The Irving K. Barber Learning Centre will be closed from Friday, December 28 through Saturday, December 29, 2018 due to a health and safety requirement while the fire alarm control panels are replaced, as part of scheduled maintenance.

The building is expected to reopen at 6 a.m. on Sunday, December 30, 2018.

Rendering of the Chapman Learning Commons renovations.

The Chapman Learning Commons (CLC) on Level 3 of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre will be closed for renovations starting Wednesday, December 19, 2018. The Lillooet and Dodson Rooms will not be available to book during this time.

There will be no changes in access to the Music, Art, and Architecture Library and the CLC Help Desk.

The space is expected to reopen in late February / early March, following the midterm break (February 18-22).

Please refer to the Library Hours & Locations to make alternative plans.

As we head into final exams, the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre will stay open longer to accommodate students and their study schedules. The Learning Centre will be open 24 hours a day from Sunday, December 2 (opening at 6 a.m.) to Tuesday, December 18 (closing at 1 a.m.).

Please note that this opening DOES NOT include: Level 1 (the lower level), the Chapman Learning Commons, Music, Art and Architecture Library or Ike’s Cafe. 

During the 24/7 opening period, regular cleaning of study spaces will continue. The computer workstations on Level 2 will remain open.

If you are planning to stay overnight at UBC or have an early exam, check out the Commuter Student Hostel, where you can book accommodation online.

Not sure where to go on campus? Travelling late at night? Afraid of going alone? Contact Safewalk, a free service that provides a co-ed team to take you anywhere you need to go on campus. Don’t walk alone – add Safewalk to your phone: 604-822-5355. 

Blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm. These four humors were once thought to shape a person’s mental and physical health, behavior and even personality. Initially borrowed from Ancient Greek thinkers like Aristotle, Hippocrates, and Galen, the theory of the four humors was so ingrained into the common wisdom of Shakespeare’s time that references to melancholic displays and choleric outbursts fill his most popular plays. The interplay between medical theory and theatrical language forms the basis of a fascinating exhibition, created by the US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health and the Folger Shakespeare Library, now coming soon to UBC Library.

The exhibition, “And there’s the humor of it”: Shakespeare and the four humors, will run from June 4 to July 14, 2018 and feature additional materials from UBC Library’s collections to explore related topics, such as Shakespearean theatre in British Columbia and Shakespeare in children’s literature. Collection highlights will include: the second edition folio of Shakespeare’s complete works (1632), first editions of Spenser’s The Faerie Queene (1590), John Donne’s Poems (1633), and George Herbert’s The Temple (1633), along with medical manuals such as 16th century midwifery book The byrth of mankynde (1540) by Eucharius Rösslin and milestone physiology book, Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus (1628) by William Harvey.

On display at Rare Books and Special Collections on Level 1 of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre and in the Memorial Room at Woodward Library, the exhibition is open to the general public as well as UBC students, staff and faculty across campus.

Many thanks to co-curators of the UBC Library collections materials Patricia Badir, Professor of English, Anthony Dawson, Professor Emeritus of English, and Department of English students Karol Pasciano (MA), Aiden Tait (BA Hons.), and Ana Maria Fernandez Grandizo (BA Hons.). Thank you also to John Christopoulos, Assistant Professor of History, for lending his subject matter expertise. UBC Library co-curators for the exhibition included Charlotte Beck, Chelsea Shriver, and Helen Brown.

Take this opportunity to view rare materials that chronicle both medical milestones and Shakespeare’s enduring relevance throughout the ages.