University of York Library

The University of York Library is the library service for students and staff at the University of York, England.

University of York Library
JB Morrell Library
53°56′57″N 1°03′13″W / 53.94917°N 1.05361°W / 53.94917; -1.05361
Location	University Road, Heslington, York, United Kingdom
Type	Academic library
Established	1965
Other information
Website	https://www.york.ac.uk/library/

The current library physical premises comprise a series of three linked buildings to the north side of the University of York Heslington West campus. The buildings are also home to the Borthwick Institute for Archives.

Since the library's inception its collections have grown to encompass more than a million items, including books, journals, music scores, theses and dissertations, and digital media.^[1]

The Library is part of Library, Archives and Learning Services, which employs 168 staff, and which is in turn part of Student and Academic Services at the University of York.

History

The University of York opened in 1963, with the main campus library opening in 1965. The building was designed by architects Robert Matthew, Johnson-Marshall and Partners,^[2] and build by Shepherd Construction.^[3] The original library building was named after John Bowes Morrell, a keen supporter for the establishment of a university in York, and a former Lord Mayor of the city. A source from the 1990s calls the library the Bowes Morrell Library.^[4]

Forty years on, the Raymond Burton Library was built alongside the Morrell in 2003. This building was designed by Leach Rhodes Walker architects as a home for a Humanities Research library and was designed to make a strong visual statement from its elevated position on the campus.^[5] The library is named after the Leeds business man and philanthropist Raymond Montague Burton who was a longtime supporter of the library.^[6]

A major £20 million refurbishment was completed in 2012,^[7] expanding the footprint of the library to include an additional building adjacent to the Morrell.^[8] This space was named after the first University Librarian appointed: Harry Fairhurst. Novelist and alumnus Anthony Horowitz officially reopened the newly refurbished and expanded University library in February 2012.^[9]

The historic King's Manor Library is located in the centre of York in a Grade I listed building on Exhibition Square. The King's Manor building was originally constructed to house the abbots of St Mary's Abbey, York.^[10] It later became the site for the Yorkshire School for the Blind before it became the property of the City of York in 1958. This was prior to modernisation and extension for the University of York in 1963/4.^[11]

In 2021 students and the library's own Twitter account posted photographs of robins which had entered the library due to more windows being open during the COVID-19 pandemic, the library joked that they got their own library card.^[12]

In 2022 the library decided to permanently remove all fines for late return of books, in response the success of a similar measure introduced on a permanent basis during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[13]

Library buildings

 

Harry Fairhurst Building atrium

J.B. Morrell Library: Houses collections to support learning, teaching and research across all subject areas. Named after John Bowes Morrell, an instigator in the formation of York University.^[14]

Harry Fairhurst Building: Provides a mix of study spaces across three floors. Named after the university's first librarian, Harry Fairhurst.^[15]

Raymond Burton Library: Houses the Humanities Research reference collection and the Borthwick Institute for Archives. Named after a philanthropist supporter of the university.^[16]

Library@Piazza: A study space located in the Piazza Learning Centre on Campus East. Contains no physical resources.

King's Manor Library: Houses collections focused mainly on architecture, heritage management and stained glass. Part of the historic King's Manor building.^[17]

Collections

The library provides collections to support the teaching, learning and research goals of the university, and to reflect the breadth of the university's user communities. The special collections include history of art, music, theological libraries, stained glass and Yorkshire.^[18] The Morell library houses the majority of the library's collection of over 1 million print books and 21,000 journals.^[19]

Yorsearch

Students also have access to online collections which include over 4.4 million books and 43 million peer-reviewed journals. The online catalogue joins together all of the libraries within the university system as well as the collections of the York Minster Library and E-resource collections.^[20]

Associated libraries

The library of the National Railway Museum is called The Search Engine.^[21]

The York Minster Library is located in Deans Park to the north of York Minster.^[22]

Partnerships

The library is a member of several organizations including:

• Research Libraries UK
• SCONUL^[23]

References

1. "University of York". Library Hub Discover. from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
2. Latimer, Karen (2011). "Collections to Connections: Changing Spaces and New Challenges in Academic Library Buildings". Library Trends. 60 (1): 112–133. doi:10.1353/lib.2011.0035. ISSN 1559-0682. S2CID 12424682 – via Project MUSE.
3. "History of University of York's JB Morrell Library revealed". York Press. 29 December 2010. from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
4. "History and Buildings of the University of York". Fishergate, Fulford and Heslington Local History Society.
5. Ashcroft, Linda. "Work begins on specialist library: Research library aims to attract scholars from around the world". New Library World. 102 (11/12): 470–471. ProQuest 229557667 – via ProQuest.
6. . University of York. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
7. Burn, Katie; Cunningham, Matthew; Waller, Liz; Walton, Emma; Walton, Graham (2016-07-11). Town, Stephen (ed.). "Capturing the student user experience (UX) in York and Loughborough University Library buildings". Performance Measurement and Metrics. 17 (2): 175–187. doi:10.1108/PMM-04-2016-0021. ISSN 1467-8047. from the original on 2022-07-28. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
8. "Designing Libraries - JB Morrell Library, University of York, reopens". Designing Libraries. from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
9. "Anthony Horowitz reopens the £20m University Library". University of York. from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
10. "The Kings Manor". Heritage Gateway. from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
11. "The King's Manor". British History Online. from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
12. Byatt-Goodall, Rosa (11 February 2021). "Robins got into Uni of York's library and students are loving it". The Tab. from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
13. . University of York. 21 September 2022. Archived from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
14. "Locations and opening hours - Library, University of York". www.york.ac.uk. from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
15. "Locations and opening hours - Library, University of York". www.york.ac.uk. from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
16. "Locations and opening hours - Library, University of York". www.york.ac.uk. from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
17. "Locations and opening hours - Library, University of York". www.york.ac.uk. from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
18. "Collection strengths - Library, University of York". www.york.ac.uk. from the original on 1 August 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
19. York, University of. "Visit and study". University of York. from the original on 2023-04-28. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
20. "YorSearch library catalogue". yorsearch.york.ac.uk. 2022. from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
21. "Plan a research visit". National Railway Museum. from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
22. "Dean's Park (managed by the Dean and Chapter of York Minster)". City of York Council. from the original on 18 August 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
23. "Other university libraries (SCONUL Access) - Library, University of York". www.york.ac.uk. from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.

Further reading

• Blake, Michelle; Gallimore, Vanya (2018-10-02). "Understanding Academics: A UX Ethnographic Research Project at the University of York". New Review of Academic Librarianship. 24 (3–4): 363–375. doi:10.1080/13614533.2018.1466716. ISSN 1361-4533. S2CID 64847161.
• Johnson, Gareth J. (2001-07-01). "Issues and policy: Electronic journals strategies at the University of York". Information Services & Use. 21 (3–4): 165–172. doi:10.3233/ISU-2001-213-410.
• Johnson, Gareth J. (2007). "Institutional Challenges to Increased Library Provision of Electronic Materials". The Acquisitions Librarian. 19 (1–2): 3–14. doi:10.1300/J101v19n37_02. ISSN 0896-3576. S2CID 62653740.

External links

• University of York Library web site
• University of York library catalogue