The Musagetes Architecture Library is a full-service branch of the UW Library system. The library, located in UW's new School of Architecture in Cambridge, gets its name on behalf of the Musagetes Fund at the Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation—a fund created by local philanthropists Michael Barnstijn and Louise MacCallum. With a $2.5 million donation from the Musagetes Fund, the University of Waterloo is able to provide its 400 architecture students, faculty, and staff with a library in a creative research environment.

Key Features

Located on the second floor in the heart of the architecture school and boasting 13,000 square feet enhanced by natural lighting, the Musagetes Library provides an enhanced research environment for its patrons.

Key features include a collection containing over 30,000 books and 75 current print and electronic journals, access to 5th year architecture theses and selected plans of local buildings, UW@UW borrowing privileges, once-a-day TriUniversity Group (TUG) Library delivery services, and a small seminar room available for student and faculty use. An additional feature (provided by the School of Architecture) involves a campus shuttle that travels between the Cambridge campus and main UW campus once a week. Subjects covered by the Musagetes Library collection include architectural design, theory, history and criticism, historic preservation, building technology, industrial design, landscape architecture, interior design, and urban design. Future components to be added to the library include a product catalogue resource area and access to digital mapping (currently only available at the University Map and Design Library in the Environmental Studies 1 building).

Musagetes' Rare Book Room

The Musagetes Library also houses one of Canada's most outstanding collections of rare books on architecture and design in its environmentally controlled Rare Book Room. The Rare Book Room features landmark titles in the history and theory of architecture, exemplary treatises from the sixteenth to the twentieth century supportive of the School of Architecture's cultural history emphasis, and texts outlining architectural developments in Northern Europe and on the North American frontier, which have a profound effect on architectural theory and urban development in Canada. All rare book materials are listed in the UW Library catalogue, TRELLIS, and are available for viewing at the Musagetes Library upon request.

Benefits for Students, Faculty, Staff, and Local Community

Michele Laing, Branch Head of the Musagetes Architecture Library and the liaison librarian for architecture, reports that there are many benefits provided by the new library. "Until now, architecture students did not fully realize the extent of the architecture collection due to how these resources were originally distributed throughout the UW Library system. The architecture collection was divided and dispersed among the UMD Library, Davis Centre Library, and the 8th floor of the Dana Porter Library. Due to a lack of space at UMD, only two years of current journal volumes were available: back issues had to be shelved in the Porter Library and the Annex." Now these resources are integrated within one specialized location, making research more effective and efficient for students and faculty in the architecture school.

Another prominent benefit for the Musagetes Library and local community is provided by nearby access to the Cambridge Public Library. The Cambridge Public Library is using a portion of its annual budget for purchasing materials related to architecture and design. With the Cambridge Public Library providing additional resources, such as magazine and journal subscriptions, members of the local and architecture school communities have access to an enriched and complementary collection of resources.

Due to the available space presented by the Musagetes Library, "we are now able to accept donations to help enrich and broaden the collection," states Laing. "Faculty in the School of Architecture are providing book donations from other subject disciplines to help students with their studies. Cambridge community members are also contributing to the library by providing books from their home collections."

The UW School of Architecture

On Friday, October 22, 2004, UW officially opened the doors of its new School of Architecture. After five years of planning and renovations, the architecture school now inhabits the former Riverside Silk Mill in Cambridge, Ontario. Funded by the joint efforts of the City of Cambridge, the federal and provincial governments, and the Cambridge Consortium, this 85,000 square foot facility offers architecture students, faculty, and staff the space, natural light, and resources necessary for an enriched learning environment. The UW School of Architecture will be featured in the March 2005 issue of the Canadian architecture and design journal, Azure.

More Info

Please visit the School of Architecture's web site for additional information about its program, services, and facilities.

For additional information pertaining to the Musagetes Architecture Library, please contact:

Michele Laing
Branch Head, Musagetes Architecture Library
Ext. 27620

All Musagetes Architecture Library photos were taken and provided by A-Frame Studio photographer, Ben Rahn, with the exception of the "before" photo taken by UW School of Architecture student, Dan Gallivan.