The authors of Deusto publications visit the works of the new University Library, designed by Rafael Moneo

During this visit, which was held on 15 October, the university lecturers were guided through the different floors by the Library's Director, Nieves Taranco. The new Deusto University Library has been planned as a Resource Centre for Learning and Research and as a key instrument for the implementation of Deusto Education Model. Therefore, it is one of the most important projects for the future of Deusto. Once the first stage has been completed (the building of the five underground floors), and with the second stage already in progress (the building of the four floors containing reading rooms, seminar rooms, etc.), it is expected that the new building will be completed next spring. This will be followed by the removal of about one million books during the summer months so that it can start operating during the new academic year 2008-2009

The works are progressing at a good pace and, at this moment, the building is being closed. The closing of the four outer walls has been started, which will be clad with glass brick blocks. After examining a wide range of different qualities of glass blocks, architect Moneo designed one type himself, a prototype that is being made in Italy. The exterior skin of the building will be clad in this material, which will be separated by an inner layer made of glass and concrete. The floodlights that will illuminate the building will be located in this room. The recesses on the fronts will be covered by silk-screen printed glass. One of these parts of the building forms an angle with the Guggenheim Museum, and that is precisely where the reading rooms will be located. In addition, the University of Deusto is now planning the furniture and fittings as well as the computer equipment.

The Deusto University Library has, on the one hand, 5 floors above ground (10,000 square metres), reading rooms: 1000 reading cubicles, group work rooms, offices for individual work, seminar rooms, open access collection, periodicals section, a multimedia library and a reference room; and on the other hand, 5 floors underground which will accommodate a multifunctional room, a cafeteria and a car park. It has a total surface area of 22,275 square metres.

The collection in the Deusto University Library contains nearly 1 million volumes and it is the most important one in the Basque Country. It is composed of bibliographical heritage, main collection, periodical publications and a reference collection with databases.The bibliographical heritage brings together 55,000 volumes, including: incunabula, a collection of historical books (those printed between 1501 and 1830), a modern historical collection (those printed between 1831 and 1900), and a historical Basque collection (1831-1839). The main collection responds to all the university's teaching and research needs.The material relates to the disciplines which are studied in Deusto, principally Law, Philosophy, Economics and Business Studies, Political Science and Sociology, Education, Psychology, Theology, Mathematics, Engineering, Art, Languages, Literature, and Geography and History. The Periodical Publications add up to over 10,000 titles (5,000 still in circulation). Although they are mostly available in paper-form, the trend is increasingly towards digital material.Finally, the reference collection contains general and specialised databases for all disciplines.