Glasgow University Library, University of Glasgow

Glasgow, Scotland, UK

Contacts

Hillhead Street, ;Glasgow, G12 8QE, ;Scotland, UK

Tel: 0141-330 6704;Fax: 0141-330 4952;Email: library@lib.gla.ac.uk

http://www.lib.gla.ac.uk/

Description

"Glasgow University Library is one of the great university libraries of Europe. Its collections, assembled over more than 500 years, reflect the achievements of international scholarship, including Scotland's own remarkable contribution, since the Middle Ages. It is a rich resource for the University, for the local community and for the many visitors we welcome every year.

The earliest reference to the Library dates from 1475, shortly after the founding of the University, and records the gift of two manuscript volumes of Aristotle, presented by John Laing, Bishop of Glasgow. The collections grew slowly, for until the end of the 17th century, the Library depended largely on gifts, its only income being the small payments made by students at matriculation and graduation. In 1644, the Visitors noted that the Library was 'but verie small for ane Universitie', and even by 1691, it had only 3,500 volumes.

Thereafter, the Library grew rapidly. From 1709-1836, it was a legal deposit library, entitled to a copy of every book deposited at Stationers' Hall in London. Dr. McGill, Professor of Divinity, remarked in 1826 that the Library received very few valuable books and 'a great many idle books'. When legal deposit was reviewed in 1836, Glasgow lost its copyright library status for an annual lump sum, which allowed it to develop its collections more systematically.

The very respectable figure of 150,000 volumes in stock by 1888 was in part also due to the great tradition of large donations by wealthy private collectors, such as William Hunter, John Smith of Crutherland, George Walker-Arnott, William Euing and David Murray, which have greatly enriched our collections, a tradition which, happily, continues to this day." - Glasgow University Library