Cardiff University is to receive a collection of rare books from Cardiff Council.
The 14,000 books, which include rare bibles and atlases, will be bought for £1.2 million by the University with help from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales and the Welsh Assembly Government.
The money will then be reinvested in the council’s library services.
The council decided to sell the books, which it says are valued at £3 million, in 2008. But concerns were raised by academics who felt the books shouldn’t leave the city.
Cardiff University put up £500,000 for the purchase, and has to keep them publicly available. It will also work to make some of the books available online.
Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Students Professor Jonathan Osmond said the University was “delighted” to have the collection.
“The acquisition of a collection of this size, depth and quality will enable Cardiff University to move into the senior league of humanities research collections and to create opportunities for collaborative research across Wales, the UK and internationally,” he said.
Heritage Minister Alun Ffred Jones said: “I am very pleased to support the co-operation between Cardiff Council and Cardiff University to ensure that the important collection of rare books will remain in Cardiff.
“I am also delighted by the University’s plans to raise the profile of the collection by digitising and making books from the collection available online.”
