The Future

Kenneth Horne
(1900-69)

Cambridge University Library, 2002

But challenging circumstances do not alter the Library's enduring commitment to remain at the heart of scholarship: expanding collections, premises and services in the cause of expanding minds.

Plan for extension uniting two wings to the rear of the University Library. Howe Architects.

600 years of
Cambridge
University
Library

8 October 2002 - 15 March 2003
Admission free

The growth of the Library is relentless. Within thirty years of moving, planning began for the first extension; the latest will improve accommodation for Official Publications and users of electronic resources. But every year brings two miles of new accessions, a ceaseless process despite prophecies of the 'death of the book'. More space for the fundamentals is absolutely vital. It is for a new five-storey bookstack that the Library is currently fundraising. Simultaneously, the Conservation Department are occupied in preserving the vast holdings against the ravages of time, whether acidic paper, previous poor storage or excessive handling. The increasing presence of electronic information is changing the way the Library works. Staff handle publications on CD-ROM or literary manuscripts word-processed on floppy disc. Readers visit the Library to consult electronic journals which are not housed here, while catalogues or digitised images are delivered via the internet to students all over the world.