National Library of Wales
History
History
-------

[thumb\|Sir John Williams, one of the principal founders of the National Library](/wiki/File:Sir_John_Williams%2C_Bart%2C_GCVO%2C_MD_-_Christopher_Williams.jpg "Sir John Williams, Bart, GCVO, MD - Christopher Williams.jpg")
In 1873, a committee was set up to collect Welsh material and house it at [University College](/wiki/Aberystwyth_University "Aberystwyth University"), Aberystwyth. In 1905, the government promised money in its budget to establish a National Library and a [National Museum of Wales](/wiki/National_Museum_Cardiff "National Museum Cardiff"), and the [Privy Council](/wiki/Privy_Council_of_the_United_Kingdom "Privy Council of the United Kingdom") appointed a committee to decide on the location of the two institutions. [David Lloyd George](/wiki/David_Lloyd_George "David Lloyd George"), who later became Prime Minister, supported the effort to establish the National Library in Aberystwyth, which was selected as the location of the library after a bitter fight with [Cardiff](/wiki/Cardiff "Cardiff"), partly because a collection was already available in the College. [Sir John Williams](/wiki/Sir_John_Williams%2C_1st_Baronet%2C_of_the_City_of_London "Sir John Williams, 1st Baronet, of the City of London"), physician and book collector, had also said he would present his collection (in particular, the [Peniarth collection of manuscripts](/wiki/Peniarth_Manuscripts "Peniarth Manuscripts")) to the library if it were established in Aberystwyth. He also eventually gave £20,000 to build and establish the library. 

Cardiff was eventually selected as the location of the National Museum of Wales. Funds for both the National Library and the National Museum were contributed by the subscriptions of the working classes, which was unusual in the establishment of such institutions. In a Prefatory Note to *A List of Subscribers to the Building Fund* (1924\), the first librarian, [John Ballinger](/wiki/John_Ballinger_%28librarian%29 "John Ballinger (librarian)"), estimates that there were almost 110,000 contributors. The Library and Museum were established by [Royal Charter](/wiki/Royal_Charter "Royal Charter") on 19 March 1907\. The Charter stipulated that if the National Library of Wales should be removed from Aberystwyth then the manuscripts donated by Sir John Williams will become the property of the University College. A new Royal Charter was granted in 2006\.

The National Library of Wales was granted the privilege of legal deposit under the [Copyright Act 1911](/wiki/Copyright_Act_1911 "Copyright Act 1911"). Initially, however, the Library could only claim material deemed to be of Welsh and Celtic interest without any restrictions on expensive or limited edition publications. In 1987, the last of these restrictions were removed to make the legal deposit entitlement of the National Library of Wales equal to those of the [Bodleian Library](/wiki/Bodleian_Library "Bodleian Library"), [Cambridge University Library](/wiki/Cambridge_University_Library "Cambridge University Library"), [Trinity College Library](/wiki/Trinity_College_Library "Trinity College Library"), Dublin and the [National Library of Scotland](/wiki/National_Library_of_Scotland "National Library of Scotland").

The first use of the [Library of Congress Classification](/wiki/Library_of_Congress_Classification "Library of Congress Classification") by a library in Britain was at the National Library of Wales in 1913\.

### Buildings

[thumb\|upright\|The North Reading Room](/wiki/File:NLW_North_Reading_Room.jpg "NLW North Reading Room.jpg")
On 15 July 1911 [King George V](/wiki/King_George_V "King George V") and Queen Mary laid the foundation stone of the National Library of Wales. Designed by architect [Sidney Greenslade](/wiki/Sidney_Greenslade "Sidney Greenslade"), who won the competition to design the building in 1909, the building at Grogythan,Wmffre, Iwan, 'National Library', *The Place\-Names of Cardiganshire*, Vol. III, pp. 980–981 (BRA British Series 379 (III), 2004, ) off Penglais Hill, was ready for occupation in August 1915 but the task of transferring the collections was not completed until 1 March 1916, [St David's Day](/wiki/St_David%27s_Day "St David's Day"). The central block, or *[corps de logis](/wiki/Corps_de_logis "Corps de logis")*, was added by [Charles Holden](/wiki/Charles_Holden "Charles Holden") to a modified version of Greenslade's design. It was completed in 1937 and is a [Grade II\* listed building](/wiki/Grade_II%2A_listed_building "Grade II* listed building"). The grounds (landscaping) of the National Library of Wales are also Grade II listed, and are seen as a significant part of the historical landscape of [Wales](/wiki/Wales "Wales") with the landscaping both supporting, and playing a key part of the overall architectural design of the library building.

The Library is faced with Portland stone on the upper storeys which contrasts with the Cornish granite below it. Restoration work was necessary in 1969 and 1983 due to the effects of weathering on the Portland stone. In recent years many changes have been made to the front part of the building.

The large North Reading Room, where printed books are consulted, has "the proportions of a Gothic Cathedral", being 175 feet long, 47 feet wide and 33 feet high. There are galleries at three levels above the floor. The feasibility of installing a mezzanine floor to make better use of the space has been considered on two occasions. Until 2022, The South Reading Room was used for consulting archives, manuscripts, maps and other printed materials. It now houses the Wales Broadcast Archive Centre, an Archive of programmes from all the major Welsh broadcasters dating back to the beginnings of broadcasting in Wales in the 1920s; this includes BBC Wales, ITV Wales and S4C. Carved above the entrance is the room's original name the Print and Maps Room. Above it on the second floor of the south wing is the Gregynog Gallery where temporary and permanent exhibitions display the treasures of the Library's collections.

