About Me & My Research

I’m an academic librarian and a bibliographer of Canadiana and a graduate of Library and Information Science, University of Toronto Faculty of Information, the collaborative program in Book History and Print Culture at Massey College, and English Literature, University College, University of Toronto. My principal areas of responsibility are reference service, information literacy instruction, and collection development in the humanities and social sciences.

My professional and academic expertise also includes bibliography and rare books, deselection, digital humanities, copyright, cataloging, project management, and administration. I have curated and designed several physical and online exhibitions and created detailed bibliographic records for digitized materials from my library’s rare book and special collections. Broadly, as a librarian, I am well-versed and and read widely on the following subjects: Book History and Bibliography, Literature (especially Canadian), Indigenous Studies, Canadian and European History, Urban Studies, as well as Women and Gender Studies. 

My research interests include bibliography, history of Canadian books and publishing, and history of libraries and the profession of librarianship in Canada. My current research project, Librarians’ Imprint, investigates the history of Victoria University Library as a site of institutional memory and the librarians’ intellectual and professional contributions to the academic prestige of Victoria University.

I live in Toronto, a city that has been my home for the last twenty-four years, with my spouse and a senior chinchilla. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, travelling, taking photographs, and collecting vintage and retro fashion. Recently, I initiated a digital research project documenting mid-century architecture in Toronto, Mid Mod T.O.

Research Interests

I write, present, and curate exhibitions and other publications on the following topics:

  • history of Canadian books and publishing, with a particular interest in the Methodist Book and Publishing House, William Briggs, and the Ryerson Press

  • women in librarianship—in particular, Canadian women who served in the roles of academic librarians, library science faculty, chief librarians, and administrators

  • history of librarianship—history of the professionalization of librarianship and the effect of the process on library science education, practice, and professional identity, with special consideration regarding the role of technology in library education programs in Canada

  • history of the University of Toronto libraries; University of Toronto Faculty of Library Science and its predecessors.

Publications

Monograph, In Preparation

  • Barc, Agatha. Librarians’ Imprint: A History of Victoria University Library. Victoria University Library, 2025.

Articles

Bibliographies, Descriptive Finding Aids, & Archival Research Guides

Biographical Profiles

  • –––. “Bertha Bassam.” Biographies of Librarians and Information Professionals in Canada. Ex Libris Association, 2012

  • –––. “David Paul Sinclair.” Biographies of Librarians and Information Professionals in Canada. Ex Libris Association, 2017

  • –––. “Florence Murray.” Biographies of Librarians and Information Professionals in Canada. Ex Libris Association, 2014

  • –––. “Laurent G. Denis.” Biographies of Librarians and Information Professionals in Canada. Ex Libris Association, 2016

  • –––. “Mary Silverthorn.” Biographies of Librarians and Information Professionals in Canada. Ex Libris Association, 2015

  • –––. “Olga Bishop.” Biographies of Librarians and Information Professionals in Canada. Ex Libris Association, 2013

  • –––. “Winifred Barnstead.” Biographies of Librarians and Information Professionals in Canada. Ex Libris Association, 2012.

Exhibitions

Curated Physical & Online Exhibitions

Designed Online Exhibitions

Guest Lectures

  • Barc, Agatha. “Victoria University and the Student Missionary Movement.” Indigenous-Settler Relations and Collections: A Learning Series at Victoria University. E.J. Pratt Library, Victoria University in the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, April 26, 2022

  • –––. “Librarians’ Imprint: History of the Libraries at Victoria University.” Victoria Women’s Association. Victoria University in the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, October 24, 2019

  • –––. “What Makes a Book Rare?” Jackman Scholars in Residence @ Victoria College. E.J. Pratt Library, Victoria University in the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, May 5, 2016, May 3, 2017, and May 8, 2018

  • –––. “Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story, or a Study in the History of Readership.” VIC159H: Rare Books. E.J. Pratt Library, Victoria University in the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, March 10, 2016.

Conference Presentations

  • Adamson, Constance, Agatha Barc, and Marc Richard. “The Responsive Librarian: How Are Academic Librarians Employment Policies Keeping up with Workplace Change?” TRY Library Conference 2016, Toronto, ON, May 3, 2016, 5 pp.

  • Barc, Agatha, Heather Buchansky, Mariya Maistrovskaya, and Graeme Slaght. “Library Support for Student Journal Publishing at the University of Toronto.” TRY Library Conference 2016, Toronto, ON, May 3, 2016, 5 pp.

  • Barc, Agatha. “The Rise to Responsibility: B. Mabel Dunham, Winifred Barnstead, and Bertha Bassam Define Library Professionalism, 1911–1964 .” Ex Libris Association Annual Conference, Toronto, ON, November 2, 2015, 13 pp.

  • –––. “Professionalization and Gender Stratification in Librarianship: An Historical Perspective.” Gender and Sexuality in Information Studies Colloquium, Toronto, ON, October 18, 2014, 20 pp.

  • –––. “Early History of Library Science Education in the Province of Ontario, Canada.” IFLA International Conference History of Librarianship, Lyon, France, August 25–26, 2014, 32 pp.

  • –––. “Architecture and the Professionalization of Librarianship: Early Years of the Claude T. Bissell Building, University of Toronto.” Canadian Library Association 2013 National Conference and Trade Show, Winnipeg, MB, May 29–June 1, 2013, 10 pp.

  • –––. “Materiality, Memory and the Interface: Online Finding Aids for Special Collections.” Theory, Practice & Praxis: 2013 iSchool Graduate Student Conference, Toronto, ON, March 22–24, 2013, 6 pp.

Professional Involvement, Service & Committees

Present Professional Service Activities

  • University of Toronto Libraries, Collections Committee, 2023–present

  • University of Toronto Libraries Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences Cluster, 2016–present

  • University of Toronto Libraries, Library History Research Group, member, 2018–present

  • Victoria University Library, Friends of Victoria University Library, researcher and writer, Library History Project Subcommittee, 2013–present.

Former Membership & Roles

Contact

Questions? Contact me at agatha.barc@gmail.com. Please note that any information and views expressed on this site are my own.