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Northwest view of the Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre, University of Toronto Mississauga.

The University of Toronto Mississauga Library is the humanities, sciences and social sciences library of the University of Toronto Mississauga, one of three campuses of the University of Toronto located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

The library building, named the Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre, is an award-winning teaching and learning facility. Named to honour City of Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion, the facility includes a fully-digital environment, a state-of-the-art classroom, an adaptive technology centre, a finance learning centre, and the campus’ academic skills centre.

History

The Erindale College Library began when the University of Toronto’s Erindale College was created in 1967. Initially, it was a small, mainly undergraduate library located in the campus’ North Building. In 1972, the Library moved to a 44,000-square-foot facility in the South Building (renamed the William G. Davis Building in 2009-10), becoming a full service campus library. Early in 2000, the Erindale College Library was renamed the University of Toronto Mississauga Library. In 2004, construction began on a new 110,000 sq. ft., $34-million library building project—the Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre. The new facility increased study space by 85 per cent, and better accommodated the campus’ growing student population than its predecessor, which was built for a student population half the size. Currently, the student population numbers 11,600 undergraduate students and 470 graduate students. The Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre opened for student use in October 2006, and it houses the University of Toronto Mississauga Library, the Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre and a Library Café.

Collections

The University of Toronto Mississauga Library offers a collection of print, electronic and networked resources in a wired and wireless environment. Its permanent collection comprises more than 400,000 volumes. The University of Toronto Mississauga Library is also part of the University of Toronto Libraries system—ranked fourth in North America by the Association of Research Libraries, after Harvard, Yale and Berkeley. The University of Toronto Libraries comprises about 41 individual libraries that hold more than 10 million bound volumes and five million microform volumes, in addition to approximately 70,000 serial titles and 1 million maps, films, graphics and sound recordings. Students and faculty also have access to the collections of other libraries around the world through Resource Sharing.

Facility

Designed by Shore Tilbe Irwin & Partners (now Perkins + Will Toronto), the library facility represents a ‘new breed’ of libraries referred to as ‘Academic Learning Centres’ focused more on learning or ‘people’ space over space for collections and interested in engaging users in its teaching and learning mission. The Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre features high density mobile compact shelving that houses the library’s permanent collection as well as generous perimeter space for quiet study and collaborative learning, all with views to the surrounding campus and natural landscape. The building was the first at the University of Toronto to receive a silver LEEDs rating (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). The design was inspired by the metaphor of a Japanese puzzle box, explained Andrew Frontini, the design architect: “We stumbled on the idea of a puzzle box, which is a three-dimensional geometrical puzzle box, inside of which is a treasure,” he said. “There’s a treasure in the centre, and for the library, the treasure is knowledge. So, in the centre of the building is where all the computers are, and all the books are, so when people use the building, they go to the centre to gain knowledge.”

To complement students’ different learning styles, the library is organized into Learning Zones: Quiet Conversation Zones where students are encouraged to work together on their academic projects, Silent Study Zones to provide environments for deep thinking and reflection, as well as Conversation- and Cell Phone-Friendly Zones in busier areas. Zones are marked with signs as well as glass installations, acoustical panels and appropriate furniture.

Specialized Learning Spaces

The Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre features specialized learning spaces, including:

• Adaptive Technology Centre – A space with specialized assistive software, equipment and services to support student needs.

• Amgen Canada Inc. Smart Classroom – A teaching space where students learn the research, information, technological and spatial literacy skills they need to access, evaluate and use information efficiently, effectively and ethically. This space also functions as an extension of the Learning Commons, providing access to electronic resources and application software.

• AstraZeneca Canada Centre for Information and Technological Literacy – A space that provides support in the areas of instructional technology, geographic information systems, video, statistical software and data.

• Avie Bennett Community Novelties Reading Area – A space for leisure reading, with a collection of best sellers from The Globe and Mail and The New York Times lists. It includes the works of prize-winning authors, graphic novels and individual recommendations from students and faculty on various topics.

• Li Koon Chun Finance Learning Centre –An experiential learning centre featuring a classroom and work space that “looks more like the floor of a stock exchange”. This Centre features 32 dual-screen workstations, Bloomberg terminals, Reuters 3000 Xtra and other sophisticated research and analysis tools, as well as a stock market ticker board displaying live data feeds from the global financial community.

• RBC Learning Commons – This space includes a public computing area with desktop computers (PCs and MACs) and Netbooks and laptops for loan, a Print and Copy Centre, Information and Loans services, Research and Reference support and a Reserves section. A team of student assistants—the HIT (Help with Information Technology) Squad—also provide technical, service and referral support in the RBC Learning Commons.

• Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre – A space that assists faculty as they implement teaching and learning best practices and supports students as they enhance their academic skills. The Centre offers a range of workshops, seminars and individual consultations to help students identify and develop the skills they need for successful studies and to help faculty deliver the best possible teaching in their classes, labs and tutorials.

Awards

The Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre’s awards and honours include:

• Ontario Library Association Building Award – 2010

• Canadian Association of College and University Libraries (CACUL) — 2009 Innovation Achievement Award

• International Interior Design Association/American Library Association — 2008 Innovation in Sustainable Design Award

• Ontario Association of Architects — 2008 Design Excellence Award

• City of Mississauga — 2007 Urban Design Award, People's Choice Award

• City of Mississauga — 2007 Mississauga Urban Design Award, Award of Excellence

• Canada Green Building Council — 2007 LEED Silver Certification

External Links

Hazel McCallion Academic Learning Centre

UTM Library Learning Spaces

University of Toronto Mississauga