Selected facts and figures

  • Library collections: 10.8 million items
  • Library personnel (excluding casual employees): 165 staff members
  • User seating across library locations: ~5,000 seats
  • 60,000 weekly average visits to Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ Libraries 2023–2024 (Fall & Winter terms).
  • 500+ searches were conducted on average per Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ student in 2023 among the Libraries’ database subscriptions.
  • 23K participants attended 824 library in 2023–2024.
  • 18 open access journals currently published by Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ Libraries (Fall 2024).
  • 53,704 theses & dissertations from Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ available in the Libraries’ institutional repository, (December 2024).
  • 147,207 pages from print items in the Libraries’ collections were digitized in 2023, of which 73% were digitized to complete on demand requests.
  • 2275 BCE clay tablet is the oldest item in the Libraries’ collections.
By the numbers 

Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ Libraries include millions of volumes/items in its collections. Many printed books and journals are available but the number of e-journals and e-books has increased dramatically. Almost all items held are listed in the Libraries' online . Materials are arranged on the shelves according to the Library of Congress Classification system. These are the numbers for titles that are catalogued in the collection:

  • Books (print): 2,222,762
  • E-books: 6,069,377
  • E-theses (catalogued): 155,663
  • E-journals: 190,481
  • Journals (print): 46,979
  • Sound recordings (physical titles): 91,797
  • Sound recordings (e-audios): 210,711
  • Video recordings (physical titles): 24,049
  • Video recordings (e-videos): 194,059
  • Microforms: 86,623
  • Musical scores (print): 58,850
  • Musical scores (electronic): 102,102
  • Online databases: 2,281
  • Graphic materials (artworks, photographs, slides, etc): 1,406
  • Maps (print): 8,665
  • Maps (electronic): 14,954
  • Government documents
    • print: 93,452
    • electronic: 950,944
  • Other formats: 128,518
  • Total: 10,653,673 titles

Collections data from June 2025, unless otherwise indicated

Another way to look at this data

Catalogued titles (print & electronic):

Type of itemNumber of catalogued titlesPercentage
Books8,292,13977.8%
E-theses155,6631.5%
Journals237,4602.2%
Sound recordings302,5082.8%
Video recordings218,1082.1%
Microforms86,6230.8%
Musical scores160,9521.5%
Online databases2,2810.02%
Graphic materials1,4060.01%
Maps23,6190.2%
Government documents1,044,3969.8%
Other formats128,5181.2%
Total:10,653,673100%

Total number of physical volumes/items in collection: 3,960,281

Total number of physical and electronic volumes/items in collection: 10,834,072

Rankings

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) ranks Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ Libraries 39 out of 118 member libraries in North America. This is based on the most recent ARL Library Investment Index (2022–2023).

In the , released in October 2024, Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ Libraries ranked 1st in the in the medical-doctoral category, which includes 15 Canadian universities with medical schools and a wide range of doctoral programs.

Assessment 

Library assessment has as its primary objective the evaluation of the effectiveness of Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ Libraries’ collections, services, and spaces in meeting the teaching, learning, and research needs of university-affiliated users and outside researchers. We can help with:

  • External requests for survey responses
  • Requests for data for departmental accreditation
  • Individual or unit assessment projects
  • Analysis of existing library data
  • Preparation of reports on assessment projects
  • Locating published evidence to support decision making and practice

For help, please contact Giovanna Badia at giovanna.badia [at] mcgill.ca (giovanna[dot]badia[at]mcgill[dot]ca) or 514-398-7504.

Assessment initiatives

To inform decisions about library services and spaces, Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ Libraries undertake multiple assessment activities, such as collecting and analyzing usage statistics about our services and spaces, conducting observations, distributing surveys, and collecting feedback from our website and social media. Specific activities include: