“ The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library houses the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections including books, manuscripts and other materials, and the University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services (UTARMS), which holds the official records of the University.

The present building was opened in 1973. It is named in honour of Thomas Fisher (1792-1874), who came from Yorkshire to Upper Canada in 1821 and settled by the Humber River. There he operated a grist mill, and played an active role in the public life of the community. In 1973 his great- grandsons, Sidney and Charles Fisher, donated to the Library their own collections of Shakespeare, various twentieth century authors, and the etchings of the seventeenth century Bohemian artist, Wenceslaus Hollar. Since that time the Library has grown to approximately 740,000 volumes and 4,000 linear metres of manuscript holdings.

Our mandate
As one of the leading research libraries in North America, the mandate of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library is to foster the search for knowledge by supporting research and learning across all disciplines taught at the University of Toronto. The Library acquires, makes accessible and preserves comprehensive research collections of national and international significance. It serves the faculty, staff, students and alumni of the University, as well as the general public.For a downloadable brochure giving an outline of our holdings please click here.” (Online from their website)

They’re coming today to look at my collection of (published) women’s diaries to see if they want to add my collection to their collections. I wish I could add me with them. The material in my diaries is loaded with potential plays, novels, biographies, essays and unsung histories, enough for me for another lifetime of writing. But I don’t have that much time left.

I could point the way to some of the stuff I’d like to write. Someone has to do it.

If the diaries are accessible, someone will.

I’ll report later today.

LATER.

I didn’t get back to you. For some reason I was very tired. I talked a lot while they (a man and a woman) examined my books.I could tell they were genuinely interested in books because of the way they handled them, and because of the books they picked up: published by local publishers, or ones that I had used really well, bristling as they were with post-it notes. I didn’t feel nervous while they were there, but after they left, I had some leftover adrenalin that I had to cool….Anyway, I was tired.

Well, they were polite and they were interested and they are going to write me a letter to tell me what they’re going to do. And they’re re going to move quite quickly. They asked a ew questions, the chief one being am I willing to give them everything all at once and soon? I guess so, although it will mean a lot of empty shelves. Is there anything I‘d like to keep? If so, let them know.

And so on.

It’s going to happen!