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A Word From the Chair
Outstanding libraries have always been at the heart of great universities and McGill’s Library is no exception. The McGill University Library is considered among the finest in North America, with special recognition of its e-collections as one of the best in Canada and its internationally important Rare Books and Special Collections.
In recent years a sea change has taken place in how libraries are perceived and used by students, professors and the broader community. Fuelled by a wave of technological innovations making them more vital and vibrant than ever before, libraries are transforming themselves across the globe from being not only great repositories of accumulated knowledge, but also active centres of learning and teaching.
As a result the McGill Library has developed a bold new vision – the Fiat Lux, “Let There Be Light” project to transform the MacLennan-Redpath Library Complex into a vibrant teaching, learning and research hub for the digital age.
In the eighties, a volunteer group of advocates came together as The Friends of the McGill Library to promote and support this great treasure. Our mission has been to nurture community interest in McGill libraries, create awareness of its rich resources and raise funds to provide tangible support.
To this end we offer a program of three free endowed public lectures each year to which we invite distinguished novelists, actors, judges, broadcasters, and historians, among others to speak, as well as occasional smaller talks. And we have been strong supporters of the Library’s Fiat Lux building re-imagining project since its inception.
While the COVID-19 situation has restricted our ability to offer our Lectures on campus, we are happy to present our scheduled Lectures virtually via selected webcasts at https://www.mcgill.ca/library-friends/events. In addition many of our past outstanding lectures are available for viewing on YouTube here.
I invite you to join Friends of the Library and further, encourage other friends or colleagues to join with you. I am confident that you will enjoy being part of this group of library aficionados, the programs we offer, and most importantly, the wonderful resource and richness that is the McGill Library.
In the first edition of his dictionary in 1806, Noah Webster defined a friend as, “a dependable companion.” How wonderfully simple and wonderfully complete! The more dependable companions we have to support and sustain the initiatives of McGill’s great Libraries the better. I look forward to having you join The Friends of the McGill Library!
Ann Vroom, BA’67
Chair, Friends of the McGill Library
The Friends of the Library is a volunteer organization of McGill Library advocates. We raise awareness about the McGill Library’s extraordinary resources and we raise funds to provide tangible support.
Our members are McGill alumni, students, staff and faculty as well as a host of other Library and McGill enthusiasts from around North America.
The Friends of the Library Committee invites you to join and become a Friend of the Library! Please visit our Membership page for more information.
The Friends host numerous lectures and special events over the course of the academic year. Please visit our Events page for a listing and to RSVP.