Identity area
Identifier
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Other form(s) of name
Fisher Library
Type
University
Contact area
Type
Address
Street address
Locality
Region
Country name
Postal code
Telephone
Fax
Note
Description area
History
The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library houses the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections including books, manuscripts and other materials. The present building was opened in 1973. It is named in honour of Thomas Fisher (1792-1874), who came from Yorkshire to Upper Canada in 1821 and settled by the Humber River. His great- grandsons, Sidney and Charles Fisher, donated to the Library their own collections of Shakespeare, various twentieth century authors, and etchings of the seventeenth century Bohemian artist, Wenceslaus Hollar. Since that time the Library has grown to approximately 800,000 volumes and 4500 linear metres of manuscript holdings.
Geographical and cultural context
Mandates/Sources of authority
The mandate of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library is to foster the search for knowledge by supporting research and learning across most disciplines taught at the University of Toronto. The Library acquires, makes accessible and preserves comprehensive research collections of national and international significance. It serves the faculty, staff, students and alumni of the University, as well as the general public.
Administrative structure
Records management and collecting policies
Buildings
Holdings
The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library holds over 750 archival collections (4,500+ metres) covering a wide range of subject areas. The majority of the Fisher's archival and manuscript collections date from the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries and pertain to Canadian historical, literary, artistic or scientific fields.
Holdings range from a collection of about 40 third-century B.C. Egyptian papyri; to papers of the co-discoverers of insulin: Banting, Best, Collip and Macleod; as well as drafts, research notes, and correspondence of Canadian authors such as Margaret Atwood, Gwendolyn MacEwen, Leonard Cohen, Mazo de la Roche ,and Josef Skvorecky.
Collections of personal papers are listed by the surname of the creator or collector, e.g. Birney, Earle. Institutional records are listed under the name of the institution, e.g. Royal Canadian Institute.
Subject strengths:
· Canadian literary papers
· Caribbean literature
· Canadian small and fine press materials
· Publishers’ archives
· Booksellers’ archives
· History of science and medicine
· Theatre
· History
· Economics
· Politics
· Book history and print culture
Finding aids, guides and publications
Access area
Opening times
Monday–Friday: 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
Thursdays (September–April): 9:00 AM–8:00 PM
Reading Room:
The Reading Room closes 15 minutes before the building closes.
Please note that the Reading Room is currently closed on Mondays.
Holiday Closures:
Closed on statutory and University holidays.
Access conditions and requirements
The resources of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library are open to all researchers and visitors.
Readers may submit retrieval requests in person at the Library, or in advance by using our online Stack Retrieval Request Form: https://aeon.library.utoronto.ca/
We encourage you to submit requests in advance of your planned appointment. However, same-day requests and appointments are possible for materials located onsite subject to our retrieval times - except for materials with an offsite location, which require up to three business days for delivery.
Retrieval times for same-day requests for materials onsite:
9:30am → available in the reading room at 10:30 am
11:30am → available in the reading room at 12:30 pm
2:30pm → available in the reading room at 3:30 pm
4:00 pm → will be available the next working day.
Materials stored in the Downsview offsite location require up to 3 business days to retrieve. You will be notified if your appointment requires additional retrieval time.
Please see this link for additional guidelines on requesting materials: https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/services/accessing-collections.
Accessibility
Services area
Research services
*Ask a Librarian: https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/services/ask-librarian
In order to provide assistance to readers, the Reference Desk and Reading Room are staffed whenever the Library is open. The Reference Desk staff offer assistance in locating material in subjects and areas of interest. Although the majority of the collection is represented by records in the University of Toronto Library catalogue some material is described only in onsite finding aids or card files. The Reference Desk staff are able to assist readers in locating uncatalogued material and in recommending search strategies in the online catalogue to help in locating relevant material at the Fisher Library. The Reading Room staff supervise the operations of the Reading Room, and can assist with queries about reproduction, holds, and the physical use of the material.