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Community Access

Are you unaffiliated with UBC? There are many resources, services, events, and spaces you can access through the Library! Read this guide to learn more.

Connect with a Community Engagement Librarian

Allan Cho (he/him)

Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, UBC
allan.cho@ubc.ca
604-827-4366

Allan’s work includes supporting ongoing community initiatives and leading new ones, focusing on community engagement with historically underrepresented groups, piloting IKBLC’s AskAway coordination, subject liaison librarian with the School of Information, and developing a new speaker series with the support of the Peña Family Foundation.

Donna Langille (she/her/they/them)

Community Engagement and Open Education Librarian
UBC Okanagan Library
donna.langille@ubc.ca
250 807-9233

As Community Engagement and Open Education Librarian, Donna works to improve access to scholarly research for community members. You can find her at the UBC Innovation Library where community members can access many of UBC’s electronic resources. Contact them by email to schedule an appointment.

Kayla Lar-Son (she/her/they/them)

Indigenous Programs and Services Librarian
X̱wi7x̱wa Library, UBC
kayla.lar-son@ubc.ca
604-817-8091

Kayla is Metis from Treaty Six Territory and is the Indigenous programs and services librarian for the Xwi7xwa Library. Along with her colleagues at X̱wi7x̱wa, she works to provide Indigenous communities with culturally relative services and programs on the UBC campus and beyond. Kayla is also the program manager librarian for the Indigitization program. You can contact her through email.

Aleha McCauley (she/her)

Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, UBC
aleha.mccauley@ubc.ca
604-827-3906

Aleha is involved in several community initiatives that strive to improve access to research for community members, organizations and businesses across BC. Aleha welcomes you to connect with her by email.

Nick Ubels (he/him/his)

Community Engagement Librarian
UBC Learning Exchange & Irving. K. Barber Learning Centre
nick.ubels@ubc.ca
604 827-0905

As an embedded community engagement librarian at the UBC Learning Exchange in the Downtown Eastside (DTES), Nick works with community members and non-profit organizations to improve access to scholarly research. Contact him by e-mail to set up a free one-to-one research consultations or get help using the DTES Research Access Portal.

Visit our unique spaces and collections

Okanagan Special Collections acquires books, pamphlets, maps, and archives with relevance to the region. Located on the lower floor of the Commons building, in COM004, our collections are available to everyone within the UBC community and beyond.

For access to the collection, box retrieval, or advanced research help, please email osc-contact@lists.ubc.ca to book an appointment.

Get access to an extensive collection of historic maps, rare books, archival materials, photographs and more at Rare Books and Special Collections (RBSC). The foundation of the collections is British Columbia: history, arts, culture, exploration, settlement, business, politics, ethnicity, and labour. These subjects are covered in considerable depth. RBSC also collects non-B.C. material in existing areas of strength, including Canadian history (particularly western Canada), Canadian literature, English literature, early children’s literature, Pacific and Arctic exploration, the history of cartography, music, the history of science and medicine, Chinese rare books, Japanese rare books and maps, and sports and leisure. Visitors need to apply for a free card and plan to visit during regular opening hours.

Not sure where to start? Visit the collection resources page.

Watch this short video for an introduction to the RBSC collection:

The X̱wi7x̱wa Library is the only Indigenous branch of an academic library in Canada, and is closely connected to the First Nations House of Learning.

Jamil Rhajiak / UBC Brand & Marketing

Pick up seeds for this year’s garden at the UBC Seed Lending Library! Anyone can "borrow" seeds free of charge, and learn about gardening, seed saving, and agricultural research and teaching at UBC. Visit the Woodward or Education Library on the Vancouver campus to get started.

The Asian Library at the UBC Vancouver campus has extensive books, films and other materials in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tibetan, Indonesian, and Persian. You can keep up to date with upcoming events and exhibits here.

Visit the Koerner Library at the UBC Vancouver campus to check out historical BC newspaper microforms and maps. Perfect fodder for the genealogist!

The UBC Education Library has a unique, flexible space that community borrowers are able to book. Find out more here.