The University of St Andrews Library dates back to the early 17th century but its books have been collected over some 600 years since the university was founded in 1413. It holds one of the most extensive collections of the research libraries in the United Kingdom with more than one million volumes. In addition to 210,000 printed books in special collections, it has large manuscript and photographic collections while its archives date back to the early 15th century. [1] The library's current role is to support research, scholarship and learning with high-quality services backed by preservation, promotion and exploitation of its collections. [2]
The library was founded by James VI of Scotland in 1612 with gifts [3] from the Royal Family, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Royal Librarian. [4] Originally known at the King James Library, its building was completed in 1643. Between 1710 and 1836, under the Copyright Deposit Act it was entitled to a copy of every book printed in the British Isles. It is therefore exceptionally rich in material from the 18th century. Visiting the library in 1773, Samuel Johnson described it as "not very spacious, but elegant and luminous". In 1783, the Kings James Library, St Mary's College Library and the university's other library facilities were brought together under one roof as the common library in 1783. [4]
By the mid-19th century, its collection had grown to 40,000 volumes. [5] After extensions in 1890, a new library was completed in 1908 in what is now the Psychology building. As a result of further increases in students and holdings, today's library building was opened on North Street in 1976 where it now holds over a million books. [4] The building was designed by the architects Faulkner-Brown Hendy Watkinson Stonor based in the North East of England at Killingworth. [6] Faulkner-Brown specialised in libraries and leisure facilities and also designed the National Library of Canada in Ottawa and the Robinson Library at Newcastle University [7] [8] In 2011 the main library building underwent a £7 million re-development. [9] St Mary's College Library incorporating the King James library from 1643 continues to house the university's Divinity and Medieval History collections. [10] [11]
In 2012 the university purchased the vacant Martyrs' Kirk on North Street, with the purpose of providing reading rooms for the Special Collections department and university postgraduate research students and staff. [12]
Dating from the early Middle Ages, material in the Manuscript Department includes muniments of the university itself as well as estate, business and personal records from the Fife region and the town of St Andrews. There are also manuscript papers on Baron Friedrich von Hügel and other individuals belonging to the Catholic Modernists. [13]
The library's archive contains a rich series of catalogues from its foundation as well as borrowing registers from 1738 to 1925. [13]
Comprising some 300,000 images, the photographic collection is one of Scotland's largest. It includes early examples of St Andrew's involvement in the history of photography as well as published and unpublished items and albums from the 1840s on. Of particular importance is the negative archive of picture postcards from Valentine & Sons of Dundee from the mid-19th century to the 1960s. It also contains the negatives of the local press photographer George M. Cowie [14] and of the botanist Robert M. Adam. [13]
The rare books collections comprise over 50 named collections comprising gifts from other libraries and subject-based collections based on illustrated children's literature and photographically illustrated books. [15]
The historic Copyright Music Collection consists of some 400 bound volumes, most of the music dating from the 1790s to the 1820s. [16]
The Bodleian Library is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in Britain after the British Library. Under the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003, it is one of six legal deposit libraries for works published in the United Kingdom, and under Irish law it is entitled to request a copy of each book published in the Republic of Ireland. Known to Oxford scholars as "Bodley" or "the Bod", it operates principally as a reference library and, in general, documents may not be removed from the reading rooms.
Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the University. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambridge and external researchers. It is often referred to within the University as the UL. Thirty three faculty and departmental libraries are associated with the University Library for the purpose of central governance and administration, forming "Cambridge University Libraries".
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. 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 Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, and is a registered charity.
The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the largest collections of archives, portraits, maps and photographic images in Wales. The Library is also home to the national collection of Welsh manuscripts, the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales, and the most comprehensive collection of paintings and topographical prints in Wales. As the primary research library and archive in Wales and one of the largest research libraries in the United Kingdom, the National Library is a member of Research Libraries UK (RLUK) and the Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL).
The National Library of Scotland (NLS) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom, it is a member of Research Libraries UK (RLUK) and the Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL).
