Library collections
Ramon Llull University currently has 13 specialised libraries, the majority located in the northern part of Barcelona. The group of libraries has 1,418 reading points and is the depository of a bibliographic collection of 900,704 documents (data for the 2023-2024 academic year). In addition, the different libraries subscribe to a large number of online resources adapted to each centre’s academic, teaching and research needs.
Nearly half of URL’s library resources has been digitalised and can be consulted through the URL catalogue and other group catalogues such as the CCUC (Catàleg Col·lectiu de les Biblioteques de Catalunya) and REBIUN (Red de Bibliotecas Universitarias-CRUE) which our libraries joined at the start of 2011. The part of the catalogue which still hasn’t been catalogued corresponds to special and rare book collections which are still being added
Special and rare book collections
The origins of today’s library can be found in Tortosa. In October 1864, the Society of Jesus was able to install itself within an old Franciscan monastery located in Jesús (Tortosa-Roquetes). At that time, the Bishop of Tortosa ceded this space to the Jesuits and donated approximately 4,000 books. That was the start of the library. It was also where the Jesuits opened a Centre for Superior Studies which would serve as the seed for the Faculty of Philosophy and Theology. At the end of the 19th century, the Borja Library received several more important collections through donations, exchanges and the return of the books the Jesuits had lost with their expulsion from Spain in 1767.
Today, the library’s collection includes 270,000 texts including 600 manuscripts including those in Hebrew from a synagogue once found in Tortosa. There are other texts in other languages such as Catalan, Latin, Malaysian, Tamil, Coptic and Ge’ez (the ancient Ethiopian language). The collection includes parchments, 42 rolls, 41 incunabula, 1,127 rare and valuable books, and approximately 21,000 volumes of documents dating from the 16th to 18th centuries as well as other unique items of great historical value.
The Ebro Observatory University Institute’s library dates back to a change within the Society of Jesus at the end of the 19th century when it decided to incorporate Natural Sciences into the curriculum at its Col·legi Màxim. This is how the Ebro Observatory was inaugurated in 1904 next to the Faculty of Philosophy, specialising in “Earth and Space Sciences”. From the outset, its library was conceived as a fundamental resource to be able to carry out research at the Observatory dedicated to promoting science. It also began establishing links with other scientific institutions around the world.
The library currently has approximately 11,000 volumes of which 1,400 date from before the 20th century. Its documentary collection is dedicated fundamentally to the History of Science, including an incunabulum on Astronomy, approximately 50 texts from the 16th to 18th centuries, the historical collection of the magazine, Ibérica, as well as the following special collections: the legacy of the Naturalist, J. J. Landerer, and the donation of Narcís Monturiol Library’s technical books.
This library began to take shape based on the manuscripts prepared by the monastery’s own scriptorium from its very foundation in the 11th century and, as well, thanks to orders, donations and acquisitions. Its collection suffered some losses, however, during the Napoleonic Wars when, in 1811, the monastery was destroyed. At the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th, it would once more begin to grow tremendously. The collection was saved during the Spanish Civil War and, after the latter’s end, doubling the number of items until reaching today’s figure of 350,000 books, with 6,800 periodicals, 1,400 manuscripts, 400 incunabula, 18,000 engravings and 500 ancient maps. The library specialises in Human Sciences and Theology.
The library’s mission is to support reading and research for the Benedictine Monastery as well as support its study centres and Montserrat’s cultural activities. The library is also open to researchers and readers interested in History, Human Sciences and Theology. In addition, it aims to collaborate to make its collection available via new media to create spaces for dialogue and exchange with the contemporary world.
Cooperative projects and collections
Cooperative collection and network of digitalised PhD theses presented at universities in Catalonia and other Autonomous Communities in Spain. Users can access theses freely, and the network allows searching entire texts, by author, thesis director, title, subject matter, university and department, year presented, etc.
Click here to consult the list of URL PhD theses.
Open access archive of complete articles in scientific, cultural and erudite Catalan journals. RACO’s objective is to increase the visibility and consultation of the journals in the archive and spread the scientific and academic output published in Catalan journals.
To consult the URL journals included in RACO, click here.
The Montserrat Library is one of the four Catalan libraries which, under the Library of Catalonia’s coordination, participate in Google Books by digitalising a part of their collections. The books included in the website (28,300 titles) are free of royalties, in numerous languages and come from around the world. Visitors can search and consult the complete text of the majority of works as well as download them free of charge.
Iniciativa de la Universitat d'Alacant per a la digitalització de documents d'alt valor bibliogràfic i patrimonial pertanyents al fons de la BC i d’altres biblioteques catalanes. La Biblioteca de Montserrat (URL) hi participa des de l'any 2004 mitjançant la digitalizació d'unes 50 obres que formen part d'alguns dels seus fons més emblemàtics així com de la revista Serra d'Or (1950-1964). Podeu consultar aquí la relació d'obres disponibles.
Portal obert que dona accés a publicacions periòdiques tancades que han estat representatives dins la cultura i la societat catalana. És un repositori cooperatiu impulsat per la Biblioteca de Catalunya amb el suport del Consorci de Biblioteques Universitàries de Catalunya (CBUC). La biblioteca de l'Observatori de l'Ebre-URL hi participa a través de la digitalització, al desembre de 2012, de la revista Ibérica (1913-1920).
La biblioteca de la Facultat de Comunicació i Relacions Internacionals de Blanquerna-URL hi participa a través de la recent digitalització, al 2023, de la revista Nova Ciutat Vella.