National research libraries

We have an extended history of selective intervention in the funding and management of the higher education (HE) research library system. Its long-established policy is to ensure, first, that the national academic research community has access to library collections of exceptional importance and, second, that the host institutions are compensated for the additional cost of developing, maintaining and opening these collections on behalf of the research sector as a whole.

Review of funding for research libraries

We recently commissioned Professor Sir Ivor Crewe to conduct a review of HEFCE funding for research libraries. The review examined whether firm reasons for continued funding remain, and whether the current level and focus of the funding is still relevant in light of new technologies and changes in research library practice.

The subsequent report recommended that a number of academic libraries should be designated as National Research Libraries (NRLs) and should receive supplementary funding. Under the criteria for NRL status, libraries must:

have a unique collection or critical mass of rare material
make a significant and essential contribution to the national research base
incur associated costs beyond which the host higher education institution could be expected to bear
have a track record of high quality services to external users.

The following were designated as NRLs:

Cambridge University Library
The British Library of Political and Economic Science - London School of Economics
John Rylands Library - The University of Manchester
The Bodleian Library - The University of Oxford
School of Oriental and African Studies library

Last updated 25 November 2008