Whether you call it Fort Book, a turkey or a peacock, Robarts Library is one of the most recognizable buildings on @uoft ’s St. George campus. Opened in 1973, the concrete structure is also one of Canada’s most iconic brutalist buildings.
Inside you’ll find seven specialized libraries, countless study spaces, a food hall, places to recharge and sometimes even therapy dogs! Take our #UofT Tiny Tour for a closer look.
This spring, @uoftlibraries celebrated a decade of discovery with the Peter and Patricia Shannon Wilson Undergraduate Research Prize 🏆
Established in 2016, the prize honours up to six @uoft #undergrads who use library resources to support their research projects 🖥️📚
Winners receive $1000 💸and their papers are published on U of T’s research repository TSpace ✍️🧑💻
This year’s winners worked with librarians and resources at @eastasian.library , the Eberhard Zeidler Library @uoftdaniels and @fisherlibrary , among many others 💻🤝
Learn more about this year’s brilliant group of award-winning students at the link in our bio 🔗
CBC's The National featured a segment yesterday about unlocking the mystery of a parchment fragment from @massey_college using the Multispectral Imaging System for the Humanities and Archives (MISHA) at the Fisher Library!
Link in bio
Today is Giving Day. 🙌🏽 🙌🏾 🙌🏻
Libraries continue to evolve… expanding access, advancing research, fostering innovation, and creating spaces where ideas, collaboration, and community thrive.
At U of T Libraries, this work is made possible by people: our students and researchers, our staff, faculty, and the donors whose generosity helps shape the future of learning, scholarship, and discovery.
Your support makes what comes next possible. From collections and AI initiatives to welcoming spaces across all three campuses.
On this Giving Day, keep libraries in mind and consider supporting UTL. 💙 link in our bio. 🔗
Video created by Graduate Student Library Assistant, Liza Nikolaenko @xox.liza
#uoft #uoftalumni #uoftgivingday
📜 Deep within U of T’s rare book collections, even the humblest materials can hold extraordinary stories.
A scrap of parchment from the Robertson Davies Library @massey_college , faded almost to blank, has now been identified as part of a 15th-century letter issued from the court of King Louis XI of France, the “Spider King.” His nickname reflected his political style - ruling from the centre of a carefully woven web of power.
Multispectral imaging technology at @uoftlibraries and @fisherlibrary , in collaboration with @uoftmississauga ’s Old Books New Science Lab and #UofT medieval scholars at @uoftartsci , made the invisible visible again — allowing researchers to identify the fragment and decode how it was folded, sealed and used.
Years in the making, this discovery provides a rare glimpse into the bureaucratic machinery that helped define the rule of a powerful French monarch.
Go deeper into this web of discovery via the link in bio. 🕷️ 👑
A winter scene on campus, 1918 ❄️
Wishing our community a peaceful holiday season and a bright year ahead.
—
📷 Library and Medical Buildings, 1918
From the University of Toronto Archives
@utarchives
👋 Hey there, @uoftalumni …
You may have left campus, but your library perks certainly haven’t! 🙌📚
#UofT alumni can still enjoy access to many of the library spaces you remember — including ones like those featured here — and can even sign up for discounted borrowing memberships.
Alumni library cards start at just $70 — because when it comes to learning (and libraries), you just can’t get enough. 🎶
Want to know where you can visit and how to stay connected?
Find all the details through the link in bio!💙💻
📸 Story by Anya Chugh, @anya_chugh , Co-op Advancement Intern
The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections @uoftlibraries is turning 70! Its incredible collection lives inside the iconic Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. 📖
To mark the anniversary, a special exhibition is showcasing 70 items recently used in research, teaching and learning. The exhibition is open now until December 23, visit the library and don’t miss out.
Check our link in bio or bit.ly/70RB for more information.
Calling all undergrads! The Wilson Undergraduate Research Prize is back for its 10th year! 🎉
If you used #UofT Libraries to complete a course project (any topic, any program, any year), you can apply for the Patricia and Peter Shannon Wilson Undergraduate Research Prize.
Science lab report? 🧪
Essay on Margaret Atwood? 📖
Engineering design project? 🛠️
Music analysis? 🎼
A GIS map? 🗺️
If it used library resources — it counts.
All we want to know is how you searched, discovered, and used information in your research.
📅 DEADLINE EXTENDED: Feb 22
Up to six $1,000 prizes
Open to all U of T undergrads
You’re already doing the research — now tell us how you did it. 🔎✨
Learn more + apply through the link in our bio.
Did you know #IMAX was founded in Canada? Its late co-inventor and #UofT alum Graeme Ferguson has donated materials from his entire film career to U of T’s @mediacommonsarchives – including photos, film reels and even correspondence with #NASA! Don’t miss a chance to celebrate this collection and see one of Ferguson’s early films, The Virgin President, on Dec. 1 at Innis Town Hall. Learn more at link in bio.
Today, we pause to remember.
We honour the sacrifice of Canadians, and the students, alumni, faculty, librarians and staff of our university community who served in times of war and peace.
Did you know @UofT has a dedicated University Archives that preserves the history of our institution and its people?
#uoft’s archives hold personal traces of war — a field message book wounded by shrapnel, student newspapers published during wartime, images of nursing students in training, and records of John McCrae, who wrote In Flanders Fields.
These are more than artifacts — they are lives, stories, and sacrifice.
Lest we forget.
#lestweforget #remember
🍂 September marks a welcome return to #UofT's Robarts Library for students and faculty — and for one extraordinary regular who’s been coming here for over 50 years.
At 103, Professor William Blissett is one of Robarts’ most devoted users. Every Thursday, you’ll spot him in the cafeteria catching up with friends over coffee before heading to his 13th-floor study carrel to read and write. 📚✍️
Every book tip comes with the same advice: “Read it tonight!” 🦉📖
Learn more about Professor Blissett and his lifelong love of U of T’s libraries — link in bio.
