UBC Reports | Vol. 48 | No. 12 | Oct.
10, 2002
Ike Barber Donates $20 Million for Learning Centre
Major expansion planned for Main Library
By Michelle Cook
UBC’s Main Library will be transformed into a revolutionary
new learning centre thanks to a $60 - million gift from UBC
alumnus and B.C. entrepreneur Irving K. (Ike) Barber, Founding
Chairman of Slocan Forest Products.
The B.C. government will contribute $10 million to the $50
million Centre, and both donations will be matched by UBC.
The Irving K. Barber Learning Centre will be constructed
around the core of the Main Library, to add more than 18,000
new square metres of inside floor space and two square kilometres
of outside space to the facility, all fully equipped to support
wireless technology.
Once complete, the Centre will be the first facility in Canada
to integrate information resources and services and interdisciplinary
learning support facilities under one roof. It will be open
and staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Centre will house “smart” classrooms, open
computer labs, seminar rooms, distance learning support activities,
and some of UBC’s interdisciplinary learning programs
such as Arts One and Science One. The Centre will boast a
laptop loan program for UBC and community users, Canada’s
first automated storage and retrieval system for the library’s
print collection, and a fireproof and climate controlled vault
for the library’s rare books, archives and special collections.
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