Collectivité

University of Saskatchewan. University Libraries

Though the first recorded withdrawal from the University Library occurred in October 1909, nearly five decades passed before the Library had its own building. The early collection was housed either on the second floor of the College Building, later known as the Administration Building, or was scattered among a number of small departmental libraries. Plans for a new library building ended with the Depression; and a dramatically reduced acquisitions budget was offset by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation in 1933. In 1943 the University hired its first professional Librarian. A fire in the attic of the College Building in 1947 resulted in extensive water damage to the Library below. A combination of provincial grants and University fund raising financed the construction of the Murray Memorial Library, with space for the Provincial Archives, between 1954 and 1956. Over the next two decades the University Library System mirrored the expansion of the University in general and now includes a new main library building and branches in Education, Health Sciences, Law, Engineering, Geography/Physics, Thorvaldson, and Veterinary Medicine. The University Librarians have been: M.A. Morton, (1914-1940); J.M. Lothian, (1941-1943); T.R. Barcus, (1943-1945); D.C. Appelt, (1945-1979); N.A. Brown, (1979-1986); P.D. Wiens, (1986-1992); F.S. Winter [acting], (1992-1994); F.S. Winter, (1994- ).