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| The iconic logo of the library represents Gilbert Scott's design |
Cambridge University Library:
• A large, intimidating structure on West Road in Cambridge, designed by Giles Gilbert Scott between 1931 & 1934
• The first Cambridge University building to be sited the other side of the river
• The only legal deposit library in the UK and Ireland to lend its stock
• An institution which grants access to students and staff not only of its own University, but others in the UK and overseas
• A library bursting at the seams, which receives 80,000 items a year from publishers to fulfil their legal obligations
I had used the UL before, as a student, when I was granted Reader access (no borrowing) and had navigated the shelves in search of library-related books for my Masters dissertation. But I had not seen the hidden depths of the library, with its basement of rolling stacks, its dark and moody private staircases, and its miles of hidden corridors.
So at 2.30pm, Helen, Sarah and I met Lizz Edwards-Waller at the Entrance Hall for our behind-the-scenes tour. Lizz was very happy to show us round the library, and chatted enthusiastically to us about how the library works and its key features. First stop was Admissions, where we were registered as Readers, which entitles us to access the Library for reference purposes for a period of 2 years. After scanning in, we were able to view the Anderson Room, a beautifully furnished reading room for music with a very plush carpet. The bookcases were beautifully carved and the seats looked very comfortable. As a result, many users prefer to use the room to study in, even if they are not music scholars.
Next, we saw the Catalogue Hall, which is much as it was in the 1930s, except for the catalogue terminals running Newton, the library’s OPAC. The Guard Books listing the manually catalogued items from the library’s earlier days are still available to view, although they have not been updated since 1986. The card catalogue records were transferred to Newton between 1986 and 1996, so the Guard Books are really just for show and historical interest. Through the Reading Room (which houses the Library’s reference collection) to the West Room, dedicated to periodicals. Periodicals are not exempt from legal deposit, however the six national libraries (Cambridge, Bodleian Library Oxford, British Library, National Library of Scotland, National Library of Wales, Trinity College Dublin) share the responsibility for holding a copy of each published issue. This ensures that the periodicals room is not bursting at the seams with GQ and Heat magazine, and has enough academic material to please the many retired researchers and alumni scholars who do not have access to electronic resources.
Down another corridor and a flight of stairs, into the 1972 extension, where Library staff are busy in the basement doing a multitude of backroom tasks. Here we visited the Legal Deposit room, where we saw several stacks of red crates, all containing items published in the UK. Once unpacked, the items are sorted into Academic and Supplementary resources. Academic texts are given priority, as they are of more value to the University Library. The legal deposit staff research the content and publication details of the books prior to sending them to Cataloguing, thus speeding up the process of book to shelf. Supplementary materials (including children’s picture books and knitting patterns) are briefly catalogued before being sent to the stack.
Contrary to popular belief, the famous Tower is not full of pornography (the porn cupboard is in the basement). Instead, the 157ft-high Tower is the repository for all material deemed non-academic from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1578614/Secrets-of-Cambridge-porn-library-revealed.html & http://timesonline.typepad.com/dons_life/2006/12/the_dirty_books.html). Currently, the Tower Project is busy cataloguing the 200,000 volumes stored on the 17 floors to make the collection more accessible to library users, and finding some gems along the way (http://vl203.wordpress.com/).
Alas, we were not able to visit the Tower. We saw the basement with its manual rolling stacks, and also a relic from the 1970s: electronic stacks! These stacks could be dangerous – trapping people between cases; stopping suddenly and coming off the tracks; useless in a power cut. But, they are a part of history, so a small section of electronic stack remains for posterity.
A quick scamper up some private stairs, and we were back on Floor 1, thinking about tea. Luckily the UL’s Tea Room was able to oblige. The Tea Room is a space for refreshment and relaxation (no books allowed!) but now it has Wi-Fi there are a few laptops jostling for space amongst the mugs of tea and plates of cake.
There our visit ended. A very interesting, though all too brief, tour of a fascinating library, one which stays true to its original vision while managing to cater for the students of today. I will be back before the end of the year to visit the exhibition, Books & Babies: Communicating Reproduction, which runs until December 23rd (http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/exhibitions/Babies/).
More information about Cambridge University Library may be found on the website:
http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/
This blog post was written for an internal staff magazine and is reproduced here by the author. The author cannot be held responsible for any factual inaccuracies contained within this article. Please feel free to add any corrections in the Comments box.
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