As of March 18, Robarts will be the sole library open on the St. George campus, and it will close access to stacks, course reserves, and all in-person services. Floors one through five will remain open for computer services, and access to the building will still be restricted to U of T students, faculty, and staff. Previously, the university had intended to keep the Gerstein Science Information Centre open, as stated in an email that was circulated on Sunday.
Robarts and the libraries at UTM and UTSC will be the only three libraries open across all three campuses. As of March 17, the closures are expected to be in place until April 6.
The UTM library will also only be open for computer and wi-fi services, and will be restricting their hours to 8:30 am to 2:00 pm on weekdays.
The UTSC library will be open for study space from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday through Friday.
U of T’s library system will extend all loans and waive fees, though it is unclear how long the loans will be extended, or when late fees will begin to apply again. The library system’s statement simply notes that “there is no need to return your books at this time.” The due date for inter-library loans has been extended to June 15, 2020.
Students can still return books to the libraries that will remain open.
All libraries are undertaking social distancing measures by turning off every other computer.
Editor’s Note (March 19, 5:33 pm): This article has been updated to correct the UTSC library’s modified hours of operation, and the new inter-library loans due date.
