Glasgow University Library in Scotland is one of the oldest and largest university libraries in Europe. At the turn of the 21st century, the main library building itself held 1,347,000 catalogued print books, and 53,300 journals.[2][vague] In total, the university library system including branch libraries now holds approximately 2.5 million books and journals, along with access to 1,853,000 e-books, and over 50,000 e-journals.[3][4] The University also holds extensive archival material in a separate building. This includes the Scottish Business Archive, which alone amounts to 6.2 kilometres of manuscripts.[5]
The current 12-storey building was opened in 1968 and is a prominent landmark in Glasgow's West End. In 2014, there were over 1.7 million visits made to the library.[6]
History
The first explicit mention of the Library is dated November 1475, when the first donations by the University's Chancellor, Bishop John Laing, were recorded. After the Reformation the University of Glasgow and its Library were reinvigorated under the Principalship of Andrew Melville in 1574–1580. The Library grew steadily throughout the 18th century due largely to the fact that it was granted legal deposit status between 1709 and 1836.[7] Legal deposit ceased in 1836 and the Library was granted an annual lump sum which allowed it to develop its collections in line with the University's teaching and research interests. The library of the royal physician to Queen Charlotte, William Hunter, received in 1807, comprised some 10,000 volumes that augmented the library's holdings by fifty per cent, and extended their reach well beyond the contemporary curriculum; of Hunter's 650 manuscript codices, over a hundred are illuminated, and his incunabula "accorded Glasgow a prominence that it could not have achieved with its own resources".[8]
By 1888 the holdings of the Library had risen to around 150,000 volumes, due in part to large donations and contributions by wealthy private collectors, such as William Hunter,[9] John Smith of Crutherland,[10]George A. Walker Arnott, William Euing and David Murray.[11]
Following the considerable expansion of the university buildings in the 1630s onwards, the first purpose-built Library for the university was designed by William Adam and opened in 1744 at the Old College in High Street. From 1870 until 1968, the University Library was housed within the main Gilbert Scott Building in Gilmorehill. The old Library closed in July 1968 and the new building opened to readers on 30 September 1968.
Current building
Entrance of the Library (2017)
Designed by William Whitfield, the present 12-storey library was constructed in 1968 and extended in the 1980s and 1990s. It formed the centerpiece of the new campus buildings built across Hillhead during the 1960s. In line with architectural fashion of the period (Edinburgh University Library opened its new eight storey main library in a similar style in 1967), it is of Brutalist design, being clad in Precast concrete flint aggregate panels. (However, as of 2012[update], the building was overclad in an "aluminum rain screen system" due to deterioration of the original panels.)[12] The main library floors are stacked in a central core with the peripheral towers containing services. The cluster of towers are reminiscent of San Gimignano, and form part of a complex that also incorporates the Hunterian Art Gallery. The original building has been extensively refurbished to facilitate a modern information technology environment. The library has collections ranging from astronomy to zoology, as well as a world-class Special Collections department. Special Collections on level 12 has an internationally significant collection of manuscripts and printed works. In the foyer, there is a display area featuring changing exhibitions of rare material from their collections. In 1993 the Glasgow University Library complex was selected by the international conservation organisation DoCoMoMo as one of sixty key Scottish monuments of the post-war era.
Open 361 days of the year, the library provides a resource not only for the academic community in Glasgow but also for scholars worldwide. There are study spaces for more than 2500 students, with over 800 computers. Wi-Fi access is available throughout the building. A new cafe and social learning space was opened in 2009, followed by an exhibition gallery, and a level dedicated to post-graduate study. In 2016 the main entrance level was totally reconstructed in an open configuration, including a new Conservation Studio, and at the same time, the basement area has been reformed to become a further study area.
The library staff comprises a team of over three hundred daytime, evening, and weekend staff. The University Librarian from 1 August 2015 is Susan Ashworth. The Friends of Glasgow University Library, an educational charity formed in 1976, is open to public membership, promotes the Library and its work, and each year presents a series of talks and events.[13] The first fully illustrated account of the Library and its unique and distinctive collections, from 1451 to the present day, "The University of Glasgow Library: Friendly Shelves" was published in June 2016, with Forewords by The Chancellor Professor Sir Kenneth Calman and the Principal Anton Muscatelli.[14]
The Library incorporates the Archives of the University of Glasgow[15] accumulated since 1451, and the Scottish Business Archive [16] of internationally important collections of business records covering the whole of Scotland and its global trades from the 18th century to the present.
The Library's Special Collections are classed as being of national and international importance. Its subject strengths include art, languages, literature, history, and the history of law, science, and medicine, represented by over 200,000 manuscript items and around 200,000 printed works (1,060 of which are incunabula, printed before 1501.) The holdings of medieval and renaissance manuscripts, and emblem literature, are of international status. Collections include those of George Buchanan from 1578, the Hunterian Library, the Stirling Maxwell Collection including emblem literature from 1531 onwards, the James McNeill Whistler Archive, the Euing Collection of music and Bibles, the Dougan Collection of early photography including Hill & Adamson, the modern Edwin Morgan Scrapbooks and the Scottish Theatre Archive.
