December 18, 2014, by Kathryn Summerwill

Happy birthday to George Green Library!

Architect’s plans for the Science Library, by Basil Spence, 1961
From East Midlands Special Collection Oversize Pamphlet Not 5.J12 SCI

The Science and Engineering Library is about to start looking all brand new and shiny, but in fact it is 50 years since it opened its doors to students and staff at The University of Nottingham. It opened during the summer vacation of 1964, construction having been begun two years earlier, in September 1962.

The first designs were created by Basil Spence Partnership in 1961, as part of Spence’s vision for ‘Science City’ – a unified complex of modern buildings for the University’s science departments. The final plans were by Andrew Renton and Associates, following Renton’s break from the Spence Partnership.

The design allowed space for extensions at the back and the side. The first extension, of one bay at the back, was completed in 1968. The side extension is currently under construction, more than 50 years after it was anticipated.

In contrast to the £18 million cost of the current redevelopment, the 1962-1964 construction project cost £157,000 and provided space for 482 readers and 120,000 volumes.

Photograph of the Science Library under construction, 1964 (Acc 2006/2/10)

Photograph of counter staff in the Science Library, early 1970s (Acc 2006/1/39)

In 1993 the library was named after the Nottingham mathematician and physicist George Green (1793-1841). Some other photographs of the construction of the library are currently on display in the George Green: Nottingham’s Magnificent Mathematician exhibition at the Weston Gallery, which is open until 4 January 2015.

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