Ghent University Library
The Ghent University Library is located in the city of Ghent, Belgium. It serves the university community of students and scholarly researchers.
After Ghent University was founded in 1817, books confiscated during the French Revolution were given to the university.
In 1942 the Book Tower was opened, located next to the Blandijn, which houses the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy. Designed by Henry van de Velde, it has since been the chief architectural feature of the library.
The library has evolved in recent years, focusing on decentralization and networking rather than a central facility. Some collections of books are to be found in the faculty libraries; but some books are conventionally gathered together in the University library.
A range of electronic resources are available within the UGent network as part of a "digital library."
The Library has joined with the Google Books Library Project in digitizing books which will then be made accessible via the Internet.
