The University of Glasgow Library is one of the oldest and largest University libraries in Europe. It holds more than 2.5 million books and journals, as well as providing access to an extensive range of electronic resources including over 30,000 electronic journals.
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. The Library grew steadily throughout the 18th century due largely to the fact that it was granted legal deposit status between 1709-1836. 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 percent, 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".
By 1888 the holdings of the Library had risen to around 126,000 volumes, due in part to large donations and contributions by wealthy private collectors, such as William Hunter, John Smith of Crutherland, George Walker-Arnott, William Euing and David Murray.
From 1870 until 1968, the University Library was housed within the main Gilbert Scott Building. The old Library closed in July 1968 and the new building opened to readers on 30 September 1968.
0 comments:
Post a Comment