The UBC Education Library’s move from the Neville Scarfe Building to Koerner Library is due to a loss of library funding from the university and low use of the in-person collections. The relocation, which started on June 6, will continue until 2026.
During the transition, all materials will be available through an inter-library recall system that will fulfill requests in one to two business days. In an interview with The Ubyssey, Associate University Librarian for Teaching, Learning and Engagement Julie Mitchell said this is to “minimize disruption to students and faculty that use our collections.”
In December 2024, the UBC Library announced it did not receive all of its supplemental funding from the university. This, coupled with poor purchasing power with the US dollar, created a “significant structural deficit,” leading to the Education Library closure, according to a May 28 statement.
Mitchell could not give the exact amount of money the Education Library relocation saves “because it's so tied to the US dollar.”
“Quite a bit of the library's budget we spend on collections,” she said. “A lot of the collections we purchase are in US dollars, because the vendors we work with are [from the] US.”
Mitchell said the decision to relocate the Education Library specifically was made based on data the library collects, such as gate counts, circulation statistics and equipment usage, among others. Mitchell specified in an email statement that circulation statistics for the Education Library’s physical collection were low, with only 23 per cent of items having been used more than 5 times in the past 20 years.
“We really care about [the library], and we make these decisions very intentionally, using all of the data … that we have available,” she said. “The specific circumstances of the Education Library meant we could move the collections and services while retaining all of our employees and providing continuity of service.”
Further, Mitchell cited Koerner’s longer operating hours and the “unique disciplinary connections between the collections” as additional reasons for the relocation.
“Co-locating these collections can enhance browsability, elevate the connections between departments and increase potential for interdisciplinary interaction,” she said.
Mitchell said that there will be a public engagement process to help shape the new identity and space of the collection.
“What we've also really heard is that the Education Library is quite unique,” she said. “We really want to honour that within Koerner Library.”
As for the space in Neville Scarfe, the UBC Library wrote in its May 26 press release that 110 study seats will remain open during the transition period. Once the library is vacated, the space will become the responsibility of the Faculty of Education, who intend to keep it a “welcoming and safe environment for study and community use,” wrote Dr. Jan Hare, dean of education, in an email statement to students, faculty and staff in the Faculty of Education.
“In the months ahead, we will launch a consultative process to reimagine the long-term use of the space, with student, faculty, and community input,” wrote Hare. Hare also wrote that the Neville Scarfe transformation will begin in September 2026.
This isn’t the first library to have its material and space merged with a larger library to save money. In 2013, the Music Library moved from the UBC School of Music building to the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre to cut costs; a similar move happened to the Science and Engineering Library relocating to Woodward Library.
Mitchell did not comment on what could prevent moves like this in the future, but said library staff are “continually making adjustments to services and collections … in response to the budget.”
“What's important to keep in mind is we're always doing so in a patron-centred and informed way,” she continued.
“Our focus is, and always has been, on maintaining strong services and collections that meet the needs of library users, and maintaining these in a fiscally prudent manner.”
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