Collections and Facilities

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 subscribes to 100 periodicals in the field of international development, and has a collection of over 12,000 books and 800 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, http://coadyextension.stfx.ca. 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.

We offer a pleasant space for study, discussion, and viewing videos. Ten public access computers are available as well as printing services. Photocopy service is not available, but most items may be borrowed for photocopying at one of the facilities on campus.

The library catalogue is part of the Novanet consortium. To search our Catalogue, Start a Novanet session, then click the link 'Select a library' to find the 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

Library Staff Publications

Catherine Irving:

• 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. Download (35K pdf)

In collaboration with Leona English, Dept. of Adult Education, St.FX:

• Transformative learning with women: A critical review proposing linkages for the personal and political spheres. Proceedings of the 52nd National Conference of the AERC and the 30th National Conference of CASAE , OISE-University of Toronto, June 9-12, pp. 305-312. Full study to be published in the Handbook of Transformative Learning, P. Cranton & E. Taylor, Eds.
• Community in cyberspace: Gender, social movement learning and the Internet. Adult Education Quarterly, (in press).
• Women's ways of e-learning. Proceedings of the Canadian Association for the Study of Women and Education National Conference, Concordia University, Montreal, May 29-June 1, 2010.
• Feminist network activism. Proceedings of CASAE's 28th National Annual Conference, Carleton University, Ottawa, 2009.

Older publications:

• Gender and Sustainable Rural Development: A resource directory, Catherine Irving, ed.

Library Hours

Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

Contact Information

Mailing Address

Marie Michael Library
Coady International Institute
St. Francis Xavier University
Box 5000, Antigonish Nova Scotia
Canada B2G 2W5

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