Bill Bryson Opens 11m GBP Library Wing
Former Durham University chancellor and non-fiction author Bill Bryson returned to the university in order to open an £11 million extension to its library.
The library has now been renamed after the author, who left his post as chancellor in 2011, which the author says is a “great honour.”
The new wing spans four floors with 500 new study spaces available.
“As somebody who has been privileged enough to have books at the centre of my life, I can’t think of any greater honour than to give my name to Durham University’s library and the pursuit of learning for generations to come.
“Libraries and books are a doorway to a whole new world – democratic access to a galaxy of infinite possibilities beyond the routine and the mundane that really make life worth living.”
The Bill Bruson Library is the largest of the university’s five libraries is home to the majority of the modern books and journals at the library. Now there will be room for 120,000 books that were in storage before the revamp.
