UT Library celebrates its 215th anniversary

This week the University of Tartu Library celebrates its 215th anniversary. On Tuesday, 20 June a festive event will be held for the staff members and guests at the Fraternity Rotalia.  

The real birthday of the University of Tartu Library is actually on 23 June, as the first entry to the diary of loans was made on this date in the year 1802. The library started with 4000 books, now this number has reached 4 million.

“Although the library work processes have changed a lot during centuries, we still continue to develop our collections according to the principle that the needs of teaching and learning and research are a priority,” said the director of UT Library Martin Hallik.  “This is just a sign of the present time that together with the development of IT, the share of e-books increases in the library. In addition to that we digitise our collections to make them accessible via the Internet. At the same time I am convinced that all this does not reduce the students’ need for the library as a physical place where to study or work on their research. We really hope to open the library at the beginning of the next year.”

At the festive event on Tuesday the staff members and several cooperation partners of the library will be acknowledged for their work and support. On 20 June the main building of the library and the pop-up reading rooms are open until 17.00.