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Stacks, Stories and Civic Duty
A champion of libraries and public service
By Leslie Shepherd
When Vickery Bowles Vic 8T0 stepped onto the Victoria College campus for the first time in the late 1970s, it was more than just the beginning of her undergraduate journey. It was the continuation of a cherished family tradition.
“My mother had been here in the 1940s,” Bowles reflected. “I remember walking into the Victoria College building and seeing the portraits of former presidents and principals in the entryway. I thought about her walking these same halls during wartime. That really moved me.”
Her mother, Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Cook Vic 4T8, now 98, inspired not only Vickery but also her sister Alison Cook Vic 8T8 to follow in her academic footsteps.
While the family connection to Vic runs deep, the award recognizes Vickery Bowles’s own remarkable achievements. A history graduate who went on to earn a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Toronto, Bowles has spent more than four decades advocating for the public good through libraries. She joined the executive team at Toronto Public Library in 1998 and has served as City Librarian since 2015, leading the largest and busiest urban library system in North America.
“This recognition from Vic means the world to me,” she said. “I cherish my time at Victoria College. It’s had such an impact on my life. Being recognized for the work I have done here at the Toronto Public Library and collaborating with libraries across Canada, the U.S. and internationally, means so much coming from my alma mater.”
Bowles’s interest in public libraries took shape during her time as a Vic student.
“Studying history and spending a lot of time in different libraries on campus gave me a real interest in the role of libraries and the work libraries and librarians do,” she said. “It’s where my passion for community service and for information accessibility and intellectual freedom was born.”
Bowles was especially fond of the old Sigmund Samuel Library on King’s College Circle, where she spent hours under stained glass windows and working at long wooden tables.
Victoria University chancellor emerita, Wendy Cecil C.M. Vic 7T1, who nominated Bowles for the Distinguished Alumni Award, said that Bowles is a global leader in librarianship for her strong stand on freedom of speech and accessibility to all books, particularly those that are endangered or banned.
As City Librarian, Bowles has championed everything from digital equity to deep reading, civic literacy and public engagement on complex issues.
“I feel very strongly about the importance of public libraries in supporting democratic values and freedoms,” she said. “We are seeing more and more challenges to intellectual freedom and freedom of speech and public libraries are standing up for these fundamental principles.”
Cecil praised Bowles for being a leader who attracts and hires good people and then “has the wisdom to let them own what they are responsible for—she gets the best out of people and her staff adore her because she allows them the freedom to do their jobs well.”
Bowles is preparing to retire at the end of August 2025, but she has no set plans beyond taking a well-earned break.
Her Distinguished Alumni Award now sits on her mantle—its presence a daily reminder of her family’s enduring bond with Victoria College. “My mother was our inspiration,” Bowles said.
“She’s just got wonderful memories from those years, this liberal arts education she believes very strongly in,” she said. “It helped her with her critical thinking, understanding of the world, being able to write well, deep thinking. She also remembers seeing Northrop Frye walking around the campus and in the halls of Vic.”
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