The library is owned by the Jesuits in Britain and is spread across four locations, with a members-only reading room at the London Jesuit Centre.
Clemens Gresser, Heythrop Librarian, reflected on the milestone:
"Cataloguing the 100,000th record shows just how complex our collection is."
He explained that multi-issue volumes can be counted as a single volume or as multiple items, and that some journals have a single bibliographic record with dozens of attached volumes.
The library currently holds over 200,000 items, likely closer to 250,000, with thousands of book volumes and journal issues still to be catalogued. This milestone highlights the scale, richness, and ongoing work involved in managing such an extensive collection.
Amelia Leventhal, Heythrop Library Cataloguer, said:
"I am very pleased that I catalogued the 100,000th record in our catalogue."
She noted that the 100,000th record—a journal volume containing multiple separate issues—is representative of the challenges of cataloguing such works, which require creating individual records for each issue and linking them together. The milestone also reflects the library team’s achievements over the past year, including adapting to the new Koha library management system introduced in summer 2025.
With over 200,000 items, the Heythrop Library is the largest standalone library in philosophy and theology in the UK. While most borrowers are members of Religious orders, membership is open to anyone with a serious interest in philosophy or theology, with fees ranging from £5 for initial membership to £100 per year for full membership.
