The Marie Michael Library is named in honour of the Institute’s first librarian, Sr. Marie Michael MacKinnon, csm. An inspiring adult educator, Sr. Marie Michael was an active worker in the Antigonish Movement. She led women’s study clubs, created educational materials and developed the department’s library. Her philosophy on libraries was that they should be welcoming places for friendship and sharing. A brief biography of Sr. Marie Michael is available here. We strive to maintain her vision of the library’s role in active adult learning.

The Library is located on the campus of St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It can be found on the ground floor of the Coady International Institute, overlooking the garden in Confusion Square. (See campus map).

The Library subscribes to 100 periodicals in the field of international development, and has a collection of over 12,000 books and 900 videos as well as a number of digital resources. Our focus is on participatory approaches to community-based development in the countries of the global South. The collection includes resources for practitioners as well as more reflective analyses of development issues.

A special collection of material dealing with the history of the Antigonish Movement is maintained. Many of these items have been digitized and are included in the Coady Extension Digital Collection, https://coady.stfx.ca/collection/. We also were fortunate to be able to incorporate the extensive microfinance collection of the former Calmeadow Resource Center into our library. As well, CBC Radio Two’s Roots and Wings program kindly donated a small world music CD collection.

The library is open to the public. We welcome students, staff and faculty of St. Francis Xavier University as well as community borrowers and visiting researchers. We offer a pleasant space for study and discussion. Computer access is available as well as printing, scanning and photocopying services.

The library catalogue is part of the Novanet consortium. To search our catalogue, Start a Novanet session, then click ‘Advanced Search’ and select ‘StFX Marie Michael Library’.

Borrowing Guidelines

• Books (except Reserve items) may normally be borrowed for three weeks.
• Videos may be borrowed for one week.
• Periodicals are for use in the library.
• Reserve items may be borrowed only by students taking courses offered through the Institute.
• Most items are available to other libraries in Canada via interlibrary loan. Email requests to cirving@stfx.ca

Resource Centres for Learning and Change

This section was created to support a certificate program that has been offered on resource centre management. It provides a wide range of information to help organizations maintain active resource centres in their communities.

• Visit the Resource Centres for Learning and Change website.

Library Staff Publications

• Irving, C.J. (2020). Critical information literacy: Adult learning and community perspectives. RELA: European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults. 11(1), 65-76.
• Irving, C.J. (2018). Resource centres promoting information access, activism and people’s knowledge. Coady Innovation Series, no. 10.
• Irving, C.J. (2018). Extension in a box: The creation and dispersal of the little library that fed the study clubs of the Antigonish Movement. In B. Kapplinger & Maren Elfert (Eds.), Verlassene orte der erwachsenenbildung in Deutschland=Abandoned places of adult education in Canada, (pp. 161-173). Berlin: Peter Lang.
• Irving, C.J. (2017). Information access and activism: Libraries and resource centres promoting and curating people’s knowledge. Proceedings of 46th Annual  Standing Conference on University Teaching and Research in the Education of Adults, G. Kong, E. Boeren (Eds.), University of Edinburgh, July 4-6 (pp. 212-218).
• Irving, C. (2016). Women working for libraries, learning and social change. In D. Clover, L. Collins, S. Butterwick, & D. Chovanec, (Eds.), Women, adult education, learning and leadership in Canada. Toronto, ON: Thompson Educational.
• Irving, C. (2016). Women of the Antigonish Movement. In D. Clover, L. Collins, S. Butterwick, & D. Chovanec, (Eds.), Women, adult education, learning and leadership in Canada. Toronto, ON: Thompson Educational.
• English, L.M., & Irving, C.J. (2015). Feminism in community: Adult education for transformation. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. Link to publisher.
• Irving, C., & Adams, S. (2012). Not so quiet after all: Two outspoken librarians of the Antigonish Movement. Proceedings of the 31st annual conference of the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education, (pp. 124-130), May 28-June 1, Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo, ON.
• Irving, C. (2010). Adult educators in the library: Analysis of a community learning initiative. Proceedings of CASAE’s 29th National Annual Conference, Concordia University, Montreal, May 30-June 1, 2010. The full study will be published in the Journal of Adult and Continuing Education.
• Irving, C. (2010). Reviving a community’s proud past to contemplate its future. Proceedings of the 40th Annual Conference of the Standing Conference on University Teaching and Research in the Education of Adults (SCUTREA), University of Warwick, July 6-8, 2010.
• Irving, C. (Ed.) Gender and Sustainable Rural Development: A resource directory.

Library Hours

Monday – Friday: 9am – 4:30pm.

Contact Information

Phone: (902) 867-3964
Fax: (902) 867-3907
Email: cirving@stfx.ca