The History of UTSC Project
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The Spaces & Places guided walking tour explores the history of locations on and around the UTSC campus by sharing the personal recollections of members of our campus community — reflecting a variety of perspectives, positions, and points in time.
The UTSC Library has a long and complex history. When Scarborough College initially opened in 1964, the school lacked a dedicated library space, instead using office space in the Science Wing to store books and accommodate the research needs of the campus’ first students. Unsurprisingly, the College quickly outgrew this space and, in the absence of any substantial funding for a proper library, turned to storing books in local houses, portables, and even a barn. Fed up by this lack of space, students banded together in 1978 and pledged $400,000 towards the development of a new library, resulting in the opening of the Vincent W. Bladen Library in 1982. By 1999, however, it became apparent that the various academic resources housed in the Library required more space, and so plans were developed for a new facility, to be located in the Academic Resource Centre. This new facility, which opened in 2003, is what we know as the UTSC Library today. The library is a hive of quiet activity, offering students study rooms, computer labs, and comfortable seating areas in which they can work at any time of day or — during exam season — night. Beyond being just a storehouse for books, the UTSC Library is a vibrant intellectual hub, supporting the academic journey of all students on campus and fostering a community dedication to learning and discovery.
Did you know that UTSC originally didn’t have a library? Scarborough College had a temporary library space of 17,000 sq. ft., meant to originally serve around 200 students back in 1966. The Bladen Library was only built following a substantial student campaign in 1978, with students handing a symbolic student-paid $400,000 cheque to Lee MacLaren, the Director of the Department of Funding at the University of Toronto in 1979. To read more about the campaign, check out our blog. To see what the old temporary library looked like, browse the gallery.
Credits: UTSC Archives Legacy, Memory Collection, UTSC Library Digital Collections.
Adrian De Leon, a multidisciplinary scholar who attended UTSC for undergrad, looks back on his efforts to make the library a better — and quieter — study space for students in the 2010s.
Credits: Conceived and produced by Amena Ahmed. All images courtesy of Mike Adler, University of Toronto Scarborough Library, Jasun Singh, and University of Toronto Scarborough.
