A book depot

21 July saw the official inauguration of the new premises of the century-old Dipòsit de les Aigües building as the main General Library on the Ciutadella campus and of the Jaume Vicens i Vives University Institute of History (IUHJVV), whose collection consists of 42,000 monographs on history and economic history.

The part that was renovated during the first phase, of about 3,500 square metres, covers the three lateral bays that look onto the Jaume I building, which houses 3,634 linear metres of bookshelves and 136 query desks available to users. Also during this first phase an underpass was opened connecting the Dipòsit and its library to the Jaume I building.

The regeneration project by the architects Lluís Clotet and Ignacio Paricio respected the grandness of the building built in 1880 by Josep M. Fontserè.

Photo: Josep Fontana, director of the IUHJVV; Jordi Pujol, president of the Generalitat (government) of Catalonia, and Enric Argullol, rector of UPF, on the inaugural day.