Archives Re-opening

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The front of Archives building, alongside a famous historical document on the Quaker peace testimonyCelebrate the Archives Reopening with us!

We are delighted to announce the Canadian Quaker Library & Archives is re-opening. Archives Committee invite you to celebrate this reopening online with us on Monday, May 2, starting at 8 pm Atlantic, 7 pm Eastern, 6 pm Central, 5 pm Mountain and 4 pm Pacific.

Canadian Yearly Meeting’s new Archivist, Michelle Tolley, will join us live from the archives on May 2. To join, follow this Zoom link or use the Zoom Meeting ID 867 121 3216 and passcode CYM1955

Accessing the Archives in person

In-person access to our collection will also soon be possible by appointment with Michelle. We ask that you be double vaccinated, wear a mask, and complete pre-appointment covid-19 screening. (Go the Archives Contact page for all the ways be in touch about visits.)

Depositing Documents

We invites all CYM Meetings, bodies, and committees to resume depositing your minutes, attachments and other documents to the archives. These will join the records already held by the CYM Library & Archives. Such documents enrich the history of Quakers in Canada and bear witness to contributions made by Quakers to the wider history of Canada, especially in areas of faith and social justice work. All deposited records remain the property of the depositing body.

Please check our updated list of Meeting/Committee deposits to assess the records already held by the CQLA for your Meeting or committee. Also on the website is the updated catalogue of records currently held in the CQLA – all 301 pages uploaded on April 6th – which joins the inventory of the over 5000 titles held in the Library.

Please see the printable Deposit Guidelines Brochure (PDF) for more information on what and how to deposit.

Confidentiality of Deposits

We also need help with some important information about confidentiality. Following archival best practices, all documents deposited at the archives are unavailable to users, except for the  depositing body, for a period of 30 years.

However, depositing bodies may choose to change the period of time for which their documents are held confidentially. For example, Meetings may wish a longer period of confidentiality for records of its Meeting of Ministry & Counsel. Some Meetings already have named a longer period. Meetings also may decide to have their records available without a period of confidentiality.

Please confirm to the  CYM Archivist the period of confidentiality that your Meeting or committee wants for your records so that we can better serve you and researchers.

(This information in this post is also available as a Letter from Archives (PDF) you can print, and there is a PDF poster for Reopening Celebration.)