Facts and figures
The University Library's history dates back to the 1860s. In 1961 the Library became a part of the University of Gothenburg and is today made up by eight libraries and one National Resource Library for Gender Studies.
The history of Gothenburg University Library
The Gothenburg University Library was founded in 1861 as the Göteborgs museum (Museum of Gothenburg) by the politician and publicist Sven Adolf Hedlund.
In 1891 the Gothenburg University College was founded and the museum's library became the Gothenburg City Library. The Library had a focus on research and was meant to service the college but also stay open to the general public. This version of the Gothenburg City Library should not be confused with the City Library of today, that has its roots in the Dickson Public Library. In the year 1900 a library building was built for the operations on Haga Kyrkoplan, today's Social Sciences Library.
In 1961 the Gothenburg City Library became a part of the University of Gothenburg and was given the name Gothenburg University Library. The operations was moved in 1954 to a newly built and more spacious location at Näckrosdammen, a building which later became the Humanities Library.
Gothenburg University Library is today made up by seven libraries and one National Resource Library for Gender Studies, KvinnSam. The Library is open to everyone and the mission is to support research, education and higher studies at the University of Gothenburg.
Wikipedia has a detailed article on the history of the University Library. There you can also read more about the libraries' backgrounds and get more reading tips from the article's reference list.
To Wikipedia's article on the history of the university library
Financial year 2023
This annual report summarizes the financial year's most important events, statistics, and financial results (Swedish only):
Resources
| Resource | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Libraries | 8 |
| Average number of employees during year | 180 |
Use
| Use | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Visits per day during semesters | 4 474 |
| Loans of physical material per year | 166 295 |
| Downloaded articles | 4,67 million |
| Library instruction (number of students) | 17 490 |
Finances
| Expenses | (1000 SEK) |
|---|---|
| Salaries, competency development | 134 283 |
| Rent, locations | 53 585 |
| Media acquisitions (details below) | 80 318 |
| Other | 23 210 |
| Expenses total |
291 395 |
| Revenue | (1000 SEK) |
|---|---|
| Budgetary framework from the University of Gothenburg | 255 000 |
| Other | 9 100 |
| Revenue total | 265 192 |
Media acquisitions
| Expenses | (1000 SEK) |
|---|---|
| Books | 3 193 |
| Text books | 1 779 |
| Printed journals | 1 141 |
| Electronic media | 43 383 |
| Other publications | 192 |
| Media acquisitions total |
80 318 |
Contact us
Contact us if you have questions about the history of the Gothenburg University Library or the figures of the financial year.