Cardiff Council’s Executive Member for Sport, Leisure and Culture has spoken of his delight that the city’s collection of valuable rare and antiquarian books has now been moved to its new home and its future has been safeguarded for the benefit of generations to come.
The collection has moved to its new home in the main Social Studies Library of Cardiff University on Colum Road following an agreement reached between the Council, the University, CyMAL and HEFCW to secure transfer of ownership and location of the books. They consist of around 14,000 rare and antiquarian library books, some dating from the late 15th century through to special press books produced in the early 20th century.
Executive Member for Sport, Leisure and Culture, Cllr Nigel Howells (pictured), said: “I am delighted that we were able to work together with these partners to ensure that these rare books remain as a collection in the capital and will still be accessible by the public. The collection is of enormous historical and academic value so finding a permanent home for this collection will contribute to the cultural life and heritage of Cardiff and Wales.”
“The books have been successfully transferred to an appropriate storage facility which will safeguard their long term condition. The University plans to raise the profile of the collection by cataloguing and restoring them with the long term aim of preserving them for future generations to access and appreciate. This will ensure that people from Wales and the rest of the world will have free access to one of Wales’ most important cultural assets.”
“The books were identified by the Council as surplus stock due to the fact that they had been infrequently requested by the public along with the future cost to the Council of retaining them. The Council was reluctantly planning to sell the stock and use the much needed income to fund improvements to our existing libraries network but the collection was saved for the citizens of Cardiff when agreement was reached between ourselves, the University, CyMAL and HEFCW.”
The safeguarding of the rare books shows the Council’s commitment to preserving invaluable resources for the city and its residents. The news comes as the new Cardiff Central Library was recently awarded the fantastic accolade of being one of the six best libraries in the world by the Sunday Times Travel magazine.
Cllr Howells said “It’s fantastic news that more and more people are using libraries in Wales and Cardiff libraries in particular have significantly increased their users in recent years. Over the past six years the Council has embarked on a major refurbishment programme throughout a number of library facilities across the city which has seen buildings upgraded to provide bright and modern environments for users. The programme includes the building of two new libraries, refurbishment of five branch libraries and three new libraries included within community facilities. Included in the programme is the award winning new Central Library, which provides an exciting way for residents to access library services with the perfect balance between traditional library services and modern technology. I am delighted that the work we have put into library services is now being recognised and celebrated.”
