Seeley Historical Library
Encyclopedia
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
library of the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is housed within the History Faculty building on the Sidgwick Site
Sidgwick Site
The Sidgwick Site is one of the largest sites within the University of Cambridge, England.- Overview and history :The Sidgwick Site is located on the western edge of Cambridge city centre, north of Sidgwick Avenue and south of West Road, and is home to several of the university's arts and...
off West Road
West Road, Cambridge
West Road is located in western Cambridge, England. It links Grange Road to the west with Queen's Road to the east. The road is north of Sidgwick Avenue and the Sidgwick Site, a major site of the University of Cambridge, currently under redevelopment...
, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
. Since October 2003, incoming books have been classified according to the Library of Congress scheme
Library of Congress Classification
The Library of Congress Classification is a system of library classification developed by the Library of Congress. It is used by most research and academic libraries in the U.S. and several other countries; for example, Australia and Taiwan, R.O.C. It is not to be confused with the Library of...
; before that a unique system was used. The library is open to university students only, six days a week, in term between 9am and 7.15pm (6pm on Saturday).
History
The history library was established in 1807 by John Symonds, with a collection of a thousand books. After some years of neglect, the library again became a priority in 1884, on the behest of Oscar BrowningOscar Browning
Oscar Browning was an English writer, historian, and educational reformer. His greatest achievement was the cofounding, along with Henry Sidgwick, of the Cambridge University Day Training College in 1891...
. It was moved from the gallery of the Philosophical Library to King's College
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
in 1890. In 1897, it was renamed in honour of the historian Sir John Seeley
John Robert Seeley
Sir John Robert Seeley, KCMG was an English essayist and historian.-Life:He was born in London, the son of R.B. Seeley, a publisher. Seeley developed a taste for religious and historical subjects...
. After a few more moves, the library finally ended up on the Sidgwick site in 1968, in the new History Faculty building designed by James Stirling
James Stirling (architect)
Sir James Frazer Stirling FRIBA was a British architect. He is considered to be among the most important and influential British architects of the second half of the 20th century...
. Today it accommodates over 300 students and houses more than 95,000 volumes. Although the building was admired by students of architecture it is less well regarded by those who have to work in it. Expensive modifications were necessary to render it usable, and in 1984 the university came close to pulling the whole building down.