Save the Treasures of the Long Room Alumni Campaign

It is our generation’s privilege to make use of the books for research and to preserve them for future generations

Save the Treasures of the Long Room campaign was launched in October 2005 to raise funds for the cleaning of the historic collection of books and manuscripts housed in the Old Library in Trinity.

Since its inception alumni and friends have responded with unprecedented generosity enabling the Library to appoint conservation staff to speed up the cleaning process. This aims to remove centuries of dust and pollutants which are contributing to the deterioration of the collection, and to enable the Library introduce a sustainable programme of collection care as part of the Old Library Conservation Programme.

To date, €1.25M has been raised directly from over 2,900 graduates via the Trinity Annual Fund and matched funding from the TCD Association and Trust. Further funding for the ‘Save the Treasures of the Long Room’ will be allocated from the ‘College Environment & Heritage’ fund.

"The treasures of the long room are a very special part of what Trinity College stands for and is. It has been a privilege of mine to play a small practical part in the active perseveration of this unique and invaluable treasure, so that future generations of scholars may continue to enjoy it."

Karl Foster, TCD alumnus