Blogpost 2

Trinity College Library, Dublin

The library opened when the college was established in 1592, founded by Queen Elizabeth 1st. Known as the largest library in Ireland, it houses 5 million printed volumes; including extensive collections of maps, journals, manuscripts and music reflecting 400 years of academic development. The Long Room contains busts of great thinkers, including Aristotle, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Homer, John Newton and William Shakespeare.

Trinity College Upper view of the Long Room

Renowned for housing one of the most famous manuscripts, the ‘Book of Kells’, displayed in the Old Library since the mid 19th century and attracting over 500,000 visitors each year. Since 1953 the 'Book of Kells' has been bound in four volumes, of which two volumes are on public view. One is opened to display a major decorated page, and one to show two pages of script.  The volumes are changed at regular intervals.

As a "copyright library", it has legal deposit rights for all materials published in Ireland and is the only Irish library to hold such rights for the United Kingdom.

Trinity College Library is major research library of international repute, that supports and provides services to a wide range of external users and institutions.  It contributes to the development of creative initiatives in information provision, ongoing exhibitions of manuscripts and other treasures that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Old Library each year.

Although this library is an institution of antiquity, it continues to pioneer modern methods of resource development and discovery in the learning, teaching and research processes.

There are some interesting Library Departments to view; including Glucksman Map Library and the Manuscripts, Archives and Research Library.

Detailed image from inside the 'Book of Kells'

Coincidentally, here is a recent article marking the 300th anniversary of Trinity College Dublin’s iconic Old Library building.  

REFERENCES

Johnson, WG 2009, 'Trinity College Library Dublin', Community & Junior College Libraries, 15, 3, pp. 163-164, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 9 April 2012.

Trinity College Dublin 2010, Library Departments : About the Library, Trinity College Dublin, viewed 9 April, 2012,  <http://www.tcd.ie/Library/about/departments.php>.

Trinity College Dublin 2012, The Book of Kells, Trinity College Dublin, viewed 9 April, 2012, <http://www.tcd.ie/Library/bookofkells/book-of-kells/>.

Trinity College Dublin 2011, History of the Library, viewed 9 April, 2012, <http://www.tcd.ie/Library/epb/history.php>.