A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant works. A national library is that library which has the duty of collecting and preserving the literature of the nation within and outside the country. Thus, national libraries are those libraries whose community is the nation at large. Examples include the British Library, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris.
The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retain the name Bancroft Library in perpetuity. The collection at that time consisted of 50,000 volumes of materials on the history of California and the North American West. It is now the largest such collection in the world. The building the library is located in, the Doe Annex, was completed in 1950.
The Bavarian State Library in Munich is the central "Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria, the biggest universal and research library in Germany and one of Europe's most important universal libraries. With its collections currently comprising around 10.89 million books, it ranks among the best research libraries worldwide. Moreover, its historical stock encompasses one of the most important manuscript collections of the world, the largest collection of incunabula worldwide, as well as numerous further important special collections. Its collection of historical prints before 1850 number almost one million units.
The Royal Library of the Netherlands is the national library of the Netherlands, based in The Hague, founded in 1798. The KB collects everything that is published in and concerning the Netherlands, from medieval literature to today's publications. About 7 million publications are stored in the stockrooms, including books, newspapers, magazines and maps. The KB also offers many digital services, such as the national online Library, Delpher and The Memory. Since 2015, the KB has played a coordinating role for the network of the public library.
The University of Michigan Library is the academic library system of the University of Michigan and the second largest research library in the world by volumes held.
The Saxon State and University Library Dresden, abbreviated SLUB Dresden, is located in Dresden, Germany. It is both the regional library for the German State of Saxony as well as the academic library for the Dresden University of Technology. It was created in 1996 through the merger of the Saxon State Library (SLB) and the University Library Dresden (UB). The seemingly redundant name is to show that the library brings both these institutional traditions together.
National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) is the national library of Croatia and central library of the University of Zagreb.
Edward Bernard was an English scholar and Savilian professor of astronomy at the University of Oxford, from 1673 to 1691.
The Library of Trinity College Dublin serves Trinity College and the University of Dublin. It is a legal deposit or "copyright library", under which, publishers in Ireland must deposit a copy of all their publications there, without charge.
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British Library receives copies of all books produced in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including a significant proportion of overseas titles distributed in the UK. The Library is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
The Library of Congress (LC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the de facto national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.; it also maintains a conservation center in Culpeper, Virginia. The library's functions are overseen by the Librarian of Congress, and its buildings are maintained by the Architect of the Capitol. The Library of Congress is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its "collections are universal, not limited by subject, format, or national boundary, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 470 languages."
The William L. Clements Library is a rare book and manuscript repository located on the University of Michigan's central campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Specializing in Americana and particularly North American history prior to the twentieth century, the holdings of the Clements Library are grouped into four categories: Books, Manuscripts, Graphics and Maps. The library's collection of primary source materials is expansive and particularly rich in the areas of social history, the American Revolution, and the colonization of North America. The Book collection includes 80,000 rare books, pamphlets, broadsides, and periodicals. Within the other divisions, the library holds 600 atlases, approximately 30,000 maps, 99,400 prints and photographs, 134 culinary periodicals, 20,000 pieces of ephemera, 2,600 manuscript collections, 150 pieces of artwork, 100 pieces of realia, and 15,000 pieces of sheet music.
The University of Minnesota Libraries is the library system of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus, operating at 13 facilities in and around Minneapolis–Saint Paul. It has over 7 million volumes and 119,000 serial titles that are collected, maintained and made accessible. The system is the 17th largest academic library in North America and the 20th largest library in the United States. While the system's primary mission is to serve faculty, staff and students, because the University is a public institution of higher education its libraries are also open to the public.
The University of Manchester Library is the library system and information service of the University of Manchester. The main library is on the Oxford Road campus of the university, with its entrance on Burlington Street. There are also ten other library sites, eight spread out across the University's campus, plus The John Rylands Library on Deansgate and the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre situated inside Manchester Central Library.