A six\-storey bookstack, which was completed in 1931, was built to increase storage space for the rapidly expanding book collection. A second bookstack was officially opened in March 1982\. In 1996, the Third Library Building was opened, doubling the storage capacity of the Library. The second phase of the building was built by T. Alun Evans (Aberystwyth) Ltd.

A fire on 26 April 2013 destroyed a section of roofing in an office area of the building. Restoration was assisted by a government grant of £625,000\.

### Wartime sanctuary

[alt\=Tunnel entrance, National Library of Wales\|thumb\|upright\|Entrance to the tunnel that was constructed under the National Library of Wales for the storage of valuable material during the Second World War](/wiki/File:Tunnel_entrance%2C_National_Library_of_Wales_-_Geograph-3886266-by-Ian-Capper.jpg "Tunnel entrance, National Library of Wales - Geograph-3886266-by-Ian-Capper.jpg")
During the [Second World War](/wiki/Second_World_War "Second World War"), many of Britain's most valuable artworks and manuscripts were stored in the National Library of Wales, which provided the evacuated treasures with a refuge from enemy bombing raids. The architect Charles Holden was instructed to design a tunnel for this purpose in the outcrop of rock close to the main building, with the [British Museum](/wiki/British_Museum "British Museum") sharing in the costs that this incurred. The tunnel was heated and ventilated to ensure the preservation of vellum, papyri and paper during its use from 18 July 1940 until 23 May 1945\. In addition to an extensive consignment from the British Museum, which weighed over one hundred tons, the Library received forty\-six boxes of manuscript and printed books from [Corpus Christi College, Cambridge](/wiki/Corpus_Christi_College%2C_Cambridge "Corpus Christi College, Cambridge") and over a thousand pictures, eighty\-two boxes of books and twenty members of staff from the [National Gallery](/wiki/National_Gallery "National Gallery"). The Library also received irreplaceable items from other prestigious institutions such as the [Ashmolean Museum](/wiki/Ashmolean_Museum "Ashmolean Museum"), Oxford, [Dulwich College](/wiki/Dulwich_College "Dulwich College") and [the Royal Society](/wiki/The_Royal_Society "The Royal Society").

A number of distinguished scholars from the British Museum accompanied the collections to Aberystwyth. Their senior member of staff was Deputy Keeper of Printed Books, Victor Scholderer, who responded to a [letter](https://web.archive.org/web/20150923221629/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_image.aspx?image=ps342852.jpg&retpage=16254) from the Director, [Sir John Forsdyke](/wiki/John_Forsdyke "John Forsdyke"), by insisting that he and his colleagues would continue to sleep in the Library so that the tunnel could be checked during the night to ensure that the air conditioning was functioning properly. Scholderer, an expert on [incunabula](/wiki/Incunabula "Incunabula"), produced *A Handlist of Incunabula in the National Library of Wales* in gratitude to the hospitality that was afforded to them by the Library. Likewise, [Arthur E. Popham](/wiki/Arthur_E._Popham "Arthur E. Popham"), Keeper of Prints and Drawings, dedicated *The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci* "To the Librarian and staff of the National Library of Wales". Several other institutions donated funds to the Library as an expression of their gratitude and Mrs. David Sassoon, London presented two works by Cicero that were printed at Venice in the fifteenth century.

The documents and artefacts that spent World War II in the care of the National Library include an original [exemplification](/wiki/Exemplified_copy "Exemplified copy") of [Magna Carta](/wiki/Magna_Carta "Magna Carta"), drawings by [Leonardo da Vinci](/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci "Leonardo da Vinci"), paintings by [Rembrandt](/wiki/Rembrandt "Rembrandt"), [Rubens](/wiki/Peter_Paul_Rubens "Peter Paul Rubens") and [Velásquez](/wiki/Diego_Vel%C3%A1zquez "Diego Velázquez") from [Dulwich College](/wiki/Dulwich_College "Dulwich College"), letters of the kings and queens of England, and autographs belonging to [William Shakespeare](/wiki/William_Shakespeare "William Shakespeare").

### Librarians

* [John Ballinger](/wiki/John_Ballinger_%28librarian%29 "John Ballinger (librarian)") (1909–1930\)
* [William Llewelyn Davies](/wiki/William_Llewelyn_Davies "William Llewelyn Davies") (1930–1952\)
* [Thomas Parry](/wiki/Thomas_Parry_%28author%29 "Thomas Parry (author)") (1953–1958\)
* [E. D. Jones](/wiki/E._D._Jones "E. D. Jones") (1958–1969\)
* [David Jenkins](/wiki/David_Jenkins_%28librarian%29 "David Jenkins (librarian)") (1969–1979\)
* [R. Geraint Gruffydd](/wiki/R._Geraint_Gruffydd "R. Geraint Gruffydd") (1980–1985\)
* [Brynley F. Roberts](/wiki/Brynley_F._Roberts "Brynley F. Roberts") (1985–1994\)
* [J. Lionel Madden](/wiki/J._Lionel_Madden "J. Lionel Madden") (1994–1998\)
* [Andrew M. Green](/wiki/Andrew_Green_%28librarian%29 "Andrew Green (librarian)") (1998–2013\)
* [Aled Gruffydd Jones](/wiki/Aled_Gruffydd_Jones "Aled Gruffydd Jones") (2013–2015\)['New National Librarian'](http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/news/archive/2013/02/title-127142-en.html) – [University of Aberystwyth](/wiki/University_of_Aberystwyth "University of Aberystwyth") Newsletter – 25 February 2013
* [Linda Tomos](/wiki/Linda_Tomos "Linda Tomos") (2015–2019\)
* [Pedr ap Llwyd](/wiki/Pedr_ap_Llwyd "Pedr ap Llwyd") (2019–2024\)
* Rhodri Llwyd Morgan (2024–)

How long has the current Librarian been in office?