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Support the Library

Empower Discovery. Fuel Innovation. Transform Lives.

At the heart of our university lies a vibrant hub of knowledge, curiosity, and connection: the University Library. The library is a dynamic learning environment where students, researchers, and the community come together to explore ideas, unlock opportunities and build the future.

Why Your Support Matters

In an ever-evolving academic and information landscape, libraries must adapt to support new ways of learning and research. Your generosity helps us:

Expand Access to Resources

From academic journals and digital databases to unique archival collections, donor support ensures our students and faculty have the tools they need to excel.

Create Welcoming Learning Spaces

With your help, we can continue to offer modern, inclusive study environments equipped with collaborative technologies and quiet zones for focused research.

Foster Innovation and Discovery

Support for digital initiatives, maker spaces, and open access publishing empowers students to create, experiment, and share their work globally.

Preserve Our History

Contributions help us protect rare and valuable materials, making them accessible for future generations of scholars and community members.

Every Gift Has an Impact

Whether you’re an alumni, a parent, a faculty member or community member, your gift — large or small — makes a lasting difference. Your support sends a clear message: knowledge matters, and access to it should be equitable and enduring.

Ways to Give

General Collection

 
 
 

Donate books or other materials to the general collection

The library selectively accepts donations to enhance our collection, focusing on items that support our academic programs and fill gaps in our holdings. For inquiries, contact mrulibcs@mtroyal.ca

 

Archives & Special Collections

 
 
 

Donate archival records, rare books and publications and unique materials

The Archives and Special Collections selectively acquires archival records and publications that support teaching and research, or that relate to the history of Mount Royal University. For inquiries, please contact Peter Houston, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, at phouston@mtroyal.ca.

 

Gift Donation

 
 
 

Make a one-time or monthly gift

For inquiries related to a monetary donation to the library, please reach out to Meagan Bowler, Dean, University Library, at mbowler@mtroyal.ca.

 

Celebrating Gifts of Knowledge: Honoring Past Donations to the Library

Over the years, generous individuals and organizations have supported the University Library with extraordinary gifts. These donations have deepened our holdings, enriched academic inquiry, enhanced our spaces and preserved cultural heritage for future generations.


We are proud to showcase just a few of the many meaningful contributions that now form an integral part of our library’s legacy.

The late Clay Riddell gazes into one of the Library’s new rooms at the opening of the Riddell Library and Learning Cventre in 2017.

The Riddell Library and Learning Centre

The visionary support of the Riddell Family Charitable Foundation helped bring to life one of the most transformative spaces on campus. Opened in 2017, the Riddell Library and Learning Centre is a four-storey, 16,000-square-metre facility that unites the University Library with centres for teaching, learning, and scholarship. Thanks to the Riddell family's generosity, this vibrant, inclusive hub is shaping the future of learning and information access at MRU.

Dr. David Aveline (left) shares about some of the materials in the Aveline-Vázquez LGBTQ+ collection at the launch event.

Aveline-Vázquez LGBTQ+ Collection

Donated by Dr. David Aveline in 2023, this remarkable collection preserves over five decades of 2SLGBTQIA+ history through books, ephemera, posters, zines, and other rare materials. From safer sex pamphlets and erotica magazines to conversion therapy newsletters and AIDS activism artifacts, the collection captures both the resilience and the challenges of queer life in Canada. Thanks to Dr. Aveline’s foresight, these irreplaceable records now support teaching, research, and reflection for our campus community.

A photo sample showing some of the materials available in the Western Canadiana Collection, with some dating back to 1870.

Western Canadiana Collection

Donated by an anonymous benefactor in 2022, this collection offers a rich window into the early history, exploration, and settlement of western Canada. With more than 500 volumes and a range of photographs, postcards, and rare ephemera, it includes travel writing, memoirs, and historical accounts that illuminate the region’s past. Now housed in the Library's Archives and Special Collections, these materials support historical research and inspire new understandings of Canada’s western heritage.

Robert Blaine, donor of the Blaine Sport History collection (left), and Peter Houston, associate professor and archivist and special collections librarian (right), search the shelves housing the Blaine Sports Collection.

Blaine Sport History Collection

In 2019, Calgarian Robert Blaine generously donated over 6,000 items chronicling more than a century of Canadian sports history—one of the most significant collections of its kind. Carefully assembled over four decades, the Blaine Collection includes game programs, photographs, trading cards, and ephemera documenting professional, amateur, and varsity sports, with a focus on hockey, football, baseball, golf, and the Calgary Stampede. Thanks to Blaine and the collaborative efforts of faculty and library staff, this collection has already supported classroom learning and continues to inspire new research into the cultural history of sport in Canada and beyond.

Materials from the Sid and Bronia Cyngiser Holocaust Education Collection are a part of the Library’s Main Curriculum collection and materials are located throughout the Library. The materials are collected digitally here.

The Sid and Bronia Cyngiser Holocaust Education Collection

Established through the generosity of Sid and Bronia Cyngiser, this collection supports education, remembrance, and reflection on the Holocaust and its enduring lessons. Through books, primary sources, and educational materials, the collection helps students and researchers explore themes of memory, injustice, and human rights—ensuring that the history and its impact are never forgotten.