Information Professional is the magazine for Information, Knowledge and Library workers in all sectors. An article, written by Heythrop Librarian, Clemens Gresser, gave an overview of Heythrop Library’s history (since 1614), and paid tribute to how this history has shaped the collection in 7 locations, in over 400 years, from the beginnings in Leuven (Belgium) to today’s reading room in London’s Mayfair (located in the London Jesuit Centre).
Reflecting on the task of writing for the magazine, Clemens said:
"Not an easy task to predict where the future might lie, particularly if one sees the library in a 400+ years tradition which has been very tumultuous at times. The unprecedented recent challenges of COVID and lockdown were difficult, however, we are continuing to flourish.
"We see a lot of people in the library who are on the Ignatian Spirituality Course (ISC) at the London Jesuit Centre. The ISC brought its own library to the Heythrop Library reading room, so is a specialist collection within the holdings we have. I'm sure we will see more and more people using the library as we continue to grow.
"I wrote the article for Information Professional in February 2023, so the “future” has now been superseded by something else. For example, in August 2023 we started using a new offsite store in Cheshire, as we need to vacant the University of London’s repository in Egham. Definitely, proof that this Library keeps its librarians on their toes!"
The first couple of pages of Information Professional can be viewed here.
For more information about the Heythrop Library, please click here.
