A history of the University of Edinburgh Library through to

a vision of its futureGeneral Council Half-Yearly

Meeting, 9th June 2018Jeremy Upton

Director of Library & University Collections

Summary

• Historical overview

– Spaces

– Collections

• Where we are now

• The future challenges and our response to University Strategy

Promotion

Collections

The foundation collection; Clement Litill’s library, 1580

First donation book

Collections

• William Drummond’s library, 1627 – and start of Shakespeare / literary collections

David Laing bequest, 1878

Current Facts and Figures

• 2.5 million visits 2016-17

• Main Library plus 8 sites

• 1.8 million printed volumes

• 100,000 electronic subscriptions

• 700,000 E-books

• Material budget: approx. £8 million

Future Challenge

• Library no longer defined by collections

• Digitization and the digital

• New approaches to teaching and learning

• Relevance to Research

• Global reach

Move from Support to professional service

Leadership in learning

• Redeveloped Library

• Resource lists

• Maker space

Leadership in Research

• Research Data and Research Information Management

• Open Access and Open Science

• Digitisation

• Digital Scholarship

Mahabharata Scroll

Influencing Globally

• IIIF Image Standard

• Coimbra Group Online exhibition

Future Challenge: Building for the 21st

CenturyVision“The challenge for us is to create space which can meet the future aspirations of the students and academics in this world-leading, international, research intensive University”

• Student Study Space

• Teaching space

• Research space

• Heritage Collections

• Technology Rich

• University Community and collaboration

Building for the 21st century

Strategically relevant but also

• Third space

• Neutral space

• Inspirational space

• Community and history

– Curation of the building

Jeremy Upton

Director of Library & University Collections

jeremy.upton@ed.ac.uk