
  
• When it opened in 1973, there were  chairs for 3052 readers and shelf space for 4 million volumes

At the time of its naming, Premier Robarts commented that

...[it] would prove of enormous benefit to the citizens of Ontario and should not be thought of in terms of what [it] cost, but in terms of how many people would pass through [it] over the next fifty years.

Source:  R.H. Blackburn Evolution of the Heart 1989 Toronto: University of Toronto Library. Image no. 2007-33-4MS courtesy of the University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Image Bank.

ScotiaBank Information Commons

A significant donation from ScotiaBank in the early 1990's enabled the renovation and opening of the ground floor of the the Robarts Library Building: The Information Commons and its  massive bank of workstations as well as the Digital Studio and the Information Commons Help Desk comprise this facility.

The Information Commons has been a model for many universities and colleges around the world.  Since its establishment, it has been a destination for students and a meeting place for independent and collaborative learning with up-to-date information technology and support.

Sakura Project (2005)

Every spring since 2005 the grounds surrounding Robarts are graced with 70 flowering sakura, the Japanese cherry tree. 

The Sakura Project began in 1990 when representatives of local Japanese and Japanese Canadian communities as well as local residents with an interest in Japan began to work towards donating and planting sakura within the National Capital Region in Ottawa. The trees symbolize the growing friendship between Canada and Japan and are a token of thanks from Japanese Canadians who found a home in the Ottawa region.