York Minster

Welcome!

Welcome to York Minster Library & Archives online

Thank you for visiting Britain's Largest Cathedral Library online. Within abound many different types of tools and helpful information that will aid you in the use of the library's services or give you some insight on the history of the Minster Library and York Minster. Please have a look at the frames to the left and explore York Minster Library, if you have any questions, get in touch!

What's happening at the Minster Library...

Welcome to the Minster Library's News feed! Keeping you in touch with Britain's Largest Cathedral Library...

A Healthy Environment at York Minster Library

12 May 2008

In 2006 the Library suffered a mould outbreak in the Upper Hall that required the hard work of the librarian and conservator to contain and repair. Since then, the Minster Library has made every effort to monitor and combat the ever-changing environment in the drafty Upper Hall. Due to the constant vigilance of the Library staff, the Upper Hall has maintained optimal conditions throughout a wet winter and rapid warm-up this spring. The environment is monitored by three different types of devices and is maintained by fans, dehumidifiers and ventilation.

New Stained Glass Display

7 May 2008

The Minster Library has changed its recent reception display to a colourful new exhibit of books on Stained Glass around England with specific detail given to, of course, York Minster. If you have any interest or questions about stained glass, the Minster Library holds many books on the subject and is regularly visited by scholars and craftsmen specializing in the glass medium. Come see the new display and check out the other Stained Glass books at shelf mark LB 9.85.

Open to all

28 April 2008

Part of the Minster Library's vision of a friendly, open-to-all library, the Facebook site was introduced in January 2008. Just four months after the Library opened its page in the world's largest social network, it now ranks 13th among all the library pages (a total of more than 500), surpassing the National Library of Scotland and the Manchester Library Network to rank 2nd among all libraries in Britain with more than 160 subscribers.

For those readers who already have a Facebook Profile, joining the Library Page is as easy as following this link, and clicking on "Become a Fan".

Hidden Treasures

14 April 2008

The collection of Jack Fairfax-Blakeborugh's pamphlets is one of the many treasures hidden in York Minster Library. Recently rediscovered in the Upper Stacks Periodical section, the volumes highlight J. Fairfax-Blakeborough's passions: horse racing, Yorkshire literature and dialect, and folklore.

J. F-B, as he was affectionately known, was one of the great characters of the British racing, as his memoirs state. He worked as freelance racing journalist and commentator before starting his active service in the First World War, when he won the Military Cross. He had more than one hundred books published and was awarded an O.B.E. in 1975, one year before he died at the age of ninety-three.

His collection of pamphlets and newspaper articles is a fascinating journey through his life and the history of Yorkshire and its racing.

New displays

14 April 2008

The Minster fire of 1984 is now featured in the Minster Library by the addition of five new photographs in the Main Hall. It includes notes about the events, witnesses' quotes and a report of the fires of 1757, 1829 and 1840, besides a brief description of today's security procedures in place in York Minster.

Next to the Reading Room entrance, the brand new Constantinople: Winds of the Bosphorus display features five books, each of them from a different century starting from the 17th. May 29 commemorates the 555th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople, and the new display is a journey through the events of 1453 and the importance and influence of Byzantium.