Cynthia Archer, University librarian at York, has been appointed for a second five-year term to oversee one of the busiest university libraries in Canada. Archer's reappointment was approved by the executive committee of the York University Board of Governors at its meeting on Dec. 5. Archer will continue the decanal position she began on July 1, 2001.
President of the Ontario Library Association and president-elect of the Ontario Council of University Libraries, Archer is a member of numerous professional associations and University committees. She came to York in 2001 from the University of Windsor where she had been an associate university librarian since 1994.
Right: Cynthia Archer
As head of York’s libraries, Archer is responsible for the successful development of library resources and services at Keele campus’s Scott Library, Steacie Science & Engineering Library and Peter F. Bronfman Business Library, and at Glendon’s Leslie Frost Library.
During her first term as University librarian, Archer oversaw the renovation and expansion of the Steacie Science & Engineering Library (see the Jan. 5, 2005 issue of YFile) and the acquisition of the University Libraries' 2.5 millionth volume (see the Oct. 6, 2003 issue of YFile). In the University Libraries' latest annual report, Archer said providing additional space for patrons and collections is a top priority.
Archer received her MA in library and information science from the University of Western Ontario where she also received a BSc in plant science. She has also held posts at the Ralph Pickard Bell Library at New Brunswick’s Mount Allison University and the Brock Library at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont.