Shaping Laurentian University: Ashley Thomson's Five Decades of Impact

(July 24, 2025) - In the ecosystem of a university, few spaces are as central to the pursuit of knowledge and discovery as the library. It's a place where learning comes alive, and for nearly five decades, Ashley Thomson, Librarian Emeritus, has been at the core of that experience at Laurentian University. Hired in 1975, retired in 2021, his dedication as a librarian has left a lasting impression on generations of students, faculty, and staff, and his positive influence continues to resonate throughout the community. 

Thomson's connection to Laurentian predates his employment, reaching back to his adolescence growing up in Sudbury. “In 1960, the year the University was established, I recollect my many walks down Elgin Street and seeing the Empire (now Grand) theatre with a big ‘Laurentian University - Université Laurentienne’ sign.” Back then, the University’s campus off Ramsey Lake Road had yet to be developed; this downtown location was used as a lecture hall. 

In 1964, when it came time to attend university himself, Thomson “chose” to pursue his education at his parents’ alma mater - Victoria College at the University of Toronto (U of T). Eleven years later and with a robust academic foundation including undergraduate degrees in History (U of T, 1968), and Education (U of T, 1970), and Masters degrees in History (McMaster University, 1969) and Library Science (U of T, 1972), plus three years experience as a librarian at the University of Saskatchewan, Thomson was hired as a librarian at Laurentian. The library was then based in the R.D.-Parker Building, until it moved into the J.N. Desmarais Library in 1990.

“From the moment I started, I was very passionate about my work,” Thomson said. “However, I am also passionate about fairness, and in 1975, I didn’t think librarians were being treated fairly. So even though the Laurentian University Faculty Association (LUFA) was not yet a union….I convinced its members to support librarians seeking improvements in our working conditions.” 

A key early win was securing partial parity with faculty as well as a seat for librarians on the University’s Senate. Then and in 1979, Thomson collaborated with colleagues to unionize (LUFA). “As a result of negotiations, we [librarians] ended up with full faculty status, including tenure,” he explained. “This was a major win and meant that we would be paid the same as professors and have parallel working conditions.” Thomson not only secured tenure but progressed through the ranks efficiently, becoming Associate Librarian in 1987, and Full Librarian in 1995. In 2016, Thomson received the Canadian Association of University Teachers’ (CAUT) Distinguished Service Award, as Laurentian had become a model for many Canadian university librarians seeking to improve their working conditions, and his efforts towards improvements were recognized. 

According to Thomson, the opportunities afforded to his career were privileges that came from faculty status. “If professors were to think of us [librarians] as peers, we had responsibilities to fulfill and I took those responsibilities very seriously.” They included professional service, scholarly activity, university governance, and service to the community. 

As a librarian, a significant part of Thomson’s time was spent with individual students (and professors), assisting them in navigating the research literature. Teaching, however, was his main passion: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” Always willing to go the extra mile, Thomson would tell his students that his classes came with a “lifetime warranty” which guaranteed that if they ever needed anything from the library, even after graduation, they could contact him and he would do his best to help them. “Believe it or not,” he said, “some still do!” 

To assist university recruitment efforts, Thomson took particular pride in teaching senior high school students from across northeastern Ontario about the library’s resources, and as the library transitioned from its classified card catalogue and printed indexes to become fully online, he worked with the Information Technology team to provide library access to these students for the balance of their school year. 

His scholarly activity includes eight books which Thomson co-authored or co-edited and hundreds of book reviews. Most of these books were on local and regional topics, most notably, Sudbury: Rail Town to Regional Capital (Dundurn Press, 1993). He also furthered his French language skills by partnering with francophone colleagues on such titles as Bibliographie: Histoire du nord-est de l’Ontario / Bibliography: History of North-Eastern Ontario (La Société historique du Nouvel-Ontario, 1985) and The Bibliography of Northern Ontario / La bibliographie du nord de l’Ontario (Dundurn Press, 1994).   

In 1994, he began compiling the Annual Bibliography on Margaret Atwood which he continued until 2022. This monumental project helped lead the celebrated Canadian author to visit campus for an annual Atwood birthday celebration, an event that Thomson was proud to serve as Master of Ceremony. 

University governance was another area where Thomson was very active. He has been a regular presence on the University’s Senate since 1979, often recommending changes to Senate bylaws. For example, he played a key role in changing the bylaw on the composition of the Academic Planning Committee by advocating for a seat for a librarian. He then served as a member continuously between 2000 and 2021, taking but a year off for a sabbatical. From 2006 to 2018, Thomson was also Speaker of the Senate, missing only one meeting in that period. This past year, after helping to draft another bylaw change, Thomson was acclaimed as an ex-officio non-voting member of Senate, representing Emeritus faculty. “I seem to be addicted to the Senate,” said Thomson, who has also served on numerous other Senate committees and on the Board of Governors. 

Thomson believed his role as a faculty member included a responsibility to serve the community. This principle guided his actions, whether he was reaching out to local high schools to encourage visits or writing books on local and regional subjects as a scholar. Thomson’s desire to serve the community has also led him to join (and chair) a variety of volunteer boards of organizations such as the Northern Association of Baptist Churches, the Children’s Aid Society, and the United Way. After his retirement, he joined the Greater Sudbury’s Public Library Board, and currently also serves as Chair of Meals on Wheels as well as Secretary and Communications Officer for the Association of Retired Academics of Laurentian University.

Thomson’s contributions have garnered significant recognition. In addition to his CAUT Award, other awards he has earned include but are not limited to: the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations’ Academic Librarianship Award (1997), Greater Sudbury’s ‘Senior of the Year’ award (2018), and the Governor General’s Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers (2019).

Thomson’s remarkable journey has been defined by his unwavering passion for knowledge, profound commitment to community, and steadfast belief in making a positive difference. Reflecting on his career, Thomson is extremely grateful to Laurentian University for the opportunities it has afforded him. He also acknowledges that his career would not have happened without his strong religious faith as well as the support of his wife and a large group of amazing students, colleagues, and administrators. From transforming the role of librarians to tirelessly serving the broader community, Thomson's contributions embody the spirit of Laurentian University and its mission to prepare the leaders of tomorrow through an inclusive, intellectually curious, and connected bilingual and tri-cultural learning community. 

“If I were starting all over again,” said Thomson, “there is no other university I would consider attending. LU is the best…and I bet now, even my parents would agree!”