McGill University is pleased to announce the official opening of the McGill University Collections Centre. This revolutionary installation marks a historic milestone. This is McGill’s first design-build project and sets a new standard for library preservation and sustainability in Quebec.
Located in Valleyfield, this state-of-the-art 4,200 square meter facility features a revolutionary automated recovery system that can hold 2.38 million books. The building incorporates advanced robotics and a unique grid-shaped aluminum retrieval structure, making McGill University Libraries the only library system in the world to use the AutoStore© system for storage, preservation and retrieval of books*.
Preserving the past for future generations
The Center will serve as a new hub for McGill University Libraries’ book retrieval and delivery service, and will house some of the collection’s oldest, most important and least frequently used materials. This initiative highlights McGill’s commitment to preserving and making accessible its deep and unique collections, while reducing pressure on campus storage spaces to enable more collaborative study, research and work environments for students , McGill faculty and staff.
“The McGill University Collections Center is much more than storage. It houses materials that have shaped our understanding of the world since McGill Libraries began collecting books in 1845. This transformative project ensures that this knowledge remains accessible to our community and users across the country and beyond – today and for generations to come,” said Guylaine Beaudry, Trenholme Dean of McGill University Libraries.
Sustainable innovation
Sustainability is at the heart of the McGill University Collections Center, which proudly holds LEED Gold certification for its commitment to saving energy, reducing water consumption, improving the quality of indoor air and minimizing the impact on the environment. The facility’s automated storage and retrieval system, which includes six robots, is remarkably energy efficient – running them for 24 hours uses less energy than using a vacuum cleaner for just 30 minutes. Additionally, the building has low-maintenance outdoor grounds and uses electric delivery vehicles. The climate-controlled facility includes advanced measures to prevent water infiltration, flooding and fire, ensuring the safety of McGill’s valuable collections. “This achievement is consistent with our Climate and Sustainability Strategy (2020-2025), which aims to integrate LEED requirements into new construction and major renovation projects,” said François Miller, general manager of sustainability at McGill.
*McGill Libraries’ claim that they are the only ones in the world to use the AutoStore system for book storage and retrieval is based on data available as of September 2024. To their knowledge, two archives currently use this system: the United Arab Emirates archives and the FBI archives.
In short:
- $33 million project funded by McGill University.
- Construction of the 4,200 square meter (45,000 square foot) facility began in March 2022 and was completed in September 2023.
- It took three years to review and prepare the collections for the transfer of 2.38 million books to the Collections Center. The movement of the books took place over 140 days.
- Total number of physical and electronic volumes/articles in the collection: 10,263,261
- Total number of volumes/physical pieces in the collection: 3,928,972
- Total number of locations in McGill libraries: 12
- Much of McGill’s collection is not widely available in other libraries. The McGill collection includes 1.2 million documents which are the only copies preserved in Quebec.
- In September 2024, 2.38 million documents were transferred from McGill’s downtown campus to Valleyfield.
- Robots name: 6
- Three of the six robots have been officially named – Donny, Tommy, and Roben (in connection with a fundraising initiative).
- Grid structure dimensions: 50.3 m x 51.1 m
- Number of bins in the automated search system: 95,092 bins
- Average number of books per bin: 31.8
- Number of tons of documents stored in the facility: more than 2,000
- Limit of 30 kg per bin
- Number of items removed from bins per week: 600-800
- Deliveries take place five days a week to libraries and faculty offices (on request) with a one-day delay between request and delivery.
Services offered by the McGill University Collections Center
- Book recovery service
- Article and chapter digitization service
- Remote borrowing
- Delivery to faculty offices or campus libraries.
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