History of the collection L09

The collections relating to the history of the 19th and 20th centuries originate from the former library of the Department (1991-2010) and the Seminar (1945-1991) of Contemporary History. This library started in a modest way in a room at the Universiteitsstraat, where Jan Dhondt and his co-workers collected a number of books and resources for their research. This collection was expanded year by year through purchases and exchanges with other libraries. In this way, a rich collection of works was created, covering various aspects of the recent past both in Belgium and abroad. During the long period in which the library was built up, the collection management was altered several times. The most important decision took place in 1994, when the decision was made to stop the thematic arrangement of the Belgian works and to apply a ongoing classification to most of the works acquired.

The Seminar Library of History 2010.

In the autumn of 2013, the collection was transferred to the Faculty Library of Arts and Philosophy. Part of the collection was stored in the depot (mainly less topical works).

Faculty library 2014.