The Library

The Old Library building and its contents are of international standing for scholarly value and cultural significance. Its collections have been acquired since he establishment of the College since 1592 and it is a Legal Deposit library for Ireland and the United Kingdom, being the largest Library in Ireland with a total collection of almost 5 million items, including books, manuscripts (including the Book of Kells), maps and music.

The Old Library building is visited by over 700,000 people a year, and the wear and tear on this unique resource is beginning to threaten its continued accessibility to the public. A feasibility study was carried out - funded by the Department of Environment and the Getty Foundation - to investigate the requirements for bringing this resource back to a more sustainable physical condition.

To meet this challenge a capital programme has been launched with a €2.7m grant from Failte Ireland towards the overall cost of €10.7m. The completion of this project will not only repair and protect the Old Library and make its contents available to scholars in a modern environment, but also combine with its state of the art interpretive visitor’s facilities, thereby enabling an increase in visitor numbers and enabling greater access the Library’s collections and treasures to the public.

In addition to its capital development programme, the Library is also seeking support for:

• Acquisitions: The Library aspires to continue to strengthen its collections, built over 400 years and to take up opportunities to develop new fields in traditional and new media. Find out how to donate books.
  
• Conservation and Preservation: To ensure future research and availability of this great building and its collections to ensure, an active programme of conservation is essential. Find out more...
  
• Cataloguing and description: Quality cataloguing and mark up is the key to exploring the research and exhibition potential of the Library’s vast collections.
• Digitisation: To ensure the Libraries collections are available to the next generation of scholars and supporting Trinity’s global ambitions.

Visit the Library website to find out more about what's going on or email Simon Williams or contact him by phone on +353 1 896 2088 if you would like to learn more about how you can get involved.