Description

Admin History:

It fell to Philip Larkin, who had previously been sub-librarian at Queen's University, Belfast, to preside over an impressive expansion in facilities. Indeed, during the 30 years of his Librarianship, the bookstock increased six-fold, and the Library grant by a factor of 100. In this process he was greatly assisted by the onset of a boom in funding and resources for British higher education generally, and by the firm support from 1956 of the new Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull, Brynmor Jones. Hull had become a University in its own right in 1955: ambitious building plans were in place, and Brynmor Jones ensured that the Library stood at the head of the queue. Much of Larkin's first 15 years involved overseeing the design and construction of two new buildings, and the massive expansion of holdings. The first building, known as Stage I (and later the East Building), took 18 months to complete and was opened in September 1959. The official opening was performed in June 1960 by HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. This low red-brick building was fairly typical of its era, with a large open reading room, two-tier stacks, and a number of unusual features, including sculptures by Willi Soukop, and a large oriole window.

Description:

Sale bill for the 'Abraham' from 1835 and three photographs of H.M. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother at the official opening of stage one of the Brynmor Jones Library in 1960.