The library is the only European Documentation Centre (EDC) in the west of Scotland, and one of the largest in the UK. The EDC is part of the Maps, Official Publications, and Statistics Unit on Level 7. The centre contains full texts of legislation and proposed legislation, as well as reports and statistics from the European Union.[17]
Specialist collections for veterinary medicine, dentistry, and chemistry are held in separate branch libraries around campus. Other notable collections include music scores, Russian and East European material, and significant 18th- and 19th-century print books and journals at the Library Research Annexe.[18] The 2015 public exhibition in the adjacent Hunterian Art Gallery, Ingenious Impressions -The Coming of the Book, showcased the incunabula collection.[19] A web catalogue of these rarities has been created.[20]
The University of Glasgow is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in 1451 [O.S. 1450], it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Along with the universities of St Andrews, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh, the university was part of the Scottish Enlightenment during the 18th century. Glasgow is the largest university in Scotland by total enrolment and with over 19,500 postgraduates the second-largest in the United Kingdom by postgraduate enrolment.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macdonald, was influential on European design movements such as Art Nouveau and Secessionism and praised by great modernists such as Josef Hoffmann. Mackintosh was born in Glasgow and died in London. He is among the most important figures of Modern Style.
The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts and is one of the largest collections of such texts. Established by a gift of the Beinecke family and given its own financial endowment, the library is financially independent from the university and is co-governed by the University Library and Yale Corporation.
The Hunterian is a complex of museums located in and operated by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology Museum and the Anatomy Museum, which are all located in various buildings on the main campus of the university in the west end of Glasgow.
The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriqueta Augustina Rylands in memory of her husband, John Rylands. It became part of the university in 1972, and now houses the majority of the Special Collections of The University of Manchester Library, the third largest academic library in the United Kingdom.
Francis Douce was a British antiquary and museum curator.
The Mitchell Library is a large public library and centre of the City Council public library system of Glasgow, Scotland.
The Hunterian Psalter is an illuminated manuscript of the 12th century. It was produced in England some time around 1170, and is considered a striking example of Romanesque book art. The work is part of the collection of the Glasgow University Library, cataloged as Sp Coll MS Hunter U.3.2 (229), which acquired the book in 1807. It derives its colloquial name, the "Hunterian Psalter", from having been part of the collection of 18th century Scottish anatomist and book collector William Hunter, who willed his collection to the University. It has also at times been known as the "York Psalter", owing to its supposed northern English origin in the city of York.
Vilnius University Library or VU Library is the oldest and one of the largest academic libraries of Lithuania. It was founded in 1570 by the Jesuits and as such is nine years older than Vilnius University. VU Library holds 5.4 million documents on shelves measuring 166 kilometres (103 mi) in length. The holdings, accessible to members of the university and wider public, include some of the oldest manuscripts, incunabula and engravings in Lithuania and Eastern Europe. At present the library has 36 thousand users.
Edinburgh University Library is the main library of the University of Edinburgh and one of the most important libraries of Scotland. The University Library was moved in 1827 to William Playfair's Upper Library in the Old College building. The collections in Edinburgh University Old College were moved in 1967 to the purpose-built eight-storey Main Library building at George Square, one of the largest academic libraries in the world. Today, Edinburgh's university-wide library system holds over 3.8m books, e-books and e-journals in total.
James Paterson PRSW RSA RWS, was a Scottish landscape and portrait painter associated with The Glasgow Boys movement of artists. He is best known for his landscape paintings of Dumfriesshire, where he lived, at Moniaive from 1885 to 1905.
Lectionary 240, designated by siglum ℓ240 is a Greek manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 12th century. Scrivener labelled it by 231evl. The manuscript has complex contents.
The Hunterian Collection is one of the best-known collections of the University of Glasgow and is cared for by the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery and Glasgow University Library. It contains 650 manuscripts and some 10,000 printed books, 30,000 coins and 15,000 anatomical and natural history specimens. The collection was originally assembled by the anatomist William Hunter.
The Maitland Club was a Scottish historical and literary club and text publication society, modelled on the Roxburghe Club and the Bannatyne Club. It took its name from Sir Richard Maitland, the Scottish poet. The club was founded in Glasgow in 1828, to edit and publish early Scottish texts. Since the distribution of the publications was usually limited to members, the typical print run was between seventy and a hundred copies. The club was wound up in 1859, after publishing its own history as its 80th volume. The later Hunterian Club modelled themselves on the Maitland Club.
The Hunterian Club was a Scottish literary and text publication society, founded in Glasgow in 1871.
William Euing FRSE FSA was a Scottish philanthropist who left over 12,000 books to the University of Glasgow creating what is known as the Euing Collection. As an insurance broker he was founder of the Glasgow firm of William Euing & Co. He was President of the Glasgow Archaeological Society.
The University of South Carolina Libraries are the public academic library system of the University of South Carolina, consisting of Thomas Cooper Library, Colemon Karesh Law Library, Ernest F. Hollings Special Collection Library, Music Library, School of Medicine Library, South Caroliniana Library, and others.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
