| Description | This section contains the administrative papers of the College's library. These include catalogues of the collections, records of accession, works carried out to volumes in the library, registers of readers and borrowers, a small amount of financial material showing the expenditure of the library in the late nineteenth century and library correspondence. The surviving records are not a complete set, the second half of the nineteenth and first decades of the twentieth century being the best represented, there are limited records for the early years of the library and also the middle of the twentieth century. |
| History | Dun's Library was founded in 1713 on the death of Sir Patrick Dun, an early Fellow and President of the College. Under his will Dun left the College considerable property including his personal library of several hundred books, this collection was to form the basis of the library collection. Following Dun's death the library was without a permanent home, with the collection moving between the houses of various fellows, it was not until 1815 and the opening of Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital that the library found a permanent home. In 1864 the library moved once more to the newly built College building on Kildare Street, where it has remained ever since.
Dun's Library is governed by the Library Committee, made up of Fellows of the College, and in more recent years co-opted members. The head of this committee is the Honorary or Dun's Librarian, elected from amongst the Fellows of the College. The committee meets a number of times a year to oversee the running of the library and approve any proposed changes. The day to day management of the library rests in the hand of the librarian, who reports regularly to the Library Committee. The Dun's Librarian submits an annual report on the library to the College each Saint Luke's Day, and regularly to the Council. |