Sci-fi Author Judith Merril and the Very Real Story of Toronto’s Spaced Out Library

From The Star:

As the Vietnam War raged on, science-fiction author and editor Judith Merril — disgusted with the violence hurled against anti-war demonstrators during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago — packed her books and bags and immigrated to Canada.
Already well-respected in the science-fiction writing world, Merril was in her mid-40s when she landed in Toronto in 1969 with an extensive personal collection of books and unpublished manuscripts of science fiction.
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Already well-respected in the science-fiction writing world, Merril was in her mid-40s when she landed in Toronto in 1969 with an extensive personal collection of books and unpublished manuscripts of science fiction. She settled into Rochdale College, the 18-storey hippie haven at Bloor and Huron Sts.
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She lived in Rochdale for a year. One year later, in 1970, she would donate the Spaced Out Library and its 5,000 items to the Toronto Public Library.
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Today the Toronto Public Library’s collection of speculative fiction [aka Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation & Fantasy] is said to be Canada’s largest, as well as one of the finest in the world. It is Canada’s only collection of its kind that is open to general public as well as the academic community.

Read the Complete Article to Learn More About the Collection (approx 1600 words)
Direct to the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation & Fantasy Website and Database (via Toronto Public Library Special Collections)
See Also: Once Upon A City: Rochdale College and the hippie dream (via The Star)
See Also:Remembering Rochdale College, Toronto’s hippie heart (via The Globe and Mail)

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Libraries, News, Public Libraries