History of the Library

The University Library was founded in 1620–21 by King Gustav II Adolf. In 1621, the Library received its first donation when the King handed over the book collection that was stored on Gråmunkeholmen in Stockholm (the island of the Franciscan or Grey Monks). It included the remains of medieval Swedish monastic libraries and some confiscated private libraries, such as King Sigismund’s and Hogenskild Bielkes, a privy counsellor who was executed in 1605.

This formed the foundation of Uppsala University Library, which was also granted 200 Swedish daler annually which was raised to 300 daler in 1621. One of the professors at the University was appointed librarian.

During the 17th century, the collections were expanded through donations and spoils of war taken during the Thirty Years' War.

Spoils of war

In the 1620s, King Gustav II Adolf increased his donations with a significant amount of spoils of war amassed during his wars on the continent. This is, for example, how the Jesuit libraries in Riga, Braunsberg (Braniewo) and Frauenburg (Frombork) landed in Swedish hands.

In the 1630s the Swedes campaigned in southern Germany and the book collections they acquired in Würzburg, Mainz and other places were sent in part to Uppsala.

Queen Christina, who succeeded Gustav II Adolf, favoured Stockholm rather than Uppsala with books, as did her courtiers, such as Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie. However, large parts of his library eventually ended up in Uppsala in various ways.

Read more about spoils of war at Uppsala University Library

Initially, the Library's books were kept in Uppsala Cathedral, but they were eventually moved to a building nearby. The building no longer exists, except as part of another building.

In the 1690s, the Library moved into Gustavianum, which was then one of the University's main buildings. Gustavianum was one of the few buildings that survived the Uppsala city fire in 1702, and thus the University Library was also saved from burning down.

A golden age in the Library’s history

Eric Benzelius the Younger was university librarian from 1702 to 1723. His term of office was one of the great golden ages in the history of the Library, not least in terms of acquisitions. The growth during his time consisted largely of manuscripts. One of the most important donors was the linguist and diplomat Johan Gabriel Sparfwenfeld, who donated valuable books, manuscripts and maps to the Library on several occasions.

In 1767, Crown Prince Gustaf (later Gustav III) donated privy counsellor Jacob Cronstedt's library to the University. Cronstedt's book collection had been acquired by the parliament expressly for the Crown Prince.

A library catalogue takes shape

Pehr Fabian Aurivillius's time as university librarian, like Benzelius, marked an important stage in the Library's development. Aurivillius held the position for 42 years, from 1787 to 1829. His achievements are well known in many ways, not least through the large catalogue of the Library's collections, which is still in use. During Aurivillius's time, the collections grew considerably. For example, the Library acquired approximately 4,000 volumes from Johan Henric Lidén's collection.

The Library's collections grew, and the premises in Gustavianum were no longer sufficient. In 1841, the University Library moved into the newly built Carolina Rediviva, which also served as the University's main building for a time before the current university main building was built. The large ‘Carolinasalen’ became the University's banquet hall, accessed via a magnificent grand staircase (architect: Carl-Fredrik Sundvall).

Carolina Rediviva means ‘the revived Carolinian academy’ and refers to an older university building – Academia Carolina – which was demolished in the 18th century. The name also expresses courtesy towards King Karl XIV Johan, who, when he was crown prince, decided on the location of the building.

The first renovation of the new building took place as early as the 1880s. The storage space was significantly increased, and the first reading rooms were added.

One hundred thousand volumes and significant donations

By this time, the Library's holdings had increased to over 100,000 volumes. Under Johan Henrik Schröder, the librarian between 1830 and 1857, the Library received a number of important donations. Perhaps the best known is the Carl Gustaf von Brinkman Library, with around 22,000 volumes.

At the time of Uppsala University's 400-year centenary in 1877, the alderman, tanner and book collector Jacob Westin of Stockholm made the largest donation to date in terms of numbers of books, when he donated his library, which comprised approximately 20,000 books and a great number of pictures and manuscripts.

