Harriet Irving Library
Building Name: Harriet Irving Library
Other Names: New Library, the HIL
Civic Address: 5 Macaulay Lane
Sod Turning: 20 May 1965 by K.C. Irving
Cornerstone Laying: 18 May 1966 by Harriet Irving
Opened for Use: 8 May 1967
Official Opening: 11 October 1967 by Harriet Irving
Architect: Larson and Larson
Named for: Harriet (MacNairn) Irving (1899 - 1976), wife of New Brunswick industrialist K.C. Irving.
Renovations/additions: Changes were made to the first floor in 1983 which improved information and reference finding capabilities. In 1988 interior was re-organized to put stacks into better-suited positions. Refurbishment of the H. R. Stewart Exhibition Room was completed Fall 2000. The renovation of the ground floor created the John B. MacNair Learning Commons, which officially opened 25 May 2009, featured a group study rooms, a new service desk, a cafe, and a research and technology help desk.
Notes: The Harriet Irving Library is the main library at UNB Fredericton. The Beaverbrook Room on the fourth floor houses many first-edition publications donated by Lord Beaverbrook. The H.R. Stewart Room was named during the official opening of the library in 1967. The Harriet Irving Library was the site of student demonstrations during the Strax Affair in September 1968. On 15 May 1980 the Nan Vesta Gregg Room was officially opened. During National Archives Week the Winslow Room, part of the Archives & Special Collections Department, was officially opened on 22 October 1984. Portraits of Bliss Carman and Alden Nowlan were unveiled on 15 May 1968 and 18 March 2009 respectively. Branch Libraries include the Engineering Library, Law Library, Science Library, and UNB Saint John's library, the Hans W. Klohn Commons.
Source(s):
- UA Case 133; Section 3.
© UNB Archives & Special Collections, 2014