Robarts Library
Robarts Library is the main humanities and social sciences library of the University of Toronto. It is the third-largest university library in North America, after Harvard and Yale. The library is named after former Ontario Premier John Robarts.
The library's main building is a large brutalist/futurist concrete structure designed to look like a peacock. It is considered by some to be a great architectural achievement, but many others (students and residents alike) consider it to be hideous. It has many nicknames, including Fort Book, the Bunker, and the Turkey.
Its design was conceived in the 1960s by Toronto architects Mathers and Haldenby, in collaboration with the New York architecture firm Warner Burns Toan & Lunde, who specialize in precast concrete buildings. Construction of the 14-story library was completed in 1973.
Robarts Library is home to the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library, which contains a priceless collection of manuscripts and first editions.
It is also the home of Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library, which holds a collections of over 380,000 volumes of materials in Chinese, Japanese and Korean.