Period of great expansion

Claes Annerstedt's time as library director (1883–1904) was a period of great expansion for the University Library. The new main university building, the University Hall, had been completed, leaving Carolina Rediviva free to be used solely as a library. Extensive renovations ensured new storage space and a more modern working environment with lifts, central heating and so on. A thorough inventory of the Library's holdings was conducted in 1886, revealing that the number of volumes had reached 230,000.

A doubling of the grant
In 1895, Annerstedt managed through intensive and partially hidden lobbying to effect, after a long and stormy debate in the parliament, a doubling of the grant to the Library. New international agreements on the exchange of publications were established increasing the holdings further. This activity would flourish for over a hundred years. Swedish printers delivered one copy of all their publications with regularity like never before. By the end of his term of office, Annerstedt calculated that the University Library held 341,911 volumes or 13,741 metres of shelves of books and other items – an enormous increase. However, the twentieth-century publishing explosion would generate increases of a different calibre: just one century later, the length of shelved items had increased tenfold.

In 1917, the new reading room, Reading Room A, was completed. It is a bright and airy room with a ceiling supported by columns in the new classicist style. An apse facing Carolinaparken lets in light through a glass roof and tall windows.

Between 1934 and 1945, Reading Room A was extended to the north and south with what is now Reading Room B in the north and the Special Collections Reading Room in the south.

In the mid-1960s, the two courtyards on either side of the central part of Carolina Rediviva were built in and integrated with the main building. The northern part became Reading Room C and the southern part was converted into offices and a catalogue room. During the renovation, three floors were added below ground level, with storage space adapted for book collections.

Between 2017 and 2019, the entrance floor was renovated. The Exhibition Hall was rebuilt and moved to the southern part, where there used to be a café. The former catalogue room was converted into a café and study area, as well as offices.

In 2025–2026, the Special Collections Reading Room, Reading Rooms A and B, and office spaces in the same building are undergoing renovation. Ventilation and lighting in the reading rooms will be improved, original desks and chairs will be renovated, and more study spaces will be created.

Several important donations

During the early part of the 20th century, the Library's collections grew further with several donations, including the Wahlund Library (‘Bibliothèque Wahlund’) in 1913, which mainly consisted of Romance philology. The golden age of donations in the 20th century was the 1950s. A number of significant book collectors donated their collections to the Library: Erik Waller, Richard Du Rietz, Thore Virgin, Gustaf Brun, Erik Kempe, Gustaf Bernström, Vilas Johnson and many more.

Bonniers and Crafoords donations

Even after the 1950s, The University Library received some magnificent gifts, a couple of which are particularly worth mentioning. One is Nils Bonniers' generous donations of artistically bound books, which have enriched the library's distinguished collection of book bindings. The other is a donation by Katarina Crafoord, which contributed greatly to the Library's acquisition in 1986 of the Leufsta manor library, a very special 18th-century library collected by the industrialist and zoologist Baron Charles De Geer.

Subject libraries have become campus libraries

During the 1970s and 1980s, a system was established with a central library in Carolina Rediviva and various branch libraries/subject libraries. Today's library organisation looks different. The University's campus areas now have libraries whose collections are linked to the subject areas of the campus. The term subject library has been replaced by campus library.

In 2013, Gotland University College merged with Uppsala University and became Campus Gotland. The Almedalen Library then became part of Uppsala University Library.

The Almedalen Library has two principals, Region Gotland and Uppsala University, and is Sweden's only combined public and university library.

A huge part of Uppsala University Library's collections are digital. The collections can no longer be described in terms of shelf metres alone. Although the paper-based collections remain and are constantly growing, the digital collections are expanding rapidly. For cultural heritage material, this offers unique opportunities in terms of both accessibility and protection of the originals. For information provision in general, electronic development is a revolution with major advantages in terms of accessibility, space savings and distribution.

Read more about digitisation