ROAAr Reading Room

About the Reading Room

We welcome the McGill University community and the general public. The Reading room is open by appointment for consulting the collections held by Rare Books and Special Collections and the McGill University Archives. This is a quiet study space for ROAAr readers.

Book an appointment 10 AM – 6 PM, Monday to Thursday by emailing rarebooks.library [at] mcgill.ca.

Please request your material in advance.

• There are lockers and locks available, and a place to hang coats and store bags.
• Computers and silenced cell phones are welcome.
• The Reading Room is chilly, bring a sweater!
• Pencils and notebooks are welcome.
• Food and drink are not permitted in the reading room.

Requesting Material

Please submit requests for material at least 3 days in advance of your visit. You will receive an email confirmation when the material is available for you. Members of the public may request material by email at rarebooks.library [at] mcgill.ca.

Members of the McGill Community may place hold requests via the Library catalogue. Look for the red ‘Request/Hold or Scan’ button in the top right-hand corner of the catalogue record. This will take you to a request form. See here for detailed instructions.

For Archival Materials, consult the archival collections catalogue and email requests to refdesk.archives [at] mcgill.ca.

Please note:

• Response times are delayed due to preparation for the Fiat Lux collections move. See Fiat Lux page for details and timeline.
• Some materials may require up to a week to retrieve.
• Limits will be imposed on the number of books or archival boxes that can be requested at one time.
• Not all materials can be made accessible.

Getting Here

Best access by Public transit:

• Metro Peel on the Green Line
• 24 Bus on Sherbrooke street

McLennan Library Building (map)

ROAAr Reading Room
4th floor - 3459 McTavish Street
Montreal, Quebec H3A 0C9