Due to the quickly evolving situation with COVID-19, all UBC Library branches will remain closed until April 30, 2020 at which time the situation will be reassessed. This includes libraries at both the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses and the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre.

We’re still open! We are committed to helping our UBC community make their research openly available to the world via our digital repository, cIRcle. However, we will be reducing our response time for non-urgent requests to 7-10 business days as we transition to remote work. We will continue to review and deposit theses and dissertations as usual. For new requests, please review our Submissions page. 

As UBC transitions to online learning, you may also be interested in the guide to remote access to resources and services for UBC Library users.

Follow us on Twitter @cIRcle_UBC for updates on the latest additions to our repository and scholarly communications news.

 

Due to the quickly evolving situation with COVID-19, the Rare Books and Special Collections and University Archives reading room will be closed until further notice.

During this time librarians, archivists, and staff will be working remotely to continue to support patrons to the extent possible. Please see our Rare Books and Special Collections Remote Resources and Services Guide for more information and assistance.

Feel free to contact us through the RBSC contact form or by sending an email to rare.books@ubc.ca or to a specific librarian or archivist. Inquiries for University Archives can be sent through their contact form or direct email.

During our reading room closure, be sure to explore digitized materials from RBSC’s collections available through UBC Library’s Open Collections. RBSC’s LibGuides provide helpful links to digitized materials by subject matter or collection where available. There are also a number of digitized primary source materials available through UBC Library’s subscription databases.

Please check the UBC Library homepage and the Rare Books and Special Collections homepage for future updates about reading room operations.

Our sincere apologies for the inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding during these uncertain times and be well.

Did you know that UBC Library's Irving K. Barber Learning Center launched the Small Business Accelerator ten years ago in 2010? A lot has changed since then so we are inviting your feedback in a survey running most of March 2020. Do you live in Canada and use or refer people to sba.ubc.ca? If so, please share your opinions with us! Survey is open until March 25, 2020.

The Wild Ride: In and Out of Years and Over a Century of Picturebooks is a chronological look at the evolution of the picturebook, one of the important literary art forms to emerge from the 20th Century. This exhibit is on display in IKBLC on the Level 2 foyer from March 4 through May 30, 2020.

The Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, one of our most well-known and beloved special collections, contains material related to three broad and interrelated themes: early British Columbia history, immigration and settlement and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. The collection contains a wide variety of documents, photographs, books, artifacts and maps related to each of these themes.

Selections from the collection are on display in RBSC, organized to show some of the most compelling stories of Canada’s past.

Early B.C. history:

Related to early B.C. history are rare editions of the narratives of many Pacific voyages of discovery including Valdes, Galiano, Malaspina, Cook and Vancouver. The exhibition also features charts recording the exploration of the Pacific Northwest.

Immigration and settlement:

The Fraser River gold rush that sparked Chinese immigration to British Columbia is highlighted through books and government documents relating to the restriction of such immigration. Chinese-Canadian cultural, social and economic life is displayed through archival documents, photographs and artifacts.

European immigration to Canada is illustrated with promotional brochures and posters encouraging settlers to the West, and archival material from the Clandonald colony in Alberta, a community of immigrants from the Scottish Hebrides.

Canadian Pacific Railway:

Documents, maps and publications show how the Canadian Pacific Railway was built, and how Vancouver was chosen as the western terminus. Photographs and accounts of the building of the railway are presented, along with vibrant posters promoting travel and tourism via C.P.R. rail and steamships. Beautiful examples of cruise ship memorabilia provide a glimpse of the style of the times.

RBSC offers a drop-in tour of the Chung Collection room every Thursday at 10 a.m. The exhibition is also open to the public, free of charge during Rare Books and Special Collections opening hours (Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.). We hope to welcome you for a visit soon!

 

Gather with students, faculty, staff and the broader UBC community on March 11 to learn, engage and discuss bold actions about how UBC can combat the climate emergency.

Rare Books and Special Collections’ regularly scheduled drop-in tour of the Chung Collection for Thursday, February 27, is cancelled for a special event. We apologize for any inconvenience. The weekly Chung Collection tour will resume on March 5, 2020 from 11 a.m.-12 p.m.

The Wallace B. Chung and Madeline H. Chung Collection, one of our most well-known and beloved special collections, contains material related to three broad and interrelated themes: early British Columbia history, immigration and settlement and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. The Chung Collection contains more than 25,000 rare and unique items (documents, books, maps, posters, paintings, photographs, silver, glass, ceramic ware and other artifacts), and selections from the collection are on display in RBSC, organized to show some of the most compelling stories of Canada’s past.

If you are unable to make the drop-in tour, you are welcome to browse the exhibition anytime RBSC is open, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The exhibition, on level 1 of UBC Library’s Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, is free and open to the general public, as well as the UBC community. For more information, please contact Rare Books and Special Collections at 604 822-2521.

The UBC Library exhibition explores the stories of the men and women who collected, recorded and brought forth evidence of the atrocities of Auschwitz, giving testimony of the events that took place there. The exhibit runs until February 28 on Level 2 of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre.

Have you ever been curious about what we do or what we have at RBSC? Join our weekly tour of Rare Books and Special Collections at the University of British Columbia Library for an introduction to our space and our unique materials and collections. Tours are free and open to the general public, as well as the UBC community. No need to RSVP, just drop in to learn what RBSC is all about!

Every Wednesday at 11 a.m.
Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, 1st floor
1961 East Mall, UBC Vancouver campus

For more information, please contact Rare Books and Special Collections at (604) 822-2521 or rare.books@ubc.ca.