Harvard University Library

Main entrance to Harvard University's Widener Library in Cambridge, Mass.

The Harvard University Library ( HUL ), or Harvard Library for short , is the library system of Harvard University in Cambridge ( Massachusetts ). Founded in 1638 by John Harvard , it is the oldest academic library system in the United States . The HUL today comprises 79 different libraries with a total of 16.8 million volumes (as of 2013), making it one of the largest libraries on earth .

history

The basis of the library at Harvard College consisted of 400 books from the property of the theologian John Harvard, but grew into the largest library in America at the time in the next century, before it lost almost all of its collections in a fire in 1764. Harvard College then received numerous book and monetary donations for reconstruction, with those of Thomas Hollis (1720–1774) , who had thousands of selected works sent from England, particularly noteworthy. The first official librarian was Solomon Stoddard from 1667 to 1672 .

Today it is the largest university library system in the world and the third largest library in the United States after the Library of Congress and the Boston Public Library .

organization structure

All library management is under the Office of the Librarian of Harvard College. On December 20, 2010, Helen Shenton (* 1958), previously employed at the British Library , was appointed Executive Director of the Harvard Library. The library board is the supervisory body within the university administration.

Total library spending in 2012 was $ 237.082 million.

Harvard University Libraries

The library buildings are:

• Cabot Science Library, named after Godfrey Lowell Cabot in 1973
• Fine Arts Library
• HC Fung Library
• Houghton Library , named after Arthur A. Houghton, Jr. and opened in 1942 especially for valuable book collections and to relieve the Widener Library
• Lamont Library, named after Thomas William Lamont (1870–1948) and opened in 1949 to provide basic services to freshmen
• Loeb Music Library
• Tozzer Library , named in 1974 after Alfred Tozzer (1877–1954), previously the Peabody Museum Library
• Weissman Preservation Center Library, center for preservation
• Widener Library

The Widener Library is the actual main library building and was opened on June 24, 1915 in memory of Harry Widener .

Reading room of the Harvard Law School Library

In addition to these independent library buildings, the other special and specialist libraries are housed in other university buildings on the spacious campus.

Inventory development

The OPACs HOLLIS and HOLLIS Classic are available online today . The acronym HOLLIS ( Harvard On Line Library Information System ) is also the name of the Hollis family of patrons , whose foundation assets have supported the library financially since the early 18th century.

Publications

• Harvard Library bulletin. ISSN  0017-8136
• Annual report. ISSN  0161-3944 ( online from 2002 ) (title varies)
• Harvard University Library Notes. ( online from 1999 )

literature

• Kenneth E. Carpenter: The First 350 Years of the Harvard University Library. Description of an exhibition . Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass 1986 (English).
• Alfred Claghorn Potter, Charles Knowles Bolton: The Librarians of Harvard College 1667–1877 . Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass 1897 (English, online ).
• WH Bond, Hugh Armory (Ed.): The Printed Catalogs of the Harvard College Library, 1723-1790 . The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Boston 1996 (English).

Web links

Commons : Harvard University Library  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Harvard University Library website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Find a Library , Harvard Library ( Memento of the original from July 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , English, accessed May 2, 2013. 
2. ^ Alfred Claghorn Potter, Charles Knowles Bolton: The Librarians of Harvard College 1667-1877 . Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass 1897 ( online [accessed May 2, 2013]).
3. ^ American Library Association: The Nation's Largest Libraries: A Listing By Volumes Held , ALA Library Fact Sheet 22, accessed May 2, 2013.
4. ^ Library Board names executive director. In: Harvard Gazette. Harvard University, December 20, 2010, accessed May 2, 2013 . 
5. ↑ Harvard University Financial Report Fiscal Year 2012 , p. 47 (PDF; 1.98 MB), English, accessed on May 2, 2013.
6. ↑ Cabot Science Library website
7. ^ Website Fine Arts Library
8. ↑ HC Fung Library website ( Memento of the original from January 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
9. ^ Houghton Library website
10. ^ Lamont Library website
11. ^ Loeb Music Library website
12. ^ Tozzer Library website
13. ^ Website Weissman Preservation Center Library
14. ^ Widener Library website
15. ↑ Matthew Battles: The World of Books: A History of the Library . Artemis and Winkler, Düsseldorf 2003, ISBN 3-538-07165-9 , pp. 100-102 (American English: Library. An Unquiet History .).

Coordinates: 42 ° 22 ′ 34 "  N , 71 ° 6 ′ 59"  W.