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6225 University Avenue
Halifax NS, Canada B3H 4H8
Phone: 902-494-3601 Fax: 902-494-2062
Hours | Contacts | Location | Floor plans | Call number locations | Killam Brochure
With more than half a million books and 25,000 journals in the Humanities, Sciences, Social Sciences, Education and Management, the Killam Library is the largest academic library in the Maritimes.
- Find your way around with tours (in-person, online, self-guided podcast), floor plans, survival guide
- View Killam DVDs/videos in the viewing rooms on the 4th floor. Pick up the door key and remote at the Circulation Desk
- Suggest a Purchase
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History
In 1965 a $30 million bequest of Dorothy Killam began the process of building a new University Library. Architect Leslie R. Fairn designed the new building and construction on the Killam Memorial Library began in 1966. After usual delays, it was completed in 1971 at a final cost of $7.3 million.
The 230,000 square foot building was designed to accommodate 8000 undergraduate and graduate students, a faculty of 750 and library staff of 130, by 1980. With a capacity for one million books (though the collection at the time numbered just over 300,000), it was equipped with conference rooms, reading areas, telex equipment, "public typing rooms" and a "conduit structure" wiring each room to the Computer Centre in the basement (Gazette January 18, 1968). The open courtyard was the principal source of light and was intended to improve traffic patterns and make better use of space.
Finished cost-effectively in pre-cast concrete similar to the Arts Centre, the Killam exemplified modern architectural and decorating features. It was President Henry Hicks, a skilled cabinetmaker in his spare time, who pushed for the use of Brazilian rosewood in the interior, adding an "expensive feeling" as the Chronicle Herald reported. Arts and Science Dean Basil Cooke, a geologist, recommended the micaceous slate tiles for the floors on the ground level.
In 1996 a glass roof was added to the Killam courtyard, and the stone was restored after years of being salted during the winter. Year round greenery and a Second Cup coffee shop were added, and the ventilation and lighting systems underwent long-needed improvements. Then, in 2002, the first floor of the library was remodeled to house the new Learning Commons. A $1.2 million project, the Commons is a hi-tech research and work centre for students, with 160 well-equipped computer workstations, support services, offices and group meeting rooms. More >> |
