Vivienne Monty, an award-winning senior librarian at York University Libraries (YUL), passed away on Nov. 11 at the age of 77.
Monty was born in Budapest in 1948 and moved to Toronto in 1956 with her family. She earned a BA in history and a master of library science from the University of Toronto, laying the foundation for a distinguished career in academic librarianship.
She joined York University in 1973, beginning 40 years of contributions to the University and the profession. She spent nearly two decades in York’s Government Documents and Administrative Studies Library, a branch of YUL, progressing from assistant head to head of the unit before 1991. She then served a one-year appointment at Glendon College as senior librarian at the Leslie Frost Library, followed by a period at Keele Campus, where she worked as internet coordinator and a senior member of Scott Library’s reference team from 1993-96.
In 1996, she returned to the Leslie Frost Library, overseeing reference services and emerging digital resources, managing the library’s website and guiding Glendon’s faculty and students in applying new technologies to teaching and research. She also played a key role in Glendon’s transition to early digital research tools, managing reference services alongside the adoption of CD-ROM databases, other electronic resources and a growing web presence.
A multilingual – professional, fluent in English and French as well as Hungarian and conversant in several other languages – she became deeply connected to York's bilingual campus, ultimately making Glendon her permanent base.
Monty became known at York as both a prolific researcher and an educator dedicated to strengthening students’ research skills. She built a substantial record of publications spanning articles, papers, books and editorial work, and regularly visited Glendon classrooms to teach research methods, delivering dozens of sessions each year that faculty credited with elevating student work.
Innovation was central to her approach. She embraced emerging technologies early and sought meaningful ways to integrate them into teaching, research and information literacy. She collaborated widely with instructors to design strategies that helped students develop stronger research practices and navigate source materials more effectively. One such collaboration, with professor of sociology Robert Kenedy, led to a co-authored chapter on information literacy that was accepted for publication in 2008.
Beyond her contributions at York, Monty held influential roles in the profession. She served as president of the Canadian Library Association, president of the Canadian Association of Special Libraries and Information Services and chair of the Toronto Chapter of the Special Libraries Association. She also participated extensively in accreditation work through the American Library Association, helping shape standards in library education. Her involvement in government information policy included leading a review of Canada’s depository system in the late 1990s.
Her work earned significant recognition. Among her honours were the Librarian of the Year Award in 1987 from the Special Libraries Association, the Outstanding Academic Librarian Award in 1997 from the Canadian Association of College and University Libraries, and the Outstanding Service to Librarianship Award in 2008 from the Canadian Library Association.
After retiring from York in 2013, Monty remained engaged in learning and community. She joined the Academy for Lifelong Learning, a volunteer-run organization offering peer-led workshops and discussion groups for older adults, and became an active participant and valued committee member.
Longtime colleague Julianna Drexler, a York librarian and archivist emeriti, summarized the impact and reach of Monty at the time she received the Outstanding Service to Librarianship Award, in a way that rings all the more true now: “Outstanding in many ways: as librarian, member of the York University faculty, teacher, committee member, leader, mentor, writer and scholar.”