Central Library is the main
academic
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
and
research library
A research library is a library which contains an in-depth collection of material on one or several subjects.(Young, 1983; p. 188) A research library will generally include an in-depth selection of materials on a particular topic or set of to ...
of
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
. The current library opened in August 1969, taking over from the original Lyon Playfair Library which had opened in 1959.
The collection grew out of earlier libraries of the various departments and colleges, the oldest collection of which dates back to 1845.
Central Library is the largest of the 7 libraries at Imperial with its collection covering all of the college's research departments, forming the main reference library for the college.
It is situated on
Queen's Lawn
The Queen's Lawn is a green lawned area situated at the centre of Imperial College London's South Kensington campus, next to the Queen's Tower and immediately to the north of Imperial College Road. It provides an open space of 1,600 sq metres, ...
next to
Imperial College Road
Imperial College Road is a tree-lined road in South Kensington, London, England. It runs east–west with Queen's Gate to the west and Exhibition Road to the east.
The road forms part of the boundary between Royal Borough of Kensington and C ...
, and across from
Queen's Tower Queen's Tower can refer to:
* Queen's Tower, Brisbane, residential skyscraper in Brisbane, Australia
* Queen's Tower (London), a building of Imperial College London
* Queen's Tower (Serpieri), a former royal estate near Athens
* Queen's Tower (Shef ...
.
History
The earliest library collection associated with the college was that of the
Royal College of Chemistry
The Royal College of Chemistry: the laboratories. Lithograph
The Royal College of Chemistry (RCC) was a college originally based on Oxford Street in central London, England. It operated between 1845 and 1872.
The original building was designed ...
, which opened in 1845.
The collection was open not only to students, but also benefactors of the college, as a way of attracting funding and backing. The college went on to form part of the
Royal School of Mines
The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bioe ...
and then the
Normal School of Science
The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Still to this day, graduates from th ...
, with each having their own libraries, often part of larger museum collections. A central library at Imperial College dates back to the construction of the
Royal College of Science
The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Still to this day, graduates from th ...
's building after the formation of Imperial in 1907, part of which became home to the
Science Museum
A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in mu ...
library. Although this was not part of the college, it was used extensively by members of the college, acting as a reference library for items departmental collections did not cover.
![Lyon Playfair Bookplate, Imperial College](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Lyon_Playfair_Bookplate%2C_Imperial_College.jpg)
For most of the early 20th century the college's collection was spread out over the various constituent colleges and departments. The City and Guild's College building was home to a technical collection, with the Royal College of Science building containing a chemical reference library.
Early on some professors, including
Harold Maxwell-Lefroy
Harold Maxwell-Lefroy (20 January 1877 – 14 October 1925) was an English entomologist. He served as a Professor of Entomology at Imperial College London and as the second Imperial Entomologist to India. He left India after the death of two of h ...
, let students access their private collections due to the lack of extensive provisions at the college, however, in time the departmental libraries grew with donations of books from their leading academics, whose name they generally took, including the Egerton-Hinchley library at the
Department of Chemical Engineering and the Department of Geology's Watts Library, the latter of which had by 1934 a collection of nearly 7000 books. Books left by students in
Beit Hall
Beit Hall, forming part of Beit Quadrangle, is a hall of residence and one of Imperial College London's oldest and most historic buildings. Beit Hall is named after Alfred Beit and is located on Prince Consort Road, next to the Royal Alber ...
were collected into a circulation library of around 400 items for personal non-academic recreational reading in the
Union Building; this became known as the Haldane Library, named after
Richard Haldane, who had been involved in the formation of the college. It eventually moved out of the Union to a larger college facility, growing to 4500 volumes by the mid-1950s.
The college also had access to the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
's library at
Senate House for further material.
In 1959 the first central library at Imperial was opened, known as the Lyon Playfair Library, at 180 Queen's Gate.
It was named after
Lord Playfair of St Andrews, who had been a professor of chemistry at the
Royal School of Mines
The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bioe ...
.
The initial collection was focused on engineering, as it was formed out of the Unwin Library, created through the amalgamation of many of the engineering department libraries. Although for the time being most science departments retained their own collections, the library expanded swiftly to cover the rest of the college's activities.
In the 1960s Imperial College quickly expanded in both facilities and population as part of an expansive programme of government investment. This resulted in the construction of new purpose built facility for the central library, which was completed in 1969 along with the adjoining College Block, today the Sherfield Building, with the Science Museum Library moving to the new building the same year. It was originally proposed for the Science Museum Library to be fully subsumed by the college's, however this plan was dropped by 1971.
In 1992 the college's and the Science Museum's collections were merged into a single library. Following a consultation with Foster and Partners
Foster + Partners is a British architectural, engineering, and integrated design practice founded in 1967 as Foster Associates by Norman Foster. It is the largest architectural firm in the UK with over 1,500 employees in 13 studios worldwide.
...
in 1994, the library was renovated and a Waterstones
Waterstones, formerly Waterstone's, is a British book retailer that operates 311 shops, mainly in the United Kingdom and also other nearby countries. As of February 2014, it employs around 3,500 staff in the UK and Europe. An average-sized Wa ...
bookstore opened as part of an expansion of the ground floor in 1997. Two additional modern glass-clad floors were added to the top of the building, with the extension designed by John McAslan + Partners
John Renwick McAslan (born 16 February 1954) is a British architect.
Education and career
John McAslan was educated at Dunoon Grammar School, Dollar Academy and University of Edinburgh, Scotland, obtaining an MA in Architecture in 1977 and a ...
. By the same year the Haldane collection, formed earlier from the amalgamation of the Haldane library in the Central Library, had over a collection of over 40 000 items.
The Science Museum Library finally closed in 2014, with resources being moved to the Dana Centre
The Dana Library and Research Centre (formerly the Dana Centre) on Queen's Gate, South Kensington, London is part of the Science Museum Group.
Designed by Richard MacCormac, Sir Richard MacCormac of MJP Architects, the building opened in 2003 a ...
on Queen's Gate
Queen's Gate is a street in South Kensington, London, England. It runs south from Kensington Gardens' Queen's Gate (the edge of which gardens are here followed by Kensington Road) to Old Brompton Road, intersecting Cromwell Road.
The street ...
and off-site archives. From 2017 through to end of summer 2018 the library underwent significant renovations, including the introduction of air conditioning, at a cost of £11 million.
Building
The Central Library building was opened in 1969 with the rest of what is today known as the Sherfield Building, and extensively uses exposed concrete surface as was common with British architecture at the time. The top two floors are more modern, with an open-plan interior and glass exterior walls, being built in 1997. The library contains training facilities, groups study areas, and an IT cluster and service desk. The Library Café is on the ground floor, next to the main entrance.
Access
Central Library primarily serves students and researchers at Imperial, with the library open 24 hours a day all week, excluding Friday night. However, the library accepts requests from members of the public for access to specific materials, and requests for inter-library loans.
References
{{Authority control
Central Library
Academic libraries in London
Library buildings completed in 1969
